The brown Daichi (Earth) and blue Mizu (Water) designs shown here were intended as a continuation of the 1990-1992 Pilot FK fountain pen “museum pieces” collection as a custom pair for a Classic Pens limited edition. Sketches for the design were drawn by Lenya Lambrou and three of the sketches were presented to Pilot. Two were chosen and these two pens were made as artist’s proofs. The collaboration proved to be a higher proposed cost than Classic Pens wanted to invest and were not produced. Only the artist’s proofs remain.

Read the story about these interesting pens here:

https://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/ClassicPens/ClassicPensLSDaichiMizu.htm

The summer 2025 Pennant is in the mail!

PCA members should see their copies later in July.

We are grateful for all the hard work the authors and editorial team put into this colorful issue and hope Pen Collectors of America members enjoy it!

Nathaniel Harter uncovered a treasure trove of Sheaffer capless prototypes from the Sheaffer Pen Museum archives.

Gary Weimer chronicles what is known about his favorite Parker pen – the sparsely documented Parker VS.

Ross McKinney continues his history of the Moore Pen Company with the flat-top models and the transition from hard rubber to celluloid.

Arriety Lowell explains how the Welsh Manufacturing Company from Rhode Island fared through World War II and the post-war era.

Jim Mamoulides explains how, in the throes of the Great Depression, Conklin needed its next big thing:  Enter the Nozac.  Two of them are on the back cover!

Roger Wooten explains how Sheaffer snagged Kraker for $1.

Parker Tech Talk No. 19 explains the mystery of the Parker 51 nib circles.

This issue also profiles pen artisan Pierre Miller and Desiderata.

You can sample a PDF of past Pennant articles here:

Pen Collectors of America – Keeping the history of writing instruments alive through member support and community education.

If you aren’t a member of the Pen Collectors of America, you should be!

A peek at two of the feature articles in the spring 2025 Pennant:

Peter J. Sacopulos continues his story about inventor and pen maker George M. Rentz of Wells, Minnesota and the crimes that led his pen and jewelry enterprises to an inglorious end.

Jim Mamoulides explores an inexpensive yet uncommon Esterbrook, the Phaeton 300, and its appearance near the end of the company’s history (also on the cover).

You can sample a PDF of past Pennant articles here:

Featured in the Pennant – Pen Collectors of America

If you aren’t a member of the Pen Collectors of America, you should be!

You can find more information about joining the PCA and subscribing to the Pennant at this link:

Pen Collectors of America – Keeping the history of writing instruments alive through member support and community education.

No one asked what my favourite fountain pen ink is but if they did I’d say “Onyx Black” by Diamine.

I’ll tell you why.

My everyday pen is a Lamy Safari with a broad nib and I use spiral-bound notebooks from Walmart, which typically cost between 44¢ and $1. Not expensive paper. Or particularly good paper. My fine and extra fine nib pens (mostly Pilot) work on it with most inks I’ve tried. But if I want to use my broad nib or my TWSBI Eco stub nib, I’ve gotta use Diamine. (I’ve even got it in my Sheaffer Broad Italic pen and it performs very well.)

I picked the Onyx Black because I like to write in black for work. But I originally discovered I liked Diamine because of how well Diamine’s “Pumpkin” worked on this paper. I took a chance on the assumption that another of their inks would perform similarly, and I was correct in this case. It’s not a very wet ink. It doesn’t bleed or feather very often even when using a stub nib. It’s truly one of the best behaved inks I’ve used.

If you’re adverse to using quality paper for rough work like I am, but you want to use your broad nib pens, give Diamine a try.

First fountain pen and most recent. 37 years apart. Same company (sheaffer), same ink cartridge. Same middling handwriting.

Another uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer from 1968–1971!

Merry Christmas everyone!

As with the earliest Lady Sheaffer’s from 1958–1966, Sheaffer made a small number of uncatalogued versions of the 1968–1971 pens. Were these production, prototype, or short-run models? The fit and finish on them suggests they may have been special order pens but lacking any Sheaffer catalogs or price lists from that period, there’s no way to be certain. There are three known uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer models from this period. It is possible there are more. Each follows the design of the 1966-1968 Stylist, with a long, slender, tapered shape, and a long spring loaded clip.

Read the article about these interesting pens here:

PenHero.com - PenGallery - Gallery of Uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer Fountain Pens c. 1968–1971

As with the earliest Lady Sheaffer’s from 1958–1966, Sheaffer made a small number of uncatalogued versions of the 1968–1971 pens. Were these production, prototype, or short-run models? The fit and finish on them suggests they may have been special order pens but lacking any Sheaffer catalogs or price lists from that period, there’s no way to be certain. There are three known uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer models from this period. It is possible there are more. Each follows the design of the 1966-1968 Stylist, with a long, slender, tapered shape, and a long spring loaded clip.

