All Pens and Ephemera

Don't be fooled. This is NOT a Namiki Emperor fountain pen. It appears to be a replica by a company called Vazir. About the same size and design, it lacks the urushi finish and is made of simple plastic. Its golden alloy nib writes a nice medium line...even if it is marked B for broad. But, it is no Namiki nib. You fill the pen with a standard international converter or cartridges. It comes with a converter. Click the headline for close-ups. 15.5cm capped.

If this isn't one of the most lovely vintage pens you've ever seen, we suspect something might be wrong with you. Our Conway Stewart 84 is fully restored with a new ink sac. We think this is called a "cracked ice" design with emerald green and golden yellow veins. There is a little brassing and wear from use, but the colors are still dazzling enough to distract you from the blemishes. Click the headline for close-ups. As if the colors weren't enough, its 14k gold nib writes a delightfully smooth, wet fine line. Great for use and display. Clip is on nice and tight. No cracks. 11.8cm capped.

Karas Kustoms Vertex pens are a bold acrylic addition to the world of fountain pens. Black veins flow through red and orange flames in the cap and barrel. The snap cap is super strong. Only minimal wear will be found on the pen. You fill it with an included converter, but it also accepts standard international cartridges. Click the headline for close-ups. Its steel nib has a great design, and it writes a nice broad line with a little feedback. You'll see the nib is marked double broad, but we never got it quite that thick. nice wider grip and light weight. 13.2cm capped.

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.

Who says fountain pens have to be stuffy designs. The Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop fountain pen sports a brushed red metal design with a vibrant pink-purple design around its middle. Our pen appears to be new-old stock. We filled it with water, and there was no trace of ink. It comes with a aerometric style converter and takes Pilot ink cartridges. We did not write with the nib. Click the headline for a close-up. Some might call this nib a 1mm stub. Others might say it is too soft shouldered and more of a double broad. 13.8cm capped.

Every now and again we are faced with an inky mystery. Today that mystery is this De La Rue Everybody's Stylo 800/60. The imprint is shallow but clear enough to read. At first we thought it was a pencil, but its "lead" turned out to be an Ink-O-Graph-style tube without the pin in it to regulate ink flow. Even more confusing is that we don't see how it opens to refill it with ink. As such, the pen is unrestored. Nevertheless, the mottled orange hard rubber design is still stunning with no cracks and only light wear from history and past use. Perhaps this is a steal for someone who knows it better. 11.6cm capped.

Occasionally, some pens straight-up confuse us. This pen looks like a Pilot Elite 95 or E95. Yet, the cap is marked Platinum...as in the pen company. A little extra digging online led us to the Platinum 200, which looks very similar to this long-short pen. But, this pen doesn't have 200 imprinted by the cap's Platinum imprint. Click the headline for close-ups. Whatever it is, it writes a nice extra-fine line with its 18k gold nib. It has some wear on the metal barrel and cap, and the inlaid part of the plastic barrel is missing. 11.9cm capped.

Some vintage pens work perfectly well, but their cosmetics turn-off some collectors. This is one of those pens in a Parker 51. The cap is dented, rusted, stained and imperfect. The fountain pen still works well with its original "pli-glass" ink sac. The hood and barrel have some wear and scratches. There's a little rust staining where the cap rested against the barrel. Clearly, this pen can survive Hell, and it is still ready to write. You'll write a firm, fine line with a little feedback using its 14k gold nib. 13.7cm capped.