Sterling Silver Sheaffer Imperial

[Malcy]

I thought £50, that's a reasonable price but I probably won't get it. Well I did and here is a review of the Sheaffer sterling silver Imperial. This is the C/C version from the early 1970s, there is also a touchdown version. My first thought was that it needed a good clean and the cap did not want to come off at first. A bit of gentle persuasion later, imagine my surprise when a factory stub nib was exposed.

 

 

The pen follows the form of the Imperial series but it is clad in sterling silver in a diamond pattern which I prefer to the Parker grid. As far as I know, there are a couple of other silver finishes - barleycorn and waves.

 

 

The overall look of the pen is very nice and it is in good condition with the exception of a couple of small dings on the top of the cap. It is a nice size (131mm capped and 148mm posted) and is not too heavy.

 

 

The filling mechanism is cartridge or converter. The cartridges are the standard Sheaffer type but this pen is complete with a squeeze type converter. Simple and reliable with the option to use either bottle or cartridge.

 

 

The nib is a wonderful factory stub short diamond inlaid design. It is super smooth and creates a lot of line variation, even though one tine is slightly out of place. The nib is flexible but as it is so wide, I don't think that the flex will ever be used. I still can't believe my luck.

 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g114/Luminarium/Pens/imperial.jpg

 

In conclusion, a lovely pen with a superb nib and I am happy with the price paid, it's a keeper.

 

Overall 10/10

[JonSzanto]

With a factory stub, that is a real bargain - congratulations!

[Koyote]

Yup, quite a find! Great line variation. If you are comfortable trying, you can probably re-align those nib tines pretty easily. You can find instructions on the 'net, either here on FPN or at nibs.com, for example. Or a nibmeister can do it pretty quickly.

[pelman]

beautiful pen and great nib to boot. Congrats on the find.

[Toolattack]

Great find!

I love that nib and nice to find a silver pen at a good price.

[Malcy]

The nib is sorted. Just a bit of tweaking of the RH tine with my thumb nail was enough.

[jar]

How do you like those FT Madison stub nibs?

[Bill Wood]

Beautiful pen and a great price - good for you. I've had a Victorian for some time now, and clean up the tarnish from time to time and use it as a daily writer. You'll enjoy that beauty.

[Flounder]

You've certainly been touching the bases with a few classics lately, haven't you!

[Malcy]

How do you like those FT Madison stub nibs?

 

It's very nice. A lot of line variation and very smooth.

[akrishna59]

dear malcy,

 

it is a throwback to the good old days of sheaffer, very nice indeed. enjoy your pen in good health and take pride in it.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[Mauricio]

Malcy,

 

Thanks for a great review and wonderful pictures. What a great pen with a gorgeous sterling pattern. Those Ft. Madison stub nibs set the bar very high. Enjoy your pen.

[Malcy]

Sheaffer Imperials with the factory stub nib seem to be a bit like buses. None come along for ages then suddenly there are several.

 

I have just picked up another imperial with a stub nib on an Imperial IV, albeit with a damaged cap. The pen looks ok though and the cap can be replaced. Only £8.

 

There is another one on ebay at the moment (sells tomorrow) for anyone interested. A G/F Imperial Sovereign with a nice looking factory stub nib.

 

Item No: 230738793878

[yuyang]

Congratulations!

Beautiful pen and nice price~

[hsianloon]

Such fortune. Bought my brother one with the touchdown filler, regretted not biting myself one as well when they were chalet at pen shows.

 

Ordered myself one off ebay and waiting eagerly. Great pics illustrating the beauty of this timeless model

[da vinci]

Nice pen

 

I love those inlaid nibs, especially the stubs.

[enchiridion]

can anyone give a definition of a factory stub?

[binbean]

Wow congrats! Great pen at a reasonable price, what can be better! Also your hand writing is beautiful.

[Ron Z]

can anyone give a definition of a factory stub?

 

The nib was ground to a stub at the factory instead of at some later point by a nib tech. i.e. original configuration instead of modified. The number of stub nibs from the factory is relatively low compared to the number of medium and fine nibs produced. It matters to those who care about vintage items being in their "original" state, though "custom ground" has its own cachet for many collectors/users. The end result is the same - it's a stub nib.

[Honeybadgers]

 

The nib was ground to a stub at the factory instead of at some later point by a nib tech. i.e. original configuration instead of modified. The number of stub nibs from the factory is relatively low compared to the number of medium and fine nibs produced. It matters to those who care about vintage items being in their "original" state, though "custom ground" has its own cachet for many collectors/users. The end result is the same - it's a stub nib.

 

For lack of better understanding - is there really a way to tell on a non-serialized pen like this if the stub was factory or not?