Unnamed Vintage Mother-Of-Pearl Fountain Pen

[ThatOneGuy114]

Vintage Unnamed Mother-of-Pearl Paneled Fountain Pen

A beauty of a pen. Combined with a vintage flex nib, writing with it takes one back to the Golden Days of Writing. I personally believe it to be pre 1900 as most pens I've seen bearing this aesthetic are. Why would I think hat an unnamed pen, while beautiful should be in the reviews? Personally I ask myself often that even if the nib isn't of vintage flex quality, is it worth getting?

Appearance and Design - 9/10 - It is reasonably conservative as I have seen many models with gold filled caps and/or bigger bands surrounding the pearl slabs. However when using the pen not posted I find the aesthetics to be quite pleasing. Personally the cap does not flow well when posted onto the gold banded and Mother-Of-Pearl paneled body.

Construction And Quality - 10/10 - After all these years its panels are in great condition. While some of the panels have yellowed, as would be natural for an organic material it is contrasted by a few panels that have aged beautifully. From the brilliant and vibrant whites, blues, and greens of the brightest panels to the browns and dark greens of the aged panels. When turning the pen around I can see an excellent contrast between the colors that Mother-Of-Pearl is capable of. The gold bands are in excellent condition and accentuate the pearl nicely. The Hard rubber itself is black and there is a nice taper on the section itself.

Weight and Dimensions - 9/10 - About 5 1/8th inches length capped. About 4 5/8th uncapped. About 6 3/8th posted. The pen's section is the slightest bit more slender than that of a Pilot custom 74, which based on the measurements provided by Goulet Pens is a bit less than 9.7mm. (So I'd say about 9.6-9.5)

Nib and Performance - 9/10 - An excellent everyday writer as well as able to produce lines of up to 1.9mm but I'd say with casual effort about 1.6-1.5mm.

Filling and Maintenance - 8/10 - Eyedropper filled. While capable of huge ink capacities, it is subject to your average eyedropper problems such as blobs of ink coming down all of a sudden.

Cost and Value - 8/10 - I don't remember the price that I got it at but I would say I would feel comfortable paying around 300-350 for a pen of this quality and history.

Conclusion 8.83 - If you come across a pen like this don't hesitate to grab one, just for the beauty alone! (but still be careful to not get ripped off...) However I would be interested in what you guys think about pricing! Thank you all for your time and sorry if the quality of the review is not up to par with many of the more veteran reviewers as this is my first.

[visvamitra]

Interesting one.

[mitto]

Beautiful pen. Thanks for sharing pics.

[Beechwood]

Curious pen, an exceptional barrel with some very fine work, matched to a very plain cap in black BCHR with a clip that is again rather plain and not in keeping with the rest of the pen.

 

It suggests to me that this cap did not start life on this pen, the pen looks a little like a Parker #15 with a pearl overlay and either the cap has had its overlay removed or is simply a slip cap, that happened to fit, from another pen. The proportions are not quite right however.

 

An original Parker 15 would have had a very grand cap, as below.

 

Anyone any thoughts as to the history of the pen?

Edited July 20, 2017 by Beechwood

[mitto]

The cap looks to be from some Swan Mabbie Todd clipless pen.

[Chrissy]

The cap surely doesn't belong with the pen. It just doesn't look right. I can't read what it says on the nib so I don't know what brand the rest of pen might be.

[ThatOneGuy114]

The nib reads Warrented 14k and an 8 just below that. I've seen several pens like this with BCHR caps. The accommodation clip is one that I added. Assuming the cap is original, which it probably is not could it be possible that this is a budgetified mother of pearl version?

Edited July 20, 2017 by ThatOneGuy114

[Chrissy]

The nib reads Warrented 14k and an 8 just below that. I've seen several pens like this with BCHR caps. The accommodation clip is one that I added. Assuming the cap is original, which it probably is not could it be possible that this is a budgetified mother of pearl version?

 

I think that's unlikely. I still think it's a frankenpen

[TassoBarbasso]

Thank you for such an interesting review! the review section on this forum seems to have morphed into a discussion of contemporary low-end pens, it's nice to see an exception once in a while!

[siamackz]

 

I think that's unlikely. I still think it's a frankenpen

I agree, it quite clearly looks like that. The barrel is very beautiful. Congratulations!

[ENewton]

Yes, the barrel is beautiful, and the cap does its job. Enjoy the writing experience.

[Erad67]

I know it's several years later, but I think that's a Parker Lucky Curve #45.  If you look at what's written at the bottom, they note a cap similar to the one shown in your picture.
http://www.parkercollector.com/luckycurve.html