Ok, I Get The Sterling Silver Pen Thing Now

August 16, 2012

What the heck was I not thinking?

I have several gold filled pens that are quite nice but the material they are made with doesn't give me any particular jollies actually using it per se. I'd rather feel Estie plastic or 51 Lucite than hard metal usually.

Then there is this Parker 75 Sterling Ciselle here...

Wow. My first thought was how in the world could Parker sail so far off into the freekin' abyss between the short time this pen was made and when they did the Sonnet? This is the only pen I've had in a long time that just sits there and Begs to be picked up, Fondled, and used. It feels in the hand like I'm not sure any other pen could except maybe the Sterling Imperial (note the same Ciselley sqauares). It's hard for me to describe, it doesn't have the blingy feel that an all gold pen does. It almost feels warm.

The nib is pretty neat too, a very clean classic look to it to me. Very springy with the hint of some line variation with more pressure than I'd like to make a habit of. It's smooth for a Fine nib but I'd like it a hair wetter. (I am VERY picky there.)

The funny thing is, I'm not totally all P-75 gaga by any means. They have some Tres Cool finishes but the pen is just a hair thinner than I usually like. Still, for the way the Ciselle feels in hand, I'll make the exception. It's also a hair heavy for me, which was a concern, but it's not obnoxiously so. This material and finish feels so good in hand I may actually have to set my sniper scope for a BP in it.

This is also definitely going to make me move, "Not already having a Sterling Imperial" into the BAD Move column... :bonk:

I remember when I was in my clear colored Sheaffer school pen days seeing the Ciselle ads in National Geographic and thinking it looked pretty cool. It's a shame I didn't pay more attention to the memory before now.

So you Sterling pen owners, <giving the secret finger waggle/> I get it.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

August 16, 2012

There are a few other Sterling silver pens you should consider fondling.

August 16, 2012

Most of which are to my knowledge well out of my P-75 Ciselle/Sterling Imperial price range...

I could of course, be wrngh.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

August 16, 2012

August 16, 2012

I am not into sterling silver pens, not my thing

August 16, 2012

Bruce,

I am with you on sterling silver pens. Have not been into them long, but they are becoming the theme for my collection I think.

I have been looking at Ciselle parkers, they look great, and as you say are good value for money. Would be great to see some pics/review of yours?

Can I commend you to this thread: Silver pen pics

Always interesting to see whats out there.....

cheers

da vinci

August 16, 2012

Hmm.

Having held a YOL Viceroy Grand , I have to confess I was not struck with the same feeling. Maybe I didn't try it for long enough. Or maybe I'm not one to feel it.

To expensive to buy on the off-chance, I think.

Regards,

Richard.

August 16, 2012

Until I got a Lamy CP1 my P-75 was the lightest metal pen I had. A light and nimble pen.

Perfectly balanced, posted. One of my three 'perfectly balanced' pens; all three different.

Standard sized , slightly thicker girth back weighted because of the brass fitting of the piston, MB 234 1/2 Deluxe, the longer thinner so very sleek and classic gold filled trimmed medium large Geha 725 and the P-75 standard sized Cross hatched ....the word Ciselle came in long after I got mugged by mine in @'70.

I'd gone into the BX (AF's PX), looking to spend a fortune of $8-10 on that classic mat black and gold Cross ball point. (Minimum wage was $1.00-1.25? and this was back in Draft time military wages)

Jotters were $1.75-2.00 I think. That Cross ball point was the 'status' ball point.

I wandered over to look at that Snorkel- The King of Pens. There sat the P-75 brothers, fountain pen and mechanical pencil/ballpoint.

At first glance that P-75 ball point slaughtered the Cross. The King is dead, Long Live the King, P-75 the First.

I'd bought them to go to collage with; luckily I never took them there. Bolt/Lewis Bob Hayes was on crutches compared to how fast a P-75 would have vanished.

