Blue marble always looks sharp on a vintage pen. Our Conway Stewart 85L comes from England in the late 1950s. We restored it with a new ink sac. No cracks or deep scratches. The worst of the brassing is in the photo. Click the headline for close-ups. Its 14k gold nib has a little flex. However, you might need to train it a bit for more consistent writing. We've been working on it to get more consistent flow. It is vastly improved, it might "tighten-up" while shipping it. There's some feedback, too. 13.6cm capped.