Vintage Pens

Sheaffer Cadet? Sheaffer Admiral? We never fully grasped the naming conventions for the Sheaffer TouchDown pens before they switched to Snorkels. Yet, a rose by any other name...we can still restore. We replaced the ink sac and O-ring in this vintage pen, and now it works great. You will write a dry extra-fine line with its two-tone, 14k gold Feather Touch nib. The pen looks great on a passing glance. Yet a close inspection will show it has many scratches and a little discoloration. No cracks. No brassing. Click the headline for close-ups. 12.9cm capped.

Easily mistaken for a Parker Challenger Deluxe, this appears to be a large Parker Thrift Time pen...or possibly another Depression era vintage pen from Parker. We restored it with a new ink ink sac. We find it to be a really handsome pen with some wear from use back in the day. No cracks but heavy brassing on the pocket clip. You will write a nice, wet medium line with some feedback using its 14k gold nib. These pens helped sustain Parker during the Great Depression when most people couldn't afford their premium Vacumatics. Click the headline for close-ups. 12.9cm capped.

Perfectly plated two-tone 14k gold arrow nibs on Parker Vacumatics are difficult to find. Click the headline to witness a really beautiful nib up close. You'll write a wet medium line with a little feedback. Our Parker Vacumatic Major is a nice pen in its entirety. Made in the third quarter of 1942, who knows what action this vintage pen might have seen. Yet, we suspect it mostly saw a well protected desk given its lack of cracks or deep scratches. Just some general light wear from use. It was engraved with the name John D. Parks. Decent barrel clarity. It was recently restored before we obtained it. It comes with a 1947 version of the pencil that comes preloaded with a 1.1mm lead. It is a little more worn. Pen measures 13.5cm capped.

The color match of this married Esterbrook J-model fountain pen looks better in the photo than in real life. The cap is a much deeper red than the barrel. The cap also looks pretty jankety. Nevertheless, there are no cracks and the cap is on tightly. We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac. We also gave it a new 1461 nib straight out of the box. You will write a firm, extra-fine line with a little feedback. Definitely not a museum piece, but a nice enough daily driver. 12.6cm capped.

Pastels dominated the 1950s' Technicolor landscape, and Esterbrook Purse Pens specialized in those soft colors. This robin's egg blue pen has a great cap and barrel with no cracks but some discoloration. We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac. The pocket clip is on nice and tight. Click the headline for close-ups. You will see there is a crack in the section near the nib. It is a short crack, and we think we've successfully sealed it with rubber cement. You will write a buttery smooth fine line with an upgraded steel 9556 nib. 11cm capped.

We've seen a lot of cool desk pens in our day, and we really love this frosted-brown-glass pelican made for an Eversharp Doric desk pen. It looks even more impressive with back lighting as the bird looks as if it is standing on rippling water. The glass is perfect without any cracks or chips. There is a very small crack in the celluloid trumpet's bottom, and the gold plating polished off the trim of both the trumpet and pen. We restored the pen with a new ink sac and J-bar. The very tip of the taper has been broken off. The section has a little chocolate hazing. This is a nice thick, larger pen. We love its smooth, fine-point 14k gold nib. It isn't an original Doric nib, but it an Eversharp replacement from a decade later. Click the headline for close-ups. Pen is 20.2cm long. Base 10.5cm L X 9cm W X 12.5cm H.

We love finding Parker Vacumatics that are still in close-to-new condition. This vintage pen still has a light-yellow barrel clarity! It is no longer that green-yellow from right off the line, but it is still pretty good. No cracks, minimal--if any--brassing. We restored this pen with a new diaphragm. The biggest "flaw" is that its pocket clip spins, even though it is securely on the pen. The blue diamond was Parker's indicator that this pen was guaranteed for the life of its first owner. You will write an extra-fine line with its 14k gold nib. There is a little feedback, but this is a pretty good XF writer. Click the headline for close-ups. 12.8cm capped.

Parker Royal Challengers are handsome vintage pens that offered a slightly less expensive option for pen users who couldn't afford the flagship Vacumatics. This pen is nearly perfect, except for its nickel-plated trim, which is heavily worn. We restored this pen with a new ink sac. It is a button-filler like the older Parker Duofolds. Its ink viewing window is ambered. You will write a nice fine line with its 14k gold nib. Click the headline for close-ups. It has a clean imprint that states it is from the first quarter of 1940. 12.2cm capped.