I will get a French version, P-75 Thulia some day. The French version of the '75's has no 'Safari' triangle grip. That is one classy pen also. That is a tad heavier than the silver P-75.

Don't go polishing it up, it takes ages for the checks to become dark again. I love that 'faded-more coin silver looking color', that don't make one wonder if it's chrome.

Citizen Wife had locked up the King in the Bastille (jewelry box) for some 30 years, so I'd not lose it. Out of sight out of mind, then came the day of the storming of the Bastille...the day I became a collector. The King is Free, long live the King.

August 16, 2012

What the heck was I not thinking?

I have several gold filled pens that are quite nice but the material they are made with doesn't give me any particular jollies actually using it per se. I'd rather feel Estie plastic or 51 Lucite than hard metal usually.

Then there is this Parker 75 Sterling Ciselle here...

Wow. My first thought was how in the world could Parker sail so far off into the freekin' abyss between the short time this pen was made and when they did the Sonnet? This is the only pen I've had in a long time that just sits there and Begs to be picked up, Fondled, and used. It feels in the hand like I'm not sure any other pen could except maybe the Sterling Imperial (note the same Ciselley sqauares). It's hard for me to describe, it doesn't have the blingy feel that an all gold pen does. It almost feels warm.

The nib is pretty neat too, a very clean classic look to it to me. Very springy with the hint of some line variation with more pressure than I'd like to make a habit of. It's smooth for a Fine nib but I'd like it a hair wetter. (I am VERY picky there.)

The funny thing is, I'm not totally all P-75 gaga by any means. They have some Tres Cool finishes but the pen is just a hair thinner than I usually like. Still, for the way the Ciselle feels in hand, I'll make the exception. It's also a hair heavy for me, which was a concern, but it's not obnoxiously so. This material and finish feels so good in hand I may actually have to set my sniper scope for a BP in it.

This is also definitely going to make me move, "Not already having a Sterling Imperial" into the BAD Move column... :bonk:

I remember when I was in my clear colored Sheaffer school pen days seeing the Ciselle ads in National Geographic and thinking it looked pretty cool. It's a shame I didn't pay more attention to the memory before now.

So you Sterling pen owners, <giving the secret finger waggle/> I get it.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

I'm with you on the feeling of the 75 Cisele in the hand. Something about that particular texture makes the pen feel silky and warmer than plain sterling would. The 75 Cisele begs to be handled and written with. The upside of this is that the finish will stay nice and shiny the more you use it.

As far as the weight goes, I find that the 75 is nearly perfectly balanced if you post the cap, use a loose grip, and just let it rest in your hand. The weight, balance and nib will do the work for you. Also, take the time to get the indentations in the section just right in your hand and then rotate the nib to align it for the proper writing angle. The 75 is one of the most comfortable pens in my opinion.

If you come up for the August FPN meet here in Jax, I'll let you try out my Premier Cisele (the model that replaced the 75).

August 16, 2012

I have been looking at Ciselle parkers, they look great, and as you say are good value for money. Would be great to see some pics/review of yours?

Always interesting to see whats out there.....

cheers

da vinci

Glady, sorry, for now it's just a quickie pic after a bit of initial clean up and clean out. I'll take some nice ones of it soon.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

August 16, 2012

Keep it like that finger use/polish with no polish will get the P-75 "sorta shine" it up.

There are those barbarians who polish away all that neat tarnish in the cracks.

( I almost did it my self. I had a jeweler's cloth and thought I'd just get the top of the squares. Wrong!!

Luckily I'd only done 1/4 of the pen and letting it sit for a few months* allowed the crack tarnish to grow back.

*I did have other pens to play with.

The first model years the cracks were painted somehow.

Some one who knows stuff said there was some sulfur stuff that reblacked and then one wiped it clean. That seemed to be a lot of problems, when it can be avoided, by not polishing the cracks in the first place.

I'm sure the gleam at midnight brigade will state, I am wrong.

Well it's their pen.

