Sheaffer
Pens and Ephemera

In the early 2000s, Sheaffer Intrigue fountain pens offered one last clever twist on filling mechanisms. Instead of doing a boring old "twist the section to open the pen" for replacing a cartridge or refill the converter, the Sheaffer Intrigue has a special back quarter of the pen that unscrews to slide out a little carriage that holds either a cartridge or a modified converter. Behind that is a little blind cap that can activate the converter while it is still hidden in the barrel. This pen comes with one of those unique converters and its original box. Only light wear can be seen on the cap or barrel. You will write a smooth fine line with its inlaid 14k gold nib. However, the nib is marked M for medium. It just doesn't seem to write that way. 13.7cm capped.

Oh so sleek and glassy finished, our oversized Sheaffer Balance Lifetime fountain pen is a beautiful vintage pen for many a collection. Ours has been restored with a working "vacuum-fil" system. The piston rod feels a little stiff, but it pushes out air and draws in water when we tested it. Not visible in the photo is an impressive double-helix design visible through the ambered ink-viewing window. Minimal if any wear. You will write a firm, extra-fine line with its two-tone 14k gold nib. Expect a some feedback. Not terrible but noticeable. No brassing, cracks or deep scratches. Nice crisp imprint. 14cm capped.

At first glance, you miss the hidden awesomeness of this Canadian Sheaffer Craftsman fountain pen. More than a plain black vintage pen, it is a plain black vintage pen with a surprisingly flexi 14k gold nib! You will write a very nice fine line that flexes up to about 1mm wide. As with so many flexi nibs, there is a little feedback. We restored this pen with a new ink sac and O-ring. No cracks nor brassing. The black gleams through the light surface wear on the pen. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.2cm capped.

New Old Stock fans, rejoice. Check out this still-stickered Sheaffer Admiral from the 1940s! We restored this chocolate-brown beauty with a new ink sac. The rest is as it was and has always been. There is definitely some shop wear from rattling around for nearly 80 years, but there isn't any egregious damage. The ink-view window is still its factory fresh yellow-green clarity. You will write a nice, smooth fine line with its two-tone 14k gold "Feather Touch" nib. The sticker says it is a medium, but it only seems to write something we think is closer to a fine on a dip. Its matching pencil also is stickered. Similar light shop wear as the pen. Works perfectly. Includes spare .9mm leads. The eraser has hardened and shows a little use. Click the headline for close-ups.

Hailing from Canada is another great Sheaffer Craftsman. We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac and O-ring. Click the headline for close-ups. It is easy to read the Canadian imprint, but you will also see some wear from use. No cracks nor brassing. We love the simplicity of the TouchDown filler. You will write an extra-fine to fine line that is a little on the drier side with some feedback. The tip of the nib seems aligned well, and we suspect regular use will help smooth out the feedback with a little time. 13.1cm capped.

Hailing from Canada, this is a Sheaffer Craftsman fountain pen made in 1940s Toronto! We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac and O-ring. Click the headline for close-ups. The pen is a little worn and the blue is a darker with age. No cracks. You will write a nice smooth, extra-fine line with its 14k gold nib and a light touch. It starts to dig a little if you use any pressure. 13cm capped.

Here's a Sheaffer Triumph from the 1940s that you don't see in working order all that often. In the rarer carmine (red) design with the wide cap band these pens are notoriously tricky to restore. Happily for us...and for you...we had this one restored by the fabulous Sheaffer maven Sherrell Tyree. It is a Vacuum-Fil pen. Unscrew the tail's blind cap, pull back the blind cap as far as it goes and then dip the nib all the way in ink and push down on the blind cap all the way. The whole barrel fills with ink. Its conical nib is made of 14k gold and writes a really firm fine line. You can seem some light wear on the cap and barrel. A shallow barrel imprint. No cracks. A little brassing on the ball of the clip. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.2cm capped.

A strong argument can be made that the Sheaffer PFM was the very pinnacle of Sheaffer pen design and manufacture. Released in the late 1950s and continued into the mid-'60s, it was elegance, innovation and performance wrapped into one pen. Our Sheaffer PFM-I in kelly green is the base model with a palladium-silver inlaid nib and chrome trim. We restored this one with a new ink sac and snorkel. The point seal and O-ring look and perform as if they were recently replaced before we got the pen. No cracks. A little wear from past use. You will write a smooth, firm medium line. When we dipped this pen, it started as a fine-point nib, but the more we wrote with it, the more it turned to a medium. 13.7cm capped.