Vintage Pens with Nib Size: SF

Here's a real granddaddy of vintage pens. It is a black hard rubber Sheaffer Lifetime Senior with etched pinstripes in the cap and barrel. It also has no white dot. It is that early! Fully restored with a new ink sac, it is ready to write. Brassing can be found on the ball of the pocket clip, but the rest of the pen is free of the blight. Click the headline for close-ups. There is a little chocolate hazing on the cap and barrel. It is worse on the cap, which is a little more faded in its pinstripe imprints. No cracks, chips or serious scratches. You will love its nib the most! Smoothly write from extra fine to more than 1mm wide with its semi-flex properties! A very rare semi-flex nib. Notice that the Lifetime nib has a serial number? This might indicate it is an early replacement nib, as the original nib had no serial numbers. 13.6cm capped.

We think that this is the short-lived Imperial fountain pen made in Nassau, NY. The cap band is imprinted with the Imperial name, much like the very rare Parker Vacumatic pens with a "Vacumatic" engraved in the cap band. We think the trim might be plated-silver that is brassing. A good ink sac has been installed. We love the blue-and-grey design. It comes with an "Imperial" imprinted 14k gold nib. Click the headline for close-ups. You will see the bottom side of the nib is cracked in the photo. You will write a semi-flex line that grows from extra-fine to about 1mm wide. It is a big scratchy. 13.3cm capped.

What makes the Wahl-Eversharp Gold Seal fountain pen is it screw-in "Signature" nib system, which allowed customers to be certain they got the nib that was best for them. This lastest vintage pen, also known as a Decoband, comes with a 14k gold nib with an F marked on the inkfeed--indicating a fine point. However, when we dipped it, we found that with a little feedback it could write from an extra fine to just short of a millimeter. Fully restored with a new ink sac, this classic pen is ready for action. You can see some discoloration in the original black and pearl design. No cracks but some wear from use. Its matching pencil is in the same condition, working with a 1.1mm lead that is red! Pen measures 13.7cm capped.

Where to start?! Oversized, blue-on-blue lapis...a buttery smooth semi-flex nib! Admit it. You're already salivating over this Wahl-Eversharp Gold Seal/Decoband. It is one of the best vintage pens we have posted this year. Fully restored with a new ink sac, the fountain pen has few flaws. The barrel is clearly still blue, but it is three or four shades darker than the cap and pencil. The only brassing is on the ball of the pocket clip. No cracks nor scratches. The writing experience is second to none. It can be a buttery smooth extra-fine, but with just a little gentle pressure it can write a 1mm line. The pencil still works with a 1.1mm lead. It has a little brassing on the nose cone and pocket-clip ball. The lead only advances; you have to push it in to retract it. No eraser. Pen measures 13.55cm capped.

On the surface, there might not be a lot to get you too excited about this Parker Vacumatic. And then you write with it. Wow! With a light touch it is a nice medium nib that leans toward fine, but with a little gentle pressure you can get about 1mm line variation! Not a common trait in a Vac from 1942. We restored this vintage pen with a new diaphragm. Its grey pearl design is nice with nickel trim. Dark ambering still permits a little light to see through the empty barrel. It has some wear from use, but there are no cracks or deep scratches. The blind cap-barrel alignment is just a little off. 13cm capped.

Behold the mighty Sleeve-Filler! Honestly, some days we still have to pinch ourselves to make sure the dream we are living is really not just a dream. This Waterman 12SF in its original box creates a pinch-ourselves moment. Gary Lehrer's Waterman book says these were made between 1910 and 1915. The old hard rubber is fragile. As such, we did not force the section to open to restore this pen. This pen is in far too good a condition to accidentally destroy. It remains without a working ink sac. The sleeve on the barrel has a crisp imprint and can be gently coaxed and wiggled to reveal the squeeze bar filler. It is a little stiff in moving so don't force anything. No cracks! 14k gold nib is a stiff semi-flex. Original box a little faded and ink stained but still nice to have. Additional photos available upon request.

Here's one from the waaaay-back machine: a Parker 25 1/2! This is an oversized eyedropper from some time after the turn of the 20th century! Best of all, it is free of cracks. Sure. It has scratches, wear, faded imprints and some chocolate hazing but who doesn't after 110 years or more? You can see the original Lucky Curve imprint, though it is shallow/faded. The 25 1/2 tail imprint required magnification for us to read it. Click the headline for a close-up of the very early 14k gold Parker #5 nib! It is a great semi-flex that goes from fine to 2mm wide. We soaked out a lot of old ink, but it seems the old ink has sealed the eyedropper shut for now. We didn't want to force it and ruin such an amazing piece of history. 14.1cm capped.

Didn't Shel Silverstein have a poem called, "Almost Perfect, but Not Quite"? That sums up our Conklin 40P. Nice, shiny black hard rubber. Deep, crisp chasing. Clear but a little uneven factory imprint. Fully restored with a new ink sac. You will even find that this vintage pen has a semi-flex nib that writes an extra-fine to 1mm line. Yet, if you look closely at the gold-plated crown on the cap, to the right of center is a big ol' dent where someone once dropped this magnificent old fountain pen. No cracks or other problems. 11.4cm capped.