Show Us Your French Vintage Pens!

[amk]

Vintage French pens seem to be a bit of a minority sport around here, but brands such as Gold Starry, Edacoto, Bayard, and Meteore have wonderful style and some fantastically patterned celluloids. Not to mention the less common brands like Stylochap, Old Chap, Walkover (English names seem to have been terribly fashionable in France in the 1930s and 1940s, for some reason), JMPaillard....

 

So come on, let's see some pictures of the nicest French vintage. I know there are other Bayard fanciers out there!

 

To kick off .... I just received a lovely little (11cm) Gold Starry in the post. Lovely celluloid, as usual with this brand.

 

http://i.imgur.com/K525eFol.jpg

 

And here's another Gold Starry, an amazing mixture of horizontal, diagonal and vertical stripes. I've not seen this particular pattern anywhere else.

 

http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t411/amk-fpn/P1100805.jpg

[tmenyc]

Nice Gold Starrys! I'll add a couple more, plus a couple of Bayards and Edacotos later this week when I can.

 

Tim

[Azuniga]

Beautiful Gold Starry pattern indeed !

 

Here are some more French pens...

 

Stylomine 303 green and brownish

Stylomine 303 Mastodonte

Bayard

Meteore Opéra

Semper by Paillard

 

[amk]

A lovely set there! And how on earth could I have forgotten Stylomine. That Mastodonte is really stunning; fantastic wild design. Is that ebonite or celluloid?

 

I have a couple of the smaller Stylomines but I am still waiting to find the monster version!

[Azuniga]

A lovely set there! And how on earth could I have forgotten Stylomine. That Mastodonte is really stunning; fantastic wild design. Is that ebonite or celluloid?

 

I have a couple of the smaller Stylomines but I am still waiting to find the monster version!

 

Mastodonte is ebonite, great pen to write with... I will keep posting some more whenever the time allows it... I love French pens.

[inkstainedruth]

Wow, there are some really beautiful pens people have. My problem would be that I know almost nothing about those brands, so wouldn't be able to adequately evaluate them for condition and price. I'll just sit admiring what I've seen here (kinda like when my parents took a cruise to Antarctica: my mother had a bad foot so she knew she'd never be able to get down the gangplank into a Zodiac, so she'd just sit on the deck looking at icebergs while my dad did the actual excursions, and waited till they got home to see the developed slides my dad took).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[fountainpagan]

Some of my vintage french

 

Bayard Excelsior

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/923/1iAbPb.jpg

 

Bayard Super 8

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/924/VdlLI7.jpg

 

Ramsés

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/924/hlwOge.jpg

 

Matcher Colombes

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/924/jFT7TU.jpg

 

Swell

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/923/vGrSms.jpg

 

Zodiaque

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/924/PkLazd.jpg

 

Edacoto

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/922/GtvIAs.jpg

 

Stylomine 303

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/924/MusPmV.jpg

[tmenyc]

Here's an Edacoto 87, at 14.2 cm a very large French pen, and more unusual because it was made from 1943-47, when almost no nonessential manufacturing was happening in France. Yes, for those keeping score at home, that is indeed a keyhole Waterman nib -- wrong country, wrong time, but RIGHT SIZE, and of course a great writer. I have the original nib, but it's missing its tip. Some day I may spring to have it retipped.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Tim

Edited February 22, 2017 by tmenyc

[donnweinberg]

It has been awhile since this topic had any posts, but having seen it, here’s my contribution.  I recently purchased on eBay the following Edacoto Mini fountain pen, which I have not yet filled:

 

 

My guess is that the transparent plastic pump will get filled with ink when the pen is filled.  Does anyone know?

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

I’ll update at some point after filling the pen and writing with it.

[donnweinberg]

Here’s the update on the Edacoto Mini .  I guessed correctly that the transparent cylindrical pump fills up with ink after filling; one sees this with the nib upwards, so that gravity forces the ink downward.  I enjoyed writing with this nice, old pen.  The nib is springy, and the writing is smooth and pleasant.

[ralfstc]

Nice pen! And the filling system is very groovy! I don't know if you've had it apart, but inside there is a spring and a rubber bellow, a very clever and simple filler  (Swan take note!). I have a Stylomine with the same system as well as the Swan Visofil.

 

Some of the French nibs are excellent but some are quite worn at this point. It seems you got a good one.

 

Have fun with your classy wee pen.

 

Ralf

 

 

[donnweinberg]

Thanks, ralfstc.

[Tashi_Tsering]

Edacoto 101

 

 

[donnweinberg]

Nice Edacoto, Tashi_Tsering.  When was the 101 sold?

[JonSzanto]

Edacoto "102" - I put that in quotes because the end-barrel stamp is very faint. I can make out the 1 and 2, and I *believe* there is a faint 0 in the middle. Whatever - lovely pen. One of my few French pens, certainly only one from that era.

 

[Tashi_Tsering]

6 hours ago, donnweinberg said:

Nice Edacoto, Tashi_Tsering.  When was the 101 sold?

Thanks! Sorry, I don't know - there is no date in the documents. I think it's the 1940s.

[Tashi_Tsering]

One of the tiniest pens I have in my collection is the "Unic". Only 10 cm long (closed).

 

I think it's a French pen from the 1950s. The filling system is accordion

[donnweinberg]

Very cool.  I find the very small fountain pens fascinating; to get all that functionality in such a small package impresses me.

[PAKMAN]

[donnweinberg]

Great-looking pen.