August 16, 2012

There are a few other Sterling silver pens you should consider fondling.

Yes, it was jar who first piqued my interest in Sterling silver pens. A fountain of knowledge about such things, but sadly absent when it came to plunking down money for a purchase.

August 16, 2012

Ah! You got the original-style shaped grip, requested by Kenneth Parker and designed by Don (?) Doman, themselves. That grip and it's adjustable nib are what I love most about my 75 Cisele.

Why did Parker shift away?

My guess: it was a series of small steps leading to one big one. (1) Parker changed the grip to allow a nice honey-comb collector in the late-model 75's. (2) People must have felt less thrill in turning the nib than Ken Parker expected (3) The Parker family sold the pen business, since it was pulling only about 10% of the revenue they had from owning Manpower, the temp agency. A sad time. (4) The Newhaven-led Parker decided to update the design. Something larger. Hence, the Sonnet Cisele: a bigger pen, less-finely machined, no nifty grip. Cruder nib, maybe an attempt to control cost or maybe an attempt to use mostly the same die for the Sonnet nib and for the Frontier? (5) More attention being given to details in the Duofold, Parker's new "gift pen".

Just a guess.

August 16, 2012

Besides these, I remember someone showing a Duofold Centennial with checkered silver/lacquer prototype. I DEMAND Parker to put it into production, damned !

August 16, 2012

Neither was I...... until I bought one.

August 16, 2012

Neither was I...... until I bought one.

Wow that's a handsome pen! What is the model?

August 16, 2012

The first model years the cracks were painted somehow.

Some one who knows stuff said there was some sulfur stuff that reblacked and then one wiped it clean. That seemed to be a lot of problems, when it can be avoided, by not polishing the cracks in the first place.

I'm sure the gleam at midnight brigade will state, I am wrong.
Well it's their pen.

There are two quick ways I know to get the Ciselling back.

Cover the whole pen in latex sacs or put it in a ziplock with (I believe) a boiled egg in an open baggie within the ziplock. Either will cause the whole pen to tarnish post haste (and you can monitor how tarnished along the way) then you just Sunshine clothe off the area Above the grid recesses.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

August 16, 2012

Neither was I...... until I bought one.

Wow that's a handsome pen! What is the model?

Cross 150th Anniversary model. They came in gold filled too.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

August 16, 2012

Here are some quick snaps of my Cisele's. One interesting note is that the sections of the 75 and Premier are interchangeable. Parker modified the look of the pens and upgraded the nib on the Premier, but the writing experience is surprisingly similar. To my knowledge, these are the only three Cisele models (75, Premier, and Sonnet) that Parker ever put into production. I too saw the photo of that Duofold Cisele and wish that I could get my hands on one of those.

Top - my Grandfather's mid 60's 75 with 14k fine nib

Middle - Premier with 18k fine nib

Bottom - Sonnet with 14k fine nib

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/FLJeepGuy/Pens/CiselesCapped.jpg

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/FLJeepGuy/Pens/CiselesUncapped.jpg

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/FLJeepGuy/Pens/CiselesCaps.jpg

Edited August 16, 2012 by FLJeepGuy

August 16, 2012

The Premier seems a hair thinner than the 75 to me and For me, that's the wrong answer.

It would be hard for me Brer FJG to throw myself back in that there Sonnet brier patch... Even with THAT finish.

I'd have to get one used from someone I trusted to tell me it was problem free. But, it Does seem a bit thickerer than the P-75. No way could I pay the new retail tab for one. The more traditional nib is ok with me, but just so. I prefer the look of the 75 nib.

I've looked pretty closely at my 75 nib, I'm thinking it needs to be ground to a Fine Stub/CI coming down into the tip ball some to pick up a hair of width. The Atlanta pen show is a long ways away so I have plenty of time to contemplate it.

I'd REALLY like to see writing examples emphasizing line variation from the stock Fine and Medium italic 75 nibs.