A Collection Of Bexley Pens

[zaddick]

One of the great things about this site is the opportunity to learn about pens you might not see otherwise. It is also one of the most dangerous aspects if you have limited ability to avoid purchasing pens (aka willpower). It was through this site that I learned a lot about Bexley pens. After a fair amount of reading, I decided I needed to try one of the pens.... then another, then over to eBay, then Vanness, then back to eBay, and on and on. Finally I have most of the pens I want, but I will still keep my eye out for a few more or a good deal.

 

 

 

I will not bore you with the history of the company. There are plenty of posts here if you search and even some articles about the company. I will just point out that it was started in 1993 by Howard Levy (who still runs the show) with a mission to create modern pens inspired by the golden age of fountain pens. Their pens are reminiscent of Parker, Whal, Waterman pens, and the like. Many of the older Bexley pens are limited editions of up to around 100, and in some cases not even the full edition was created. The older pens also used a lot of 10k or 14K gold clips and bands which means they will not brass and can be polished right up.

 

 

 

OK, enough of the chatty chattin'. Let's see some pictures. I'll start with a Gaston's Special Reserve from 2000. This was a collaboration with Jim Gaston, a renowned sportsman who also had a passion for pens. He partnered with Bexley for several years to create pens. (He also partnered with Sheaffer and maybe other makers.) This pen is made using a pearlized burgundy acrylic. It is clearly an homage to the MB 149 thought it has its own charm. The pen has a 10K clip with a ruby. The nib is a 14K stub and the pen is a C/C filler, like most Bexley pens. I am not crazy about the silver colored wide band, but gold would have made it much more expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

I really like the acrylic. It has such a nice depth and shimmer that reminds me of seeing a fish swim by in the clear Caribbean water. Just a quick flicker of light as you move it about.

Edited July 2, 2016 by zaddick

[zaddick]

The next pen is also another Gaston collaboration, this time from 2006. It is called the Custom in brick red. This is the same shape as the America the Beautiful series of pens and the 2006 Bexley Owner's club pens. I bought this pen because I love Tibaldi celluloids from the mid-1990s. Once Tialdi (company version #2) went belly up in the late 1990s, their remaining celluloid rods were sold off and used by other pen makers. This is the Rosso Verde material, literally just meaning red and green in Italian. And that is what it is exactly. You get some green streaks peeking out from under the red chips of celluloid. It also has that lovely camphor smell that reminds me of vintage pens. Another C/C pen so no ink window.

 

 

 

 

[zaddick]

Also from 2006 is a Bexley Owners Club edition. This pen is the same shape as the one above and is also made with the wonderful Tibaldi celluloid. This pen uses my favorite Tibaldi material, Impero celluloid which has such intense blue streaks to compliment the various grey bits. It almost looks like lava flowing between rocks and to me it imparts a sense of motion. The fun thing about this pen is the fact it uses a pump filler with vintage parker parts. You can even see the breather tube! A modern vacumatic pen and an amazing celluloid. This one was high on my priority list to acquire.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a comparison shot of the two pens from 2006.

 

 

[zaddick]

Next up is a pen from 1997, the Bexley Decoband. This pen was crafted as an hommage to the vintage Wahl Decoband pens. It is not an exact replica as the proportions are a bit different (and the bands are clearly different), but you can see the inspiration. This pen was produced in two colors in 1997 and another 2 colors in 1999 (the later version was a bit smaller). One thing I found interesting about this pen relates to the 3 cap bands. Apparently some lawyerly types felt this was too close to the skinny-thick-skinny configureation of a certain German brand, so Bexley changed the pattern to just a wide band and a skinny lower band. My pen is #30 and I have seen some later production pens that are missing the top band. So if you see that, it is not an error.

 

This pen is in woodgrain ebonite. The clip and cap band are substantial and 14K. Gold certianly use to be cheaper! Agian another C/C pen. However, you might see a cut line down the barrrel where one should not exist. That is because a previous owner converted the pen into a button filler by cutting the end ff and installing a metal button. Since I did not have a sac handy, I converted the pen back to a C/C for now. This pen is a good size/weight for my everyday writing.

