"old" Style Pens

[Chalcis]

Here's a disclaimer first: I'm mostly talking about ballpoint pens. Don't shoot me just yet! I'm open to fountain pens as well.

 

... and I've never bought a fountain pen. It'll happen soon enough

 

I was looking around at the many companies that produce pens (both fountain pens and ballpoint/rollerball), and I had no idea there was such a variety of high quality writing instruments available! From a simple stroll around Staples or OfficeMax, you'd think the fountain pen was dead and gone a long time ago (and in a way it is, but that can be said in a similar capacity about carriages too.).

 

Anyways, I am absolutely enamored with the design of the Parker Duofold pencil and ballpoint pens. Is there anything else available that looks similar? I'm not afraid to buy used pens, but I'd prefer new.

 

I was also looking at some of YOL's offerings. Trust me, if I had the capital, I would have bought one of the Viceroy models right away (fountain pen of course). For ballpoint, I was more drawn towards the Diplomat and Regent (as well as the Caran D'ache Ecridor). But boy are these things expensive.

 

All metal or having features like the Duofold pencil is a great plus. I'm open to any and all suggestions. (I've also been looking at the Pelikan M400, Sailor 1911M, Pilot VP Raden, etc. It's not all about the metal.)

 

Any help would be much appreciated

 

-M

 

This is my first thread, so if I did something wrong, feel free to let me know.

[Sallent]

Since you said you are looking for a pen that looks like vintage pens. Here is what some old vintage ballpoint pens from the late 50's and early 60's look like

 

http://www.pensandwatches.com/images/pens/700s/p710.JPG

 

 

And here is what an early fountain pen looks like

 

http://img3.etsystatic.com/016/1/6014084/il_fullxfull.416586783_483q.jpg

 

 

I know which one I would rather have and write with. And if I were buying a modern pen that matches the design and style of either one of these vintage pens, I know I'd rather have the fountain pen.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Sallent

[jar]

Here's a disclaimer first: I'm mostly talking about ballpoint pens. Don't shoot me just yet! I'm open to fountain pens as well.

 

... and I've never bought a fountain pen. It'll happen soon enough

 

I was looking around at the many companies that produce pens (both fountain pens and ballpoint/rollerball), and I had no idea there was such a variety of high quality writing instruments available! From a simple stroll around Staples or OfficeMax, you'd think the fountain pen was dead and gone a long time ago (and in a way it is, but that can be said in a similar capacity about carriages too.).

 

Anyways, I am absolutely enamored with the design of the Parker Duofold pencil and ballpoint pens. Is there anything else available that looks similar? I'm not afraid to buy used pens, but I'd prefer new.

 

I was also looking at some of YOL's offerings. Trust me, if I had the capital, I would have bought one of the Viceroy models right away (fountain pen of course). For ballpoint, I was more drawn towards the Diplomat and Regent (as well as the Caran D'ache Ecridor). But boy are these things expensive.

 

All metal or having features like the Duofold pencil is a great plus. I'm open to any and all suggestions. (I've also been looking at the Pelikan M400, Sailor 1911M, Pilot VP Raden, etc. It's not all about the metal.)

 

Any help would be much appreciated

 

-M

 

This is my first thread, so if I did something wrong, feel free to let me know.

 

First, welcome home, pull up a stump and set a spell.

 

Take a look at some of the Faber Castell products.

[Chalcis]

I did take a gander at some of the Graf von Faber products, and I've found a few that caught my eye pretty well. They too, are ones to I'd have to save up for, but nothing surprising there!

 

That Waterman is quite the looker as well! I'd have to buy a few cheapies to beat up before I step up to something so nice I'm also a big fan of Lamy, strangely.

[jar]

I did take a gander at some of the Graf von Faber products, and I've found a few that caught my eye pretty well. They too, are ones to I'd have to save up for, but nothing surprising there!

 

That Waterman is quite the looker as well! I'd have to buy a few cheapies to beat up before I step up to something so nice I'm also a big fan of Lamy, strangely.

 

Faber Castell might be more in your range right now.

[Uncle Red]

Conklin is doing Ballpoints to match their Fountain Pens.

[Antaresia]

I'd have to buy a few cheapies to beat up before I step up to something so nice I'm also a big fan of Lamy, strangely.

