All Pens and Ephemera

The marbled cobalt blue of the Aurora Optima is one of our favorite colors. We believe this to be the "Mare" version of the luxury pen. Italian for "the sea," these pens came in other colors representing various elements important to life on earth such as the sun and greenery. Our preowned pen is in excellent working order. You will love writing with its smooth 14k gold nib. It is listed as a fine-point nib, but it skews closer to the medium side of writing. Click the headline for close-ups. The pen itself only has light wear from use and looks gorgeous. The perennial problem with these pens is that the ink-view window never seems to get totally clean. We have flushed this pen many times with water, and there is always a trace of black ink that refuses to come all the way out. That ink is so diluted at this point that it shouldn't mess with your preferred ink that much. 12.7cm capped.

We love that Parker Duofolds have made a return in their original design language. This Parker Duofold pencil looks sharp in its black and pearl design. Yet, impressive to us is that it uses the older pusher-style lead-advance system. Just keep twisting the tail cap in a full circle to extend or retract the .9mm lead. There are no clicks. Just smooth, continuous operation. Our preowned luxury pencil shows a little light wear from use but no egregious blemishing. Comes with spare leads and a partially used--but still fresh--eraser under the tail cap. 13.1cm.

Crystal inkwells will always be beautiful accessories for the desk, but we think this Montblanc Life Style inkwell is exceptionally attractive. Aside from its gleaming black, gold and crystal colors, we love that it has a wide 3-inch base to help keep it from tipping over. Click the headline for close-ups of the inkwell both open and closed. This piece includes the Montblanc ink funnel. This device screws onto any Montblanc-brand bottle of ink to help more cleanly fill the inkwell. Device not included in the photo.

We polished the daylights out of this brass-topped Montblanc inkwell, and it really looks stunning. The well, itself, is hand-cut leaded crystal. It comes with a base that still looks sharp and is free of initials. An ideal way to dress up your desk with class and professional aplomb.

In 1992, Montblanc created its famed Writer's Series line of pens. It started with the Montblanc Hemingway. As author Ernest Hemingway once wrote with a Montblanc, the company based its new line of pens off that one and dedicated it to "Papa." Some of his best books include "A Farewell to Arms," "The Sun Also Rises," "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and others. Our preowned pen is the ballpoint version, it comes with all of its original boxes and papers. The book box is a little banged up and its glue is starting to give a bit. Be careful opening it. The pen looks fantastic with minimal wear. The twist mechanism works smoothly, and the black refill still writes. From the collection of a very dedicated Montblanc aficionado. 13.2cm.

The writing instrument maker for kings dedicates one of its finest pencils to one of the all-time greatest kings: Ramses II. Made using lapis lazuli mined from the same mine Egyptian pharaohs used, the Montblanc Ramses II is a functional work of art. Aside from a little scuff on the vermeil barrel (gold-plated sterling silver), this pen looks close to new. Twist the lapis cap to the right a little to extend the .7mm lead. Everything works well, and there are spare leads loaded inside the pencil. The eraser still works, too. Guaranteed authentic. 14cm capped.

The backbone of vintage pens has to be the ever-popular Parker 51. The flagship of Parker production for 30 years, this aerometric-filler comes from the very peak of production and popularity in the 1950s. There are a couple little dents on the back of the gold-filled cap and a little wear on the body of the pen. However, this vintage pen remains a fantastic writer with its original "pli-glass" ink sac! You'll love the smooth fine line it lays down. 13.6cm capped.

Cross really stepped up its game with the limited-edition Cross Townsend made with gold-flecked jade lacquer. Click the headline for a close-up, but our photo still doesn't do this pen justice. Falling just short of like-new, this preowned pen shows only light wear from use. We installed a fresh blue refill. It is a remarkable rollerball pen! 15cm capped.