Russian pens?

[thewolfgang]

Does anyone know anything about vintage Russian FPs, assuming they exist?

[meanwhile]

There's what's claimed to be a Russian P51 clone selling on ebay.co.uk at the moment - it's marked as a 612 on it's barrel which suggests possible Hero-Chinese-ish-ness, but the cap is a very clunky and heavy looking gold affair...

[rustynib]

hello there is site for penkala that can perhaps shed a light on the state of thinks the other side of the former curtain !!

 

 

www.penkala.net

 

rusty

[tryphon]

I have several Soyuz Russian pens and a few other very basic ones.

The Soyuz was the premier pen: it was a copy of a Vacumatic-filler Parker 51 and it was quite well made. There were also some accordion filler pens and a few syringe fillers. Most russians, however, had access to chinese Hero pens, which were affordable and reliable. Some very fancy Vac-51 Soyuz pens were given as awards to plant managers meeting their production quota and other similar targets. There was also a popular desk set inspired by Sputnik and having a space-motif base.

[Eduardo]

Союз (Soyuz) pens had four trends/decades:

 

1950: P51 Vacumatic "clones" - Not really Vacumatics at all. The plunger device don't pushes a diaphragm. It pushes an "accordion" ink sac. Barrel is removable, showing the sac.

 

1960: P61 "clones" - No capillary filling, nor aerometric filling. These pens have an interesting "piston filler" internal unit.

 

1970: P45 "clones" - Semi-hooded nibs. Very well made pens. "Flighter" versions available. The same "piston filler" internal unit as the "P61" model.

 

1980: Poor finished models. In the mood of the last sovietic era days. "Square shoulder" open nibs with the same "piston filler" internal unit.

 

The gold filled caps always have the gold plating over a texturized surface. A very extrange finishing... Golden, but opaque.

 

My pen is a 1960's (P61) with "F" nib. A very pleasant pen!

[vans4444]

I have just bought a Soyuz pen on eBay. Here is the link

 

If you are interested, I will post a mini review when it arrives.

Edited September 22, 2010 by vans4444

[richardandtracy]

I have just bought Soyuz pen on eBay. Here is the link

 

If you are interested, I will post a mini review when it arrives.

I, for one, would be fascinated.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[RussianToronto]

I have just bought Soyuz pen on eBay. Here is the link

 

If you are interested, I will post a mini review when it arrives.

 

 

It would be fun to read, being Russian I have never thought about the FP's that we all have being using... till now.... hmm....

 

 

[lovemy51]

i bought a soyuz from this fellow (before shipping got ridiculously expensive, tho' i understand...): http://stores.ebay.com/Russian-Soviet-Rarities/Pens-Writing-Instruments-/_i.html?_sacat=966&_sid=87276270&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

 

this is mine:

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/soyuz.jpg

 

 

writes really nicely!!!

[Bearcat]

I have just bought Soyuz pen on eBay. Here is the link

 

If you are interested, I will post a mini review when it arrives.

I, for one, would be fascinated.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

 

Yes, please. I'd love to see a review and some writing samples. The Soviet-era watches that have passed through my collection have varied widely in quality. The Poljot were the best. Some others were real junk. Of course, I would expect the best ones to be in the possession of higher-ups in the party who likely kept them.

 

Thanks!

[mdoering]

Just stumbled across a soviet fountain pen/pencil set... Link

[Sesheta]

I have a Soyuz gold fish fountain pen from the 50s or 60s.

 

 

It's an accordion filler with a medium steel nib that actually writes surprisingly smooth. Almost feels like writing with a felt pen. It's a nice writer and always get's comments when I use it. Very fond of it. I've collected Russian cameras for years so was naturally interested in the Soviet pens.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've got a bit of a write-up on one of the "51"-style Soyuz on my blog-- it's not the best pen ever, but it's far from the worst and I think the interior mechanism will stand up to a lot of abuse.

[sdonahue]

I've got one coming from Mother Rawsha. I'll review it when it arrives. Do svidanya.

[Garageboy]

That clip is pure WW2 Waterman cloning

[sdonahue]

Well, comrades, it arrived today, packed in between two pieces of styrofoam(!); I'm surprised it got here. Took 15 minutes to locate the 'package' in the PO. The person who packed it in Russia has beautiful printing, much to be envied.

The pen is the P51 model, in a nice shade of dove grey. The clip resembles a 1940s Waterman clip, and has 'Soyuz' in Cyrillic print, running down the clip. The P51-type single jewel is white. It is of course, a hooded nib, made out of some kind of metal---there is a gold(?) tiny spot on the top of the nib. It's a vac, with a clear plastic plunger. The very nice thing is that, when the pen is full, you can see it in the plunger itself. Metal clutch ring and cap band. The band has 2 holes on it; one on each side. I did not take the barrel off with these destroying paws. If it ain't broke, don't even try to fix it.

It writes surprisingly smoothly, with a fine line. I do notice a slight flow prob---if you have, say, a 10-letter word, maybe the first 2 letters are lighter than the following 8. I wrote a letter with the pen, and it was an enjoyable experience.

The only real horror of the whole thing is that, the pen cost $9.95 (ebay); shipping was $25.00---OY GEVAAAAAAAALT !!!!!!!

Would I recommend getting one? Yeah. The Soyuz P51 clone is better than some, and worse than others. I do like the dove grey colour, though.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Sounds like we got our pens from the same place-- I'm keeping the shipping "box" around for emergency floatation. A couple of notes-- the hood and barrel counter-rotate, so if you do have to take it apart keep in mind that as you loosen one you may be tightening the other, and the filler is more of an accordion than a vacumatic type, very thick rubber and hopefully with a very long failure period. I like that the filler button doubles as an ink-window.

 

a hooded nib, made out of some kind of metal

 

Bronze? Titanium? Krell space metal? It is a poser, isn't it? :hmm1:

[sdonahue]

Sounds like we got our pens from the same place-- I'm keeping the shipping "box" around for emergency floatation. A couple of notes-- the hood and barrel counter-rotate, so if you do have to take it apart keep in mind that as you loosen one you may be tightening the other, and the filler is more of an accordion than a vacumatic type, very thick rubber and hopefully with a very long failure period. I like that the filler button doubles as an ink-window.

 

a hooded nib, made out of some kind of metal

 

Bronze? Titanium? Krell space metal? It is a poser, isn't it? :hmm1:

 

 

I checked the website last night. The pen prices have gone up. What was 9.99 is now 15.99 and 20.99. :-(

[Garageboy]

SO they don't have the made at gunpoint characteristics of most soviet products?

[Ernst Bitterman]

There is a certain air of "made with tools also applicable to aerospace and farm machinery", but nothing actually disfunctional. Consider it the Lada Niva beside the Ford Bronco II which the Parker "51" represents, or as a MiG 21 compared to...well, maybe an F-8 Corsair rather than an F-4 Phantom.

Edited January 13, 2011 by Ernst Bitterman