 

That's where I'm at now. Out of all my cheapies so far, I like the TWSBI 580 best. There are so many great brands out there, I had planned on deciding what my "best pen" would be and work toward it; but the variety is killing me.

 

It's a good thing, having cheapies around. I decided to start using my $8 chelpark FP at work. The very first day my co-worker almost broke it

: /

[Runnin_Ute]

You can sometimes find NOS models of the Waterman Phileas:

 

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Fountain%20Pens/watermanphilieasfineptredmarblefountain.jpg

 

Parker 45 (which came in ballpoint, pencil AND fountain pen versions) in NOS (new old stock) for reasonable prices.....

(both regular and flighter)

[Runnin_Ute]

Levenger has ballpoint (and even pencil) versions of some versions of their True Writer line of fountain pens. http://levenger.com

 

(satisfied customer - 3 fountain pens and some other items.....)

[Chalcis]

I did take a gander at some of the Graf von Faber products, and I've found a few that caught my eye pretty well. They too, are ones to I'd have to save up for, but nothing surprising there!

 

That Waterman is quite the looker as well! I'd have to buy a few cheapies to beat up before I step up to something so nice I'm also a big fan of Lamy, strangely.

 

Faber Castell might be more in your range right now.

 

Much. And they do seem to have a good deal of hex-shaped barrels on some of their models, which I'm a big fan of. More than that, they offer wood as a potential material as well. Of course its expensive, but not that much compared to some of the pens I've been staring at recently (S.T. Dupont comes to mind..)

 

Conklin is doing Ballpoints to match their Fountain Pens.

 

I'm a big fan of that filler style.. anything old and unique. I certainly scratched my head for a good minute or two trying to figure out how it worked (somehow that's a positive for me as well.).

 

I'd have to buy a few cheapies to beat up before I step up to something so nice I'm also a big fan of Lamy, strangely.

 

That's where I'm at now. Out of all my cheapies so far, I like the TWSBI 580 best. There are so many great brands out there, I had planned on deciding what my "best pen" would be and work toward it; but the variety is killing me.

 

It's a good thing, having cheapies around. I decided to start using my $8 chelpark FP at work. The very first day my co-worker almost broke it

: /

 

Hah. I don't trust anyone with my stuff, really. Even my more "expensive" ballpoints (up to a whopping $30!) The only parallel I have to any of you folks' expensive pens are probably my machinist tools. Most of it is Starrett or Mitutoyo (even a few Grobet files that cost me an arm and a leg.), and I keep a very careful eye on them at all times.

 

TWSBI has a good following on here from what I've read. I'm especially interested in their Micarta model. I think I heard that they're fixing some sort of problem with the feed and the new version will be available sometime soon. I sure hope so.

 

 

You can sometimes find NOS models of the Waterman Phileas:

 

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Fountain%20Pens/watermanphilieasfineptredmarblefountain.jpg

 

Parker 45 (which came in ballpoint, pencil AND fountain pen versions) in NOS (new old stock) for reasonable prices.....

(both regular and flighter)

 

Ah, yes. The 45! Another one of my favorites, just from looking around. Very.. utilitarian in my opinion. A true workhorse. I'll probably have both the ball and fountain pen versions soon in the future. And true to your word, they are very reasonable in price.

 

A little more poking around in the history of Parker and I've noticed a thing of absolute beauty: The "Vacumatic". I saw a few fully resto'd ones at around 130.. not bad in my opinion, but I'm far from the experts I'm sure some of you consider yourselves to be. The bands of color are quite amazing, honestly.

 

I haven't seen it yet, but does anyone manufacture a modern example of these "banded" sort of pens? I know Pelikan has the tortoise version of their Souveran line (I'm quite partial to the brown model, but I've only seen white ones so far).

 

 

Levenger has ballpoint (and even pencil) versions of some versions of their True Writer line of fountain pens. http://levenger.com

 

(satisfied customer - 3 fountain pens and some other items.....)

 

Yes they do, and at a decent price point as well. I do appreciate the companies that offer both a multitude of colors as well as black/silver for their pens. Their website also turned me to another Parker model that I like, the Sonnet. Especially the "cisele" silver model, both fountain and ball.