Help Identifying This Possibly German Pen?

November 21, 2011

Dirty industrial diamonds were common even before Howard R. Hughes, Sr., who patented the two-cone roller bit, which allowed rotary drilling for and founded the Hughes Tool Company in 1909.

There has always been major market for industrial diamonds.

Well lately there have been less and will soon die, in everyone can make diamonds along with Rubies, Sapphires and Emerald in one's back yard for a couple of hundred dollars in a electrical oven.
How big do you want your blue Hope diamond?

By the way the blue diamonds in old India the diamond mining center of the world then, were the least worth, so the few big blue diamonds that the Kings of Europe were so happy to have, were the worst of the Indian diamonds.

Hmm - you're saying that my new pen is a counterfeit?

November 21, 2011

I just received in the mail this NOS Tropen:
And, hey! It has a nib that says Senator! So now I'm real curious and start googling like crazy (I don't own the famous pen guide) and have come to the realization that the Senator Regent looks exactly like my Tropen. The only difference being the name on the clip and the script on the side of the cap. They both even come with a long tapered blind cap to turn them into desk set pens. So it would seem that German pen makers traded parts all over the place. Perhaps there are Senator Regents out there sporting Tropen nibs?

No. There was no trading of parts in this case. Tropen became (was taken over by) Senator later on (1970's?) and this pen is an example of a Tropen model that was brought (back) on the market by Senator. That is why it has a Senator nib. So you will find 'new old stock' Tropen model pens with senator nibs, as well as Senator Regent models, that were actually very similar to the Tropen model 500 scholar design. Some of them are even more difficult to determine because they do not have any branding at all and are only recognizable by the Senator nib, and the striking resemblance with the Tropen Scholar 500 design.

It is very unlikely you would find a Senator pen with a Tropen nib. 1st because that would be an anachronism, secondly because Tropen only used nibs with its own branding in the oldest days of the firm. Later on they used nibs from Degussa, most of the time.

There is not so much to find about Tropen, but in A. Lambrou's famous book 'Fountain pens of the world' there is a large article about this interesting brand. See page 231 - 235.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Lexaf

November 21, 2011

Tropen are not easy to find on German or English EBay.

They were real big in the export market. In the '50's more than likely the second biggest producer of pens behind Wearever.

There were times when I looked every week. The few times they did show up, my wallet was on vacation.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

November 21, 2011

It is very unlikely you would find a Senator pen with a Tropen nib. 1st because that would be an anachronism, secondly because Tropen only used nibs with its own branding in the oldest days of the firm. Later on they used nibs from Degussa, most of the time.

I have to correct myself. Look here: ebay ad. http://www.ebay.co.u...s-/110726934399 ( I hope Penkala pens.com does not blame me using their excellent picture as an example)

This might be the exception that confirms the rule..... Clearly a transition model.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Lexaf

November 21, 2011

I feel a bit unworthy, adding a trivial piece of information so long after this thread was begun, but: Perles is not only a place name in France and Switzerland, also the plural of perle in French, but what seemed most obvious to me, looking at a picture of the pen, it is a family name. It occurrs in Jews but perhaps not only in Jews, and my first thought would be that Perles was the name of a shopkeeper who sold the pen as a house brand, or of a tiny pen manufacturer.

As a chess player and reader of chess books I am so accustomed to coming across a player named Perlis or Perles that I'd immediately think we have a surname and not a component of necklaces. We may never know.

November 21, 2011

It is very unlikely you would find a Senator pen with a Tropen nib. 1st because that would be an anachronism, secondly because Tropen only used nibs with its own branding in the oldest days of the firm. Later on they used nibs from Degussa, most of the time.

I have to correct myself. Look here: ebay ad. http://www.ebay.co.u...s-/110726934399 ( I hope Penkala pens.com does not blame me using their excellent picture as an example)
This might be the exception that confirms the rule..... Clearly a transition model.

Aha! There's my pen's nib! Thanks very much for the history lesson. I had a feeling that my pen wasn't post-war vintage but I couldn't find any mention of their being made in the '70s. It's all making sense now. :clap1:

November 21, 2011

I feel a bit unworthy, adding a trivial piece of information so long after this thread was begun, but: Perles is not only a place name in France and Switzerland, also the plural of perle in French, but what seemed most obvious to me, looking at a picture of the pen, it is a family name. It occurrs in Jews but perhaps not only in Jews, and my first thought would be that Perles was the name of a shopkeeper who sold the pen as a house brand, or of a tiny pen manufacturer.

As a chess player and reader of chess books I am so accustomed to coming across a player named Perlis or Perles that I'd immediately think we have a surname and not a component of necklaces. We may never know.

Interesting point of view. As earlier in this thread already was confirmed that the name was an engraving (possibly individual) and not a 'branding' that is usually made by melting a brand marking in the celluloid material, it is once more likely that this 'Perles' name is an individual French family name.

Thanks for thinking with us and add to the probability of what is the matter in this case.