All Pens and Ephemera

Today Faber Castell is known for its luxury pencils. Its "Perfect Pencil" retails for $260...and it is just a wood-and-graphite pencil with a platinum cap. Refills for the Perfect Pencil are $10 a pop. Yet, back in the early 1980s, Faber Castell wasn't too big for its britches. These were just regular pencils with NFL teams names on them. Please look closely as the these include the no-longer-with-us Houston Oilers and the no-longer-in Baltimore or San Diego Colts and Chargers! These pens were used to the extent that you see them. Present but rolled over are the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys and missing are the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles. What you see is what you get. Yet, a great historical keepsake for the pencil-loving NFL fan in your life.

Swiss penmaker Caran d'Ache put some artistry into this classic ballpoint pen. Made from gold-plate and Chinese Lacquer, this is a rare and luxurious pen. What first drew us to Caran d'Ache was the company's impeccable engineering. The click action on these pens is unlike any other...so smooth. Our pen comes with a working black Caran d'Ache refill. The pen looks gorgeous with minimal, if any, wear. 13.4cm

Parker Liquid Lead Pencils continue to fascinate us. Here is a slender model with an almost Parker 21 like pocket clip from the 1950s. Sadly, the idea of a liquid lead pencil never really took off, but we still have some handsome examples of them around. This model shows more moderate to heavy wear from use but a rarer imprint than many of these pencils we've seen. You can also see a little rust no the tail cap. Unfortunately, this pencil's refill has run dry, and they don't make these refills any longer. 13.1cm.

Vintage pencils make math and crossword puzzles way more fun. Take this Sheaffer 400 pencil for example. It is an early devotee of the .9mm lead. You advance and retract it with a simple twist of the tail cap. It has some wear from use, but most of us do after 80 years. The worst of it is a few little scratches in the nose cone, which you can see in the photo. The carmine red pattern is one of the rarer color schemes from this era. The clip is on tightly. It no longer has its eraser, but it comes with a spare lead. 13.3cm.

Add some beauty and style to your desk with this porcelain inkwell with a floral design. Click the headline, and you can see that you lift the lid of the inkwell by the yellow rose to dip and fill your pen. A reserve dish behind the inkwell portion is for stamps, back when your could tear them from a perforated sheet and had to lick them. No cracks or chips mar the porcelain, but the gold piping along the edges is worn or missing in many places. There is what likely was part of a maker's mark on the bottom in the gold paint for the edging, but it, too, is mostly missing and indistinguishable. The flowers are all perfect. We dont't actually know when this was made, but the design suggests it might have been for a dip pen, yet the floral pattern seems a little more modern, which is why we guess the 1920s. However, we are not experts on porcelain inkwells and it could be earlier or later. International shipping might require more money than the site will ask. L: 14cm X W: 8cm X H: 7.5cm.

Perfection is difficult to achieve in vintage pens, but this 1940 Oversize Parker Vacumatic gets close. No cracks, only light wear and incredible barrel clarity with celluloid that is on the light orange-dark yellow spectrum. No brassing. A feint barrel imprint. Close to perfect two-tone plating for the 14k gold nib. (Click the headline for a close-up.) YET, as you can see on the main photo, the name "James A. Kunkel" is engraved on the barrel. We looked up the name, and there are too many James Kunkels to know who owned this specific pen. You'll write an extra-fine line that is a bit dry but can sometimes look fine. Restored and in great working order. Museum worthy rare burgundy...yet, still a good writer. 13.5cm capped.

In 1936, Fred & Ginger lit up the silver screen in the classic "Swingtime," King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry an American divorcé, television broadcasts first began, Jesse Owens showed up the Nazis in Berlin, Joe DiMaggio was a rookie, FDR won a second term and this Parker Vacumatic standard set in burgundy was made. It was an elegant era, and this pen in many respects marks the pinnacle of art deco design. This particular set is in excellent condition. No cracks, maybe 1% brassing, no scratches, restored and working. Its two-tone 14k has some cosmetic issues. Click the headline to see close-ups. It writes an extra-fine line with a little flex but not much. The matching pencil works great in excellent condition and comes with spare 1.1mm leads. Pen measures 12.8cm capped.

No fountain pen collector's desk is complete without a classic rocker blotter. We have a fun little wooden model that fits any desk. Made of wood, it looks quite handsome, though it does have wear. Look closely at the photo and you'll see little chips around the edges. There also is a dark stain on the top plate of the blotter, but it blends in if you aren't looking closely. 8cm (L) X 5cm (W) X 7cm (H)