All Pens and Ephemera

Do you love buttery smooth broad nibs made of 14k gold? Do you have larger hands that enjoy a light-weight pen with girth? Then, the oversized Sheaffer Balance Lifetime is probably for you. Great for signing ceremonies or everyday writing this is an amazing vintage pen. We restored it with a new ink sac. No cracks or brassing. A little wear from past use. The nib is missing some of its silvery plating. Click the headline for close-ups. 14.2cm capped.

The Edison Pen Co. started the same year that we did, and it is strange to see their pens come around again on the secondhand stage. They can't be that old! Nevertheless, here is a very handsome Edison Pen Co Huron Grande in a stunning autumnal color they call Sonoran Sunset. That little golden ball on the cap is a "roll stopper." Ours comes with a two-tone steel nib that is 1.1mm wide. You'll find it is a generally smooth nib with some line variation. Minimal wear on the cap and barrel. Includes a standard international converter. It is a huge pen measuring 16.5cm capped.

Life's pretty tough for a pen named "Ink." Nevertheless, The Karas Kustoms Ink fountain pen is a pretty tough pen. The cap and barrel are made out of metal, and we read that the nibs are made of titanium. We aren't very familiar with these pens, so please feel free to correct us about the titanium. Aside from just a little light wear on the white clip and section, the rest of the pen looks fantastic. The blue-and-red mottled design is very modern while also harkening back to the 1920s. You will write as close to buttery smooth as an extra-fine steel nib will allow. Very impressive. Standard international converter is included. 13.7cm capped.

Another Sheaffer Balance Lifetime has graced our vintage pens pages. This one is the standard size model. It is as long as the Oversized model, but it is thinner. Definitely not a junior-sized model. We restored it with a new ink sac. The sleek black pen shows some wear from use but minimal brassing and no cracks. You will write a firm, wet medium line with its 14k gold nib. It has a touch of feedback. A quintessential black pen for any collector. 14.4cm capped.

Foggy grey streaks through a charcoal-grey barrel of this Levenger True Writer fountain pen. Click the headline for close-ups. The dark-grey steel nib might look a little off, but it writes a very smooth, wet and broad line. Our preowned pen is great shape with no cracks or deep scratches. It comes with a standard international converter. Mostly, we just love the way it writes. 13.7cm capped.

Parker Vacumatic Maxima pens in burgundy can be difficult to find, but a matching set is tougher. These fully restored writing instruments hail from 1937. They look divine with minimal wear, no brassing, no cracks and with crisp imprints. The vintage pen is missing some of its original silvery plating from its 14k gold nib. Click the headline for close-ups. We dipped said nib and it is a very hard starter that writes a fine dry line. If you want to make this pen a daily user, you'll have to break in the nib a bit. It isn't difficult, it just takes a little time and practice. The barrel of the pen is ambered, but you can still see through it. The vintage pencil works great and comes with an original lead cartridge case in the tail.

Parker Vacumatic nibs are notoriously rigid and fine, but this Parker Vacumatic Maxima from 1937 sports a tasty two-tone 14k gold nib that writes a semi-flex line from medium to about 1mm wide! Also awesome is the fact that this vintage pen has some great barrel clarity. Yeah, it's a little ambered, but you can still see through it easily. Click the headline for close-ups. Minimal, if any wear. Has a working diaphragm. The tail cap is about 98% flush with the barrel. The only warning we have about this pen is that its long nib snags on the cap if you overtighten it. Never close the cap tighter than the first evidence of snugging up. 13.6cm capped.

There is no getting around the fact that this is the best name for a fountain pen that we've ever encountered. Meet the Levenger Plumpster! No. We did not make up that name. It is an awesome pen, too. Perhaps borrowing a little from the Visconti Opera Cherry Blossom design, this pen has brown veins running through a mother-of-pearl-colored acrylic. Blue and purple shadows flare through it, as you turn it under the light. Click the headline for close-ups. You'll see a little wear from use but nothing egregiously awful. Write a smooth fine line with its steel nib that is marked medium. Fills with a standard international cartridge or included converter. Nice girth. Has a little weight. 14cm capped.