All Pens and Ephemera

All mysteries are revealed with a good demonstrator pen. This Sailor 1911 leaves little to the imagination. It is really fun to write with and fill. The fact that it has an M-S (medium stub) nib made of 14k gold could make this your very favorite preowned pen. In truth, we find this nib to be buttery smooth, but it writes more like a double broad. Its thick tipping does not give it a ton of line variation. Our luxury pen has minimal wear and there are only a couple traces of blue ink trapped in the inner cap. 13.5cm capped.

Leading the way with a space-age design is this second-year Eversharp Symphony fountain pen with a Loewy cap design. The legendary industrial designer Raymond Loewy created the original cap design for the first year pen. This second-year pen's cap shows a couple of minor alterations. Nevertheless, it still looks stunningly sharp. Eversharp also knew this pen as model 705. We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac. You'll see some light wear from use on its gold-filled cap. The barrel shows a bit heavier wear. However, you will love the smooth, fine-point 14k gold nib! It is a pretty dreamy writer. 14.1cm capped.

Krone kicks it up a notch with the Krone Va-Va Voom fountain pen. Curvy with silver-plated trim, it is an attractive addition to your preowned luxury pen collection. Turquoise and amber flecks pop against the milk-chai color of the cap and barrel. It looks as if it were barely ever used. It drips a little after you first fill it, then it holds its ink. After you fill it, we recommend bleeding a couple drops back out and wait for the drips to stop and then wipe it down. It seems to hold ink well after that. Complete with its box and papers. Click the headline for close ups. Its two-tone 18k gold nib writes a smooth medium line. 12.8cm capped.

Streamlining gave the Parker Duofold a fancy edge in the late 1920s. These red-marble celluloid models were even hotter. We just restored this one with a new ink sac. We also got the topper to the cap much darker, as it had substantially more chocolate hazing than it does now. Heavy brassing on the ball of the pocket clip and on the bottom cap band. No cracks, but there is a wear mark around the barrel where the cap posted. You will write a firm, fine line with its 14k gold nib. Click the headline for close-ups. The pen isn't junior sized...nor is it oversized. 12cm capped.

If we lived in a world in which one could only have one fountain pen, the Pelikan Souveran M800 would be the one for us. Well built, always reliable, holds a ton of ink, large but not oversized. Perfect. Our preowned luxury pen is a great daily driver and it looks great with only a little light wear from use. This one sports the two-tone 18kt gold nib. It is marked fine point, but it writes closer to a medium, as most German pens do. We tuned this one a bit, and it is mostly smooth. You might find that it squeaks a little as it writes. 14.1cm capped.

It is possible that we've never seen a more handsome marbled pen than this Krone Boulder Thunderbird. The red cap and barrel has brilliant red flashes and gorgeous grey veins that are more remarkable than any photo can show. No cracks and only minor wear. The cap ring and pocket clip are silver plated. You fill the pen with a piston knob under the blind cap. Its 18k gold nib writes a wet medium line with a little feedback. The nib imprint says it is an F for fine, but it doesn't write like that. Comes with its original box. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.7cm capped.

Married sets aren't uncommon, but this set features a mixed set of stickered new-old-stock Parker 51s. The fountain pen is likely from the 1960s with its black jewel in the cap. Nevertheless, it is stickered and the ink sac is completely clear. The pencil is a click-advance .9mm variant with a grey-pearl jewel from the 1950s. We found this set in the leftover merchandise of an old general store that closed decades ago. Maybe the original shopkeeper mixed around the pens and pencils. The vintage pen's sticker is marked "M" for a medium nib made of 14k gold.

Elegant enough for a night at the opera, our Waterman LeMan Opera rollerball pen borrows heavily from 1920s Waterman design sensibilities. We especially love the wavy chasing pattern around the cap and barrel. Our pen looks almost like new and comes with its original box. We would say the pen is mint, except for a rogue wear spot on the bottom ring around the tail of the barrel. Also included is a new Waterman refill. 14cm capped.