All Pens and Ephemera

On the surface, there might not be a lot to get you too excited about this Parker Vacumatic. And then you write with it. Wow! With a light touch it is a nice medium nib that leans toward fine, but with a little gentle pressure you can get about 1mm line variation! Not a common trait in a Vac from 1942. We restored this vintage pen with a new diaphragm. Its grey pearl design is nice with nickel trim. Dark ambering still permits a little light to see through the empty barrel. It has some wear from use, but there are no cracks or deep scratches. The blind cap-barrel alignment is just a little off. 13cm capped.

Far from being the rarest of Eversharp Skylines, this bandless cap version is definintely uncommon. Happily enough, the cap on this vintage pen is crack free, but it does look as if it had a brush with a lit cigarette on the back of the cap. Unfortunately there's a 2"-crack leading out of the point of the tail of the green barrel. We restored the pen with a new ink sac. The tail crack seems very stable. You will write a smooth medium to medium-broad line with its 14k gold nib. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.3cm capped.

Quite possibly the best daily driver fountain pens out of Japan, the Sailor 1911 is a must have for most all fountain pen enthusiasts. Also extremely popular are the demonstrator model. This green Sailor 1911 demonstrator looks about as close to new as a pre-owned pen can look. Best of all, it comes with its original boxes and a leather carrying pouch! Click the headline to see the close-up of the nib. It is marked H-M. This means it is a "hard" (firm) medium writer. It is a Japanese medium, which means it is closer to a European or American fine. We also find it to be a dry writer that sounds and feels a little scratchy as it writes. 13.5cm capped.

Sleek black gleams against the silvery trim of this Dunhill Cubist ballpoint pen. It has a great faceted design for an easy grip and unique look. Complete with its original box and papers! It comes with a working refill that writes a nice black line. 13.8cm.

In our own personal collection we have a Pelikan P40 Pura that is probably the most reliable daily driver that we have. We can't imagine this one would be any different. Complete with its original box and travel pouch (not photographed) this is a luxurious workaday pen. This one is gently used with only light wear. It fills with standard international cartridges. You will write a smooth fine line that might be a shade on the dry side depending upon the ink you use. 14cm capped.

Pelikan shocked its die-hard customers by eliminating the red-striped design from its line about 10 years ago. Bold, without being gaudy, these pens became a little harder to find, though the company has recently reintroduced the color. This mid-sized R600 model looks about as close to new as you can get. We include a new working refill. The logo sports a golden mama pelican with two chicks on a black background. It comes with its original box. 13.2cm capped.

In the 1990s, Pelikan started having a ton of fun with its standard issue Souverän pen designs. This Pelikan Souverän R730 is an especially nice rollerball pen with a sterling silver cap and tail cap. The tail cap is perfect and there is only one shallow dent in the side of the cap you can see in the photo. Click the headline for close-ups. In real life, you will easily find the dent if you are looking for it, but you will easily miss it, if you aren't looking for it. The rest of the pen comes with minimal light wear from use. You also get a working blue refill with the pen. 12.5cm capped.

Ever wonder what it felt like for Howard Carter to be the first to enter King Tut's tomb after hundreds of years? Entering the enchantingly elaborate and beautiful Montegrappa Luxor pen might be as close as most of us get. A modern pen, it carries the weight and history of Egypt's ancient pharaohs. Its sparkling blue cap and barrel represent the life-giving Nile river. Sterling silver hieroglyphs surround the pen. Like many of the items tucked into Tut's tomb, this pen is New Old Stock and never before used. Protected by a suede wrap in a woven shroud, the pen is completely scratch, dent and crack free. The piston-filler seems stuck from disuse, but this pen is more decorative art than daily user. Additional shipping charges may apply due to the unusually large height and weight of the boxes.