Vintage Pens

Photo Credit: Fountain Pen Emporium

Vintage 1938 Mordan Everpoint Fountain Pen

Asking Price: $223.48 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-A sterling silver barleycorn pattern barrel and solid 14 karat gold nib are key features of this 1938 Mordan Everpoint fountain pen from pre-World War II Britain.

-This vintage Mordan fountain pen measures a compact 3.7 inches (9.3 cm) long when capped.

-Sampson Mordan founded the eponymous firm of S. Mordan & Co. in 1824 in London.  The company manufactured a range of small gold and silver items, but specialized in mechanical pencils under the “Everpoint” patent/copyright.  The firm was succeeded by Mr. Mordan’s sons after his death at the age of 53 in 1843.

-This 1930s Mordan Everpoint fountain pen carries the appropriate hallmarks for its time, including the lion passant (indicating the sterling standard), the uncrowned leopard’s head (London) and the letter “C” (1938).

-S. Mordan & Co. flourished from the mid 19th century through the early 20th century.  Unfortunately, the company ceased trading in 1941 after its primary factory was flattened by the German Luftwaffe during the London Blitz.  After this debacle, its patents were sold off and the firm was formally liquidated in 1952.

-This fine old fountain pen comes in its original box, which is labeled on the inside with “Mordan Everpoint” and “London Made”.

-This Mordan Everpoint fountain pen has a solid 14 karat (or “14 carat” in British parlance) gold nib.  Solid gold nibs are highly prized by vintage pen collectors because of their superior writing characteristics compared to cheaper steel nibs.

-This is the sort of pen that sometimes gets overlooked because it isn’t from a big brand name like Montblanc, Parker or Waterman.  But the true pen aficionado will understand that the $223 asking price of this vintage English fountain pen is easily justified by its high build quality and bold 1930s styling.  Mordan Everpoints were very good, very expensive pens in their time.

Cons:

-I wish the seller had taken better photos of the hallmarks and the nib.  That would have helped confirm some of the pen’s details.  But in spite of this drawback, there isn’t any evidence that a single piece of this fountain pen has been altered or repaired.

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Photo Credit: lifeloveslife

Art Deco Conklin Endura Senior Fountain Pen in Verd Green

Buy It Now Price: $325 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This 1920s Conklin Endura Senior fountain pen is an Art Deco Celluloid gem rendered in a strikingly attractive, malachite-like Verd Green color.

-The Conklin Endura Senior was the largest of the Endura pen family.  This specimen measures 12.6 cm (5.0 inches) long when capped and 16.2 cm (6.4 inches) long when posted.

-The origins of the Conklin Fountain Pen Company date back to 1897, when its founder, Roy Conklin, invented the first commercially successful self-filling pen.  The company reached its apogee in the 1920s to early 1930s with the release of its popular Duragraph, Endura, Endura Symetrik and Nozac lines.

-The Conklin Endura line was produced from 1924 to 1930 and is characterized by a bold, yet streamlined Art Deco aesthetic.

-The Great Depression hit the Conklin Fountain Pen Company hard, resulting in a fire-sale of the firm’s tooling, inventory and brand to a Chicago-based syndicate in 1938.  Conklin pens produced from this time until the company’s final liquidation in 1955 are generally of lower quality compared to earlier models.

-This lovely fountain pen has a semi-flexible, solid 14 karat gold nib that writes with a fine to medium line.  These kinds of vintage nibs are always a favorite of pen enthusiasts because they are so hard to get today.

-We can date this Conklin Endura Senior to the mid/late 1920s due to the presence of a single, wide gold band on the pen cap.  Starting in 1929, the Endura featured a cap with two thin gold bands.

-In the year 2000, the modern Conklin Pen Company was revived.  Although this successor firm has the legal right to use the Conklin name (and that of its former models), these modern Conklin pens share nothing else in common with their antique predecessors.

-The seller is an experienced vintage pen dealer who has meticulously restored this Art Deco fountain pen masterpiece.  In addition, this Conklin Endura is in phenomenal condition, with no visible chips, cracks, dents or brassing!

-Given this vintage fountain pen’s eye-catching styling and great condition, I believe the buy-it-now price of $325 is quite fair.  But you can always bid a lower price if $325 is too much for your wallet.

Cons:

-Because the no-reserve auction format for this listing ends on Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 11:48 PM EST, there isn’t much time to secure this treasure.  The listing has also attracted 22 watchers already, so if you want to own this gorgeous antique pen you need to act soon!

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Photo Credit: Schieks Antique Digger

1943 Eversharp Skyline Fountain Pen & Pencil Set

Buy It Now Price: $300 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This World War II era Eversharp Skyline fountain pen and pencil set from 1943 features sleek navy blue barrels accented with gold filled trim.

-This Eversharp Skyline fountain pen is a shorter demi size, measuring 4.88 inches (12.4 cm) long when capped and 5.25 inches (13.3 cm) long when posted.  The matching mechanical pencil is 4.75 inches (12.1 cm) long.

-The American pen company Eversharp manufactured the Skyline series of pens in a dizzying array of style and color combinations between 1941 and 1948.  Designed by the renowned industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss, the Eversharp Skyline was lauded for its groundbreaking, streamlined profile.

-This Eversharp Skyline fountain pen and mechanical pencil set is new old stock in its original box.  It is absolutely pristine and has never been inked – a near miracle considering it is over 75 year old!  The only exception to the set’s perfect condition is some minor toning on the gold-filled trim.

-The Eversharp Skyline was a commercial hit, and quickly became the United State’s best selling pen by the mid 1940s.

-These Eversharp Skyline models have wide band trim, which is less common than the company’s thin band trim.

-This 1940s Eversharp Skyline fountain pen has a solid 14 karat gold medium nib.  Vintage Eversharp pens were considered excellent writers in their time and are highly prized by today’s fountain pen enthusiasts for this attribute.

-The clips on both the pen and pencil have the double checkmark logo, indicating that they were backed by Eversharp’s lifetime warranty.

-Both the pen and pencil retain their original paper price tags.  The pen retailed for $9.75 when new in 1943 while the pencil sold for $5.00.  When adjusted for inflation in 2019, these values would be $146 and $75, respectively.

-Neither vintage writing implement has a monogram or other personalization.  This is a nice plus as it can be challenging to find older pens without engraved initials.

-Although the asking price of $300 is a bit high compared to many Eversharp Skyline fountain pen sets in the marketplace, I would be willing to pay the premium in light of this set’s exceptional condition.  I have learned the hard way that when you find a remarkable antique, you had better pay the seller’s asking price or risk losing the gem forever.

Cons:

-This Eversharp Skyline fountain pen and pencil set is a pen connoisseur’s dream, but due to its unused condition there is no way any serious collector would consider using it as a daily writer.  If that’s what you’re after, you’ll have to find a different vintage pen.

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