Read the article about these interesting pens here:

PenHero.com - PenGallery - Gallery of Uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer Fountain Pens c. 1968–1971

Some pages from my passport sized notebook. It’s a mix of my photos with washi tapes, my own carved stamps and found items like napkins and old index stickers..

The Sheaffer ‘S’ logo, introduced on the clips of Sheaffer Stylist pens in early 1966, had a short life, with Sheaffer returning to the White Dot in the fall of 1968. This would also affect the appearance of the Sheaffer ’S’ logo clip Lady Sheaffer pen models introduced in the fall of 1967. In the fall of 1968, Lady Sheaffer pen clips would be adorned with the White Dot in place of the ‘S’ logo and would have a short conical nib in place of the Stylist type. In addition, Sheaffer introduced three new finishes to the Lady Sheaffer line, described in advertisements as “satin silver with wave band,” “scalloped,” and “golden moiré.” These new finishes introduced a change in model numbering from Roman numerals to three digit numbers.

Read the article about these interesting pens here:

PenHero.com - PenGallery - Lady Sheaffer Long Clip White Dot Fountain Pens c. 1968–1971

Sheaffer Snorkel Masterpiece

The Sheaffer Snorkel was sold by the Sheaffer Pen Company from 1952-1959, and premiered a unique ‘no mess’ filling mechanism. Sheaffer took the earlier “Touchdown” filling system and integrated a “snorkel” tube that extends from the feed when filling the pen. This system was designed to remove the need to dip the nib and feed into the ink at any point. The Touchdown piston, when pressed, creates an increased air pressure inside the body of the pen. This contracts the latex ink sac instead of needing to use a lever like earlier fountain pens. The Snorkel system was used on one other model range from Sheaffer, the “Pen For Men” aka PFM from the early 1960s.

The Snorkel was produced in 13 different sub-models (14 if you count the “demonstrator”, which was a Valiant in clear plastic), each sub-model featuring a different combination of nib, trim, and body material. The plastic models came in a wide variety of colors, though not all sub-models and colors were produced for the entire 8-years of the Snorkel’s run. “Masterpiece” was the designation used by Sheaffer for their top-of-the-line solid-gold pens. The Snorkel Masterpiece came in a few different finishes and karat, including 9kt, 14kt, and 18kt. This particular example is the most common finish, 14kt gold in sets of alternating 3 and 1 lines. It’s also likely an earlier model, since it features a “Lifetime” marked nib.

Sheaffer 100 Coffee Brown

Fountain pen medium nib $63.96

Rollerball pen $55.96

Ballpoint pen $43.96

See the exciting Sheaffer 100 Coffee Brown pens and get your java on!

Check them out by clicking below:

https://www.penherostore.com/100/

Customers outside the USA can go to our eBay store:

https://www.ebay.com/str/penherostore

Pierre Sheaffer

Sheaffer 100 Coffee Edition

Matte Brown with Regal Brown PVD Trim Ballpoint Pen $33.56

The Sheaffer 100 Series Coffee Edition is a new and distinguished writing instrument celebrated for its enduring elegance and superior craftsmanship.

This beautiful pen features a rich dark coffee brown hue, accented with a refined cup and heart emblem on the cap.

The packaging makes each pen a special gift.

Click here to see them:

https://penherostore.com/100/

For customers outside the USA, we have them on eBay (Search on COFFEE):

https://www.ebay.com/str/penherostore

The Lambrou Pens LN2 Harvest artist proof shown here was made in July 2020. It’s a 6 inch long Lambrou Pens Oversize Legend hand crafted by Paul Rossi from Flame Red diffusion bonded acrylic with a Rossi made sterling silver floral design clip. The artwork is by Yoshitsugu Nakama, and because Nakama is allergic to urushi sap the decoration is made with an inert material he seals with epoxy resin. The Harvest design is based on the an original watercolor by Jenny Lambrou that was used for the other Classic Pens / Lambrou Pens Harvest models and represents harvest time on the island of Cyprus. Nakama’s interpretation is painted the cap and barrel with grapevine leaves, bunches of grapes, wheat stalks, and morning glory flowers over a pale yellow-brown coating to highlight the wheat artwork.

Read the story about this interesting pen here!

https://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/ClassicPens/ClassicPensLN2HarvestPrototype2020.htm

Sheaffer brand Triumph (top) & Premier (bottom) fountain pens.

The spring 2024 Pennant is in the mail to PCA members!

A really great reading and colorful issue by the authors and editorial team! We all hope Pen Collectors of America members enjoy it!

Here’s what’s inside:

Tim Laros and Todd Eberspacher seem to have an endless well of Parker technical subjects and the Heagney Vacumatic filler story reveals more of the endless tinkering for improvements done by Parker in the Vacumatic era.

Jon Veley’s ‘Salrite story gives an inside view of not only the company’s early pencils, but it’s history, founders and how creative they were.

