All Pens and Ephemera

In 1936, Fred & Ginger lit up the silver screen in the classic "Swingtime," King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry an American divorcé, television broadcasts first began, Jesse Owens showed up the Nazis in Berlin, Joe DiMaggio was a rookie, FDR won a second term and this Parker Vacumatic standard set in burgundy was made. It was an elegant era, and this pen in many respects marks the pinnacle of art deco design. This particular set is in excellent condition. No cracks, maybe 1% brassing, no scratches, restored and working. Its two-tone 14k has some cosmetic issues. Click the headline to see close-ups. It writes an extra-fine line with a little flex but not much. The matching pencil works great in excellent condition and comes with spare 1.1mm leads. Pen measures 12.8cm capped.

We aren't sure what Conklin called this pinstriped pencil made of rolled gold, but it is a very handsome taste of the 1920s. It is marked "Patented July 6, 1920." We suspect is was made a couple years later. This pen is a little more slender than the 4B and 5V models, but it is the same length. New Old Stock, it is dent and damage free. Twist the nose cone to advance and retract the 1.1mm lead. Pull off the tail blind cap to reveal a hardened eraser. Unscrew the eraser to reveal some spare leads. 13.3cm capped.

Roaring back into the light from the 1920s is this sterling silver Waterman pencil with the Sheraton design. It is new old stock with minimal traces of wear. The lead advances with a twist of the plastic nose cone. None of these pencils actually retracts the lead when twisting the other way. It needs to be pushed in. However, the lead seems pretty snug in the pencil. Unscrew the tail cap to reveal the spare leads. 13.1cm capped.

Vintage ink collectors will love this complete Parker Superchrome ink bottle set. Included is a 4-oz. bottle of blue ink (dried out) and the special tin that it rested in. Superchrome was a brilliant and beautiful ink that was far more vibrant than standard inks of the era. However, it was only intended for the Parker 51 with the "pli-glass" ink sacs. That which made it so vibrant was highly acidic and tore through normal ink sacs very quickly, ruining many old pens in the 1940s and '50s. It was discontinued due to its corrosive nature. We've seen a lot of Superchrome bottles over the year but this is one of the first we've seen to come complete with its tin. The tin shows a little rust and wear in places, but it isn't all that bad. EXTRA SHIPPING CHARGES MIGHT APPLY DUE TO THE SIZE AND WEIGHT.

A brace of woodgrain Wahl desk pens is ideal for the person with the rare 2-pen desk base that is missing its pens. We restored each with a new ink sac, and we are stunned at how minimal their wear is. No cracks, no chips, no scratches! The gold-plated trim rings and levers have some corrosion or gunk or brassing that won't polish out for us. Click their headline for a closer look at the whole pens and the nibs. The more vibrant, front desk pen comes with a 14k gold "Wahl Signature Pen" nib that writes a fine-medium line nicely with a little feedback. The duller-finished back pen sports a "Wahl 6 14k" nib that writes a blissfully smooth wet medium-broad line. The back pen measures 22cm and the front pen measures 21.8cm.

Before the demonstrator craze even got started, an Italian luxury pen manufacturer knew it would be a brilliant idea to showcase its finest wares. Thus, we have the birth of the Visconti Voyager Demonstrator limited edition. Black and yellow lines add panache to the clear cap and barrel of pen number 728 of 888. Its original owner filled it with blue-black ink. We did our best to clear it out, it still is visible in some places. Its piston filler is in good working order. You'll write a nice medium line with its two-tone 18k gold nib, but it might need a little breaking in to get used to daily use once again. Your purchase includes the pen's original wooden presentation box and papers. No cracks and minimal traces of wear mar this pen's surface. 14.2cm capped.

For reasons unknown to us, Lamy never made its famous left-handed steel nibs very available to American sellers of the brand. During a change in distributorship, we discovered a trove of 10 of these hard-to-find nibs that are straight from the factory. These are never used, and we are only selling them individually on a first come first serve basis. These fit all Lamy Safari & Lamy AL-Star fountain pens. No returns. Once they are gone, they are gone until we can sweet talk Lamy into more, which might never happen. If you choose to buy both a Lamy pen and this nib, you will have to pay for both the pen and nib. No switch-outs as we do for more standard nibs at pen shows. However, we will change the nibs for you at no extra cost for the labor.

"When Madame Pompadour was on the ballroom floor, said all the gentleman obviously, 'The lady has a well developed...personality.'" More than the bawdy lyrics sung by Dorothy Lamour in the Hope & Crosby "Road to Utopia," the real Marquise de Pompadour was the extremely clever mistress and confidant of France's King Louis XV. Her mastery of court intrigue and support of the arts remains unparalleled. In 2001 the world's top luxury brand paid homage to her with the Mont Blanc Patron of the Arts Marquise de Pompadour limited edition pens. Exquisitely designed, Mont Blanc paired with the porcelain artists at Meissen to create this pen. Click the headline for close-ups. Guaranteed authentic, our's comes complete with papers and boxes--there is a chip on the back of the wooden box. Amazingly, it was actually used. We have cleaned and flushed the pen, which works great, but there is light surface wear on the barrel with some lightly rubbed in wear spots on the piston blind cap.