All Pens and Ephemera

Harkening back to 1920s black hard rubber with "chasing" designs, this Waterman LeMan Opera fountain pen is a stunningly handsome modern luxury pen. The cap and barrel are in nearly perfect condition. The gold-plated trim has just a little schmutz and wear on the tail end. Click the headline for close-ups. Its two-tone 18k gold nib writes a nice fine-medium line. It is a soft nib that responds to light pressure, but this is not a conventional semi-flex nib. The thin 18k gold is easily sprung. The pen includes a box and papers. 14.4cm 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.

Pale blue makes for a handsome Esterbrook CA fountain pen. These were Esterbrook's cartridge-only pens. Unfortunately, there are no Esterbrook cartridges that are officially available. However, we've heard rumor that you can tweak a Sheaffer cartridge into working. No cracks mar the cap or barrel. You will see a little light surface wear, but, overall, the pen is in great shape. It comes with a steel 1551 nib that we find writes a fine-medium line with a little light feedback. 13.1cm capped.

New Old Stock Esterbrook CA fountain pens are not an everyday occurrence. This vintage pen still has its original sticker, and the nib does not show any sign of ink. Depending on how your screen is calibrated, this is definitely a bright orange pen. It is close to day-glo orange. Click the headline for close-ups of the nib and sticker. This is a steel 1555 Gregg nib for the famed Gregg shorthand method. No cracks. No cartridge, either. We don't know a modern cartridge that would fit this. Light wear from rattling around a drawer for 60-odd years. 13.2cm capped.

A sense of irony must have been in the minds of the executives at Krone when they named this rollerball pen the Krone Vintage Pen. Nothing says vintage like modern rollerball refills. LOL! Our preowned pen is in excellent condition with only light, if any, wear. Unscrew the black tail cap to replace the P8126 capless rollerball refill. Our pen has a working black refill, but we don't know how much ink is left. As such, we include a spare refill. 11.8cm capped.

Limited edition pens are always fun, and our Krone Gradient Coral Red is no exception. What makes it especially interesting to us is that it is #4 of 388! We've never had a numbered pen in the single digits before. Mother of pearl blazes into a blazing coral red on the barrel. The brushed steel cap and blind cap serve as nice contrast. Overall, the pen looks great but there are two short but deep scratches on the steel cap. Click the headline for close-ups. You'll write a smooth medium line with its 18k gold nib. We find it makes little scrunching sounds at the top of ascenders and bottom of descenders. You'll also notice it is a bouncy nib capable of line variation. Just be careful, as 18k gold is very soft and easily bent out of shape. 13.6cm capped.

Even people who aren't into lady's pens have to shout when they see this Parker Duofold. A streamlined model, it still looks really sharp today in its orange permanite cap and barrel with reblackened hard-rubber end caps. Only the tassie shows brassing. Overall, the pen does show some wear from use, annnnd there is a crack in the barrel threads. However, if you write with a light hand, it should be okay. We restored this pen with a new ink sac, button and pressure bar. It still has its Christmas-tree inkfeed. You will write a fine line with a little feedback using its 14k gold nib. 11.8cm capped.

We aren't certain about the official Esterbrook letter designation for this model, but it relates to the Esterbrook J-series of fountain pens. Our vintage pencil is a lovely mint green and still in good working order. Cap actuated, you click the tail cap to advance or retract the .9mm lead. A couple spare leads are under the tail cap, but the eraser is long gone. A crisp imprint greets you on the barrel, and it only has light wear from use. 12.3cm.