Dan Zazove, Ramon Campos, Chris Odgers and Len Provisor’s Parker Desk Set story reveal a whole world of beautiful and fascinating desk bases and how they came to be. The model OP with pastel shades base shown on the cover is gorgeous in person and the Carleton Ware sets in the article are amazing.

This dovetails nicely with Roger Wooten’s continuation story about Sheaffer Desk Bases, which as usual, covers many known and many not well known and rare items. If you collect Sheaffer WASP pens, there is a treat there for you!

Otto Yang, Fabrizio Acquafresca and David Nishimura’s article reveals a personal journey into chased repousse pens, recreating them, and how they are made. Many art forms have made their way onto pens, but the high relief work on Otto’s new Lily design pen is amazing.

Did you know that Parker made Patricians? Dan Zazove, Donald Hiscock, and Ramon Campos tell the story of Parker’s Patrician fountain pens, both the early c. 1908 hard rubber pens and the late 1920s models, both made as lower cost lines without the Parker brand and with a surprising variety of models and colors.

You can sample a PDF of past Pennant articles here:

Featured in the Pennant

If you aren’t a member of the Pen Collectors of America, you should be!

You can find more information about joining the PCA and subscribing to the Pennant at this link:

Keeping the history of writing instruments alive through member support and community education.

The spring 2024 Pennant is in the mail to PCA members!

A really great reading and colorful issue by the authors and editorial team!  We all hope Pen Collectors of America members enjoy it!

Here’s what’s inside:

Tim Laros and Todd Eberspacher seem to have an endless well of Parker technical subjects and the Heagney Vacumatic filler story reveals more of the endless tinkering for improvements done by Parker in the Vacumatic era.

Jon Veley’s ‘Salrite story gives an inside view of not only the company’s early pencils, but it’s history, founders and how creative they were.

Dan Zazove, Ramon Campos, Chris Odgers and Len Provisor’s Parker Desk Set story reveal a whole world of beautiful and fascinating desk bases and how they came to be. The model OP with pastel shades base shown on the cover is gorgeous in person and the Carleton Ware sets in the article are amazing.

This dovetails nicely with Roger Wooten’s continuation story about Sheaffer Desk Bases, which as usual, covers many known and many not well known and rare items. If you collect Sheaffer WASP pens, there is a treat there for you!

Otto Yang, Fabrizio Acquafresca and David Nishimura’s article reveals a personal journey into chased repousse pens, recreating them, and how they are made. Many art forms have made their way onto pens, but the high relief work on Otto’s new Lily design pen is amazing.

Did you know that Parker made Patricians? Dan Zazove, Donald Hiscock, and Ramon Campos tell the story of Parker’s Patrician fountain pens, both the early c. 1908 hard rubber pens and the late 1920s models, both made as lower cost lines without the Parker brand and with a surprising variety of models and colors.

You can sample a PDF of past Pennant articles here:

Featured in the Pennant

If you aren’t a member of the Pen Collectors of America, you should be!

You can find more information about joining the PCA and subscribing to the Pennant at this link:

Keeping the history of writing instruments alive through member support and community education.

The spring 2024 Pennant is in production for a mail out later this month! This is the back cover shot.

We are grateful for all the hard work the authors and editorial team put into this issue and hope Pen Collectors of America members enjoy it!

Tim Laros and Todd Eberspacher seem to have an endless well of Parker technical subjects and the Heagney Vacumatic filler story reveals more of the endless tinkering for improvements done by Parker in the Vacumatic era.

Jon Veley’s ‘Salrite story gives an inside view of not only the company’s early pencils, but it’s history, founders and how creative they were.

Dan Zazove, Ramon Campos, Chris Odgers and Len Provisor’s Parker Desk Set story reveal a whole world of beautiful and fascinating desk bases and how they came to be. The model OP with pastel shades base shown on the front cover is gorgeous in person and the Carleton Ware sets in the article are amazing.

This dovetails nicely with Roger Wooten’s continuation story about Sheaffer Desk Bases, which as usual, covers many known and many not well known and rare items. If you collect Sheaffer WASP pens, there is a treat there for you!

Otto Yang, Fabrizio Acquafresca and David Nishimura’s article reveals a personal journey into chased repousse pens, recreating them, and how they are made. Many art forms have made their way onto pens, but the high relief work on Otto’s new Lily design pen, shown here on the back cover, is amazing.

Did you know that Parker made Patricians? Dan Zazove, Donald Hiscock, and Ramon Campos tell the story of Parker’s Patrician fountain pens, both the early c. 1908 hard rubber pens and the late 1920s models, both made as lower cost lines without the Parker brand and with a surprising variety of models and colors.

You can sample a PDF of past Pennant articles here:

Featured in the Pennant

If you aren’t a member of the Pen Collectors of America, you should be!

You can find more information about joining the PCA and subscribing to the Pennant at this link:

Keeping the history of writing instruments alive through member support and community education.

Pens: What older people give younger people.™

Reader’s Digest - November 1972