 

 

 

[zaddick]

Next up is a Deluxe II from 1999. This pen is clearly influenced by the Parker Duofold. It came is several colors (and as typical with a small pen maker like Bexley, several prototype colors), but my favorite is the Sheaffer Jungle acrylic. This material was used in many pens from multiple manufacturers, but I really like it in this application. The clip and cap band are 10K gold and nice and thick. This is also a nice long pen when not capped which I appreciate. I believe some of the earlier colors in this pen were button fillers, but this is a C/C pen.

 

 

 

 

[zaddick]

Continuing on, we head to the big boys. The first is the Platinum Giant from 1994. This is one of the 4 official colors, and this one was the most limited at 50 examples. It has the optional #12 size nib and it is the only pen that had the two-tone #12 nib. (The rest were all gold colored.) This is a monster of a pen with a nib to match. It has an aerometirc squeeze converter and holds a fair amount of ink, though maybe not as much as you might expect from such a large barrel. This pen was inspired by the old Parker Giants and is a similar size. Even though it is a large pen it is light enough to use comfortably.

 

 

 

 

Here are a few shots of the nib and feed. Notice the blob of irridium on the tip. Most of these pens are apparently terrible writers out of the gate. This pen was adjusted for flow and smoothness by Mottishaw.

 

 

 

 

 

One more shot of the lovely pearlized grey acrylic.

 

 

[zaddick]

In 1999 Bexley released the Grand Finale. It was not, despite the name, the end of the company. The pen is inspired by the Waterman 58 and it has a great, hand done overlay. The pen is a limitation of 88, but I understand nowhere near 88 were actually made. Despite the large size, the pen is quite light and easy to write with. It really is a lovely piece of work with lots of hand embellishments. I don't usually go for these vintage overlay pens, but I made an exception for this lovely beast. The pen body is ebonite and it can be used as a C/C or an eye dropper with large capacity.

 

 

 

 

[zaddick]

Last, but certainly not least, is a pair of pens that most would call an elephant and a mouse, or maybe David and Goliath. In 1998 Bexley produced their version of the legendary Parker Ultra Giant hard rubber pen. This pen was limited to 25 (plus at least one prototype I have seen). The pen is close to 9 inches long and has a #12 nib that looks very undersized on this monster. The pen is a slip cap and can be used as an eye dropper. The original retail was on the order of $10,000 and the pens are pretty hard to find now.

 

 

 

 

Here is a size comparison to the Deluxe II pen.

 

 

 

Here is a profile of the nib. Notice the smaller tip compared to the Giant.

 

 

 

Just like the original Parker Ultra Giant, this pen has a compartment in the end that contains a second orange/red hard rubber slip cap ebonite pen.

 

 

 

 

Here is a comparison of the little red pen and the Deluxe II full sized pen.

 

 

[zaddick]

Well, that's the collection for now. I hope you enjoyed looking at it and maybe it will inspire you to support a great American pen company with your own purchase. Please feel free to ask questions or post your own Bexley photos and pens. They are fun to see.

 

 

I'll end with some group shots, both capped and uncapped.

 

 

 

 

[da vinci]

Great little collection Zaddick, thank you for sharing

 

My favourite is the Decoband. Love the ripple!

 

I have admired Bexleys for a little while. My first proper pen was a Posiden with a great stub that I bough from Sarj at my first pen show. It is a great writer.

 

I like the way that they are inspired by other pens. This really leaps out at you when you have a collection such as yours

[usk15]

Amazing collection! Thank you for sharing!

[whichwatch]

That's a really nice collection of Bexley's. I only have a couple of pictures to share.

 

When I first got interested in pens, I went to the Ohio Pen Show and one of the first pens to capture my interest was a Bexley Americana. I didn't buy that pen then but it stayed in my mind, and I later owned two. Both are now in other homes. Recently,

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BE148319F-7083-4753-BF19-E3CDBA4B6E9D%7D/origpict/DSCN7690.JPG

 

I was able to add what has become one of my very best writing pens - this Bexley Sheherezade Tortoise, which is part of a set with a matching rollerball. My son, who is a major Bexley collector and owns close to 100, tells me the Sheherezade in Tortoise is a bit of a grail among Bexley collectors. In your grouping,

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BE5AB52DA-CD3C-4666-BAA3-9DA614AB6894%7D/origpict/B1.JPG

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BA57CA285-3418-42F1-AF2A-565072CFF279%7D/origpict/B2.JPG

 

the rosewood Decoband is a great looking pen. Thanks for sharing your collection!

[bobje]

Those pens are so sweet, Zaddick. Outstanding. Bexley really has a way with center bands -- Classic.

[dr saleem ali]

Nice collection and pics ! Really enjoyable.

[zaddick]

Just when you think you are done, along comes another pretty face. Thank goodness i gave myself wiggle room to buy more in the first post! Another Bexley is on its way to me afer Monday's postal holiday. I'll add pics here when it arrives.

 

Thanks all for your comments. This was a bit of a hard collection to put together since i mostly like the older and fairly limited pens from Bexley. Some of the newer pens are also nice but i have to be a bit pickier now.

 

Whichwatch - thank you for the pictures. I think those are lovely pens. I am a bit of a sucker for the semi-transparent tortoise acrylics.

[gweimer1]

Nice collection! I just picked up another Bexley today. I now have an orange Flat Top in my pocket. It may well be the largest pen I have, and it's going to be in my pocket for a while. The nice thing is that I'm so close to his shop that I just drove over and got it. No waiting on the mail!

[Scribblesoften]

This is a beautiful collection of pens. Bexley also made pens for the Molteni brand. I have a nice C/C red ebonite pen. The Moltenis come up on ebay from time to time, though this one is a bit pricey.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEXLEY-MOLTENI-HERITAGE-VACUMATIC-LIMITED-EDITION-FOUNTAIN-PEN-00-22-/391473636680?hash=item5b25a5a548:g:7bgAAOSwpDdVUfZT

[zaddick]

Here is the latest addition to my little Bexley family - a clear and red demo prototype Poseidon Magnum II. i bought this pen from a fellow member here because it was mint and a good deal for a piston filler pen. (I am also a bit of a sucker for demo pens.) The pen is acrylic and the trim is all rhodium plated metal. The nib is a two-tone steel nib that provides a wet B line with no real variation or springiness. The pen is a nice writer and is reminiscent of vintage Pelikan designs from the 1950s.

 

I do have two major issues with this pen, however. The first is the aesthetically unpleasing look of the piston mecahnism. It takes up 605 of the barrel yet it looks like melted glue with ridgelines running through it. I would have rather seen the mechanism or it have been black. (A friend of mine described it mroe as wet kleenex in the barrel.) The second issue is that if I keep twisting the piston, when it is already down it will drive the back of the piston mechanism out of the pen body. Ia m nto talkng about any extra force here, just the kind of extra twists you can easily do because there is not much resistance when the piston hits the bottom of the ink chamber.I do not have anotehr Magnum to compare to determine if this is my pen or a more common issue.

 

For the price I do not regret getting the pen, but this will be the only Posiedon Magnum II I plan to pay for.

 

 

 

[Bluey]

That's an amazing, beautiful, and full-of-character collection you have there, Zaddick(and whichwatch too!).

They're really quite sweet and uncomfortably tempting. I think my wallet is going to hate me soon if I don't watch out.

[IrishEyes]

What lovely pens! I especially love the silver filigree overlay pen, and the grey and blue marbled one. Just gorgeous. I've never even seen a Bexley pen, so I appreciate your sharing photos of your collection. I'll sit here and covet the 2 I mentioned, and keep my eye open for a good looking one to possibly add to my collection, eventually :-).