Who Loves Desk Pens?

[Brian Anderson]

Back in Aug. at an auction these desk sets were selling for $2.00 to $20.00.

When the price was to $2.00 they went like hotcakes. I picked what I liked.100_3348.JPG100_3349.JPG

Wow, old thread, this brought back some memories Ken! I noticed far to many of those desk sets as they are now in the store. I think I got half the table for something ridiculous like $5. The green and bronze wahl set still sits in my lobby at home, haven't decided what to do with it.

 

I probably have over 100 unique Esterbrook desk sets in all sizes and colors, and then the matching pens to go with them. Love them. Lisa hates them. You need a lot of room to store these! Some really cool sets in this thread, Would love to get the 149 base to fit my 149. If I ever find one at a decent price I may spring for it.

 

Just this morning discovered a nice gold filled Sheaffer desk pen with inlaid nib, looked like an Imperial of sorts. May have to take that home and find a base for it.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Brian Anderson
typo

[Mr. Pink]

I have one desk pen, a Sheaffer from the 80s. I use it as a dip, and it is by far my most used pen.

[ac12]

 

I probably have over 100 unique Esterbrook desk sets in all sizes and colors, and then the matching pens to go with them. Love them. Lisa hates them. You need a lot of room to store these!

 

Yes SPACE is the problem with desk sets. Most of mine are stored, because I don't have desk/shelf space to display them.

So why am I still looking for and buying desk sets....duh...

Edited August 5, 2014 by ac12

[william2001]

I personally don't like desk pens because I can't carry it around.

-William S. Park

[ac12]

 

I personally don't like desk pens because I can't carry it around.

-William S. Park

 

Pilot 200 and Lamy joy can both be carried, as they have caps not bases.

You just can't put them in your pocket, but you could put them into a bag.

[william2001]

 

 

Pilot 200 and Lamy joy can both be carried, as they have caps not bases.

You just can't put them in your pocket, but you could put them into a bag.

Thanks!

...Although I usually carry pens in my pocket.

-William S. Park

[ac12]

 

I personally don't like desk pens because I can't carry it around.

-William S. Park

 

BTW, I don't carry my desk pens either.

I use them at my desk or table at home.

Desk pens have a place, and if you do not have an appropriate environment to use it, then they are not the pens for you.

[Misfit]

Please take on a project! This new to desk sets member needs advice on how to choose one. I like one on eBay with a changeable calendar. It's a Sheaffer from the 1970s according to the listing. Is that a good decade for a desk set? Would a listing that tells about the pen working be better than other factors?

[ac12]

 

Please take on a project! This new to desk sets member needs advice on how to choose one. I like one on eBay with a changeable calendar. It's a Sheaffer from the 1970s according to the listing. Is that a good decade for a desk set? Would a listing that tells about the pen working be better than other factors?

 

For me, it is important to have a fitting pen with the base.

If it is just a base (no pen), then looking for a pen that would fit the holder could be difficult.

Knowing that it is a Sheaffer helps narrow down the pens that would fit.

Looking at the holder would tell more about the pen that would match. Is it a threaded holder or a slip in holder? The threaded holder would probably take my Snorkel or Touchdown, the slip in holder would probably take my Imperial or Dolphin. But if it is a slip in holder, it could also be a ball pen holder.

 

If it was a Parker base of the 1970 era, it is likely to handle the Parker 21,45,51, and 61. I would buy the base w/o the pen because I know what will fit. I do not know the other brands and time periods, so then I want the pen with the base.

 

In some cases you could replace the holder with a holder for a known pen.

However, this depends on the construction and mount method of the holder to the base, and if it is compatible. Example I could not put a holder that requires a 1 inch hole into a base with a 3/4 inch hole with out having to enlarge the hole. Or the reverse, I could not put a holder that requires a 1/2 inch hole into a base that has a 1 inch hole without a base modification to accommodate the smaller holder mount. Of course this creates a frankenbase where the holder and pen may not match the brand and or era of the base.

 

I consider any base as a potential, regardless of time period. For me it is the look and features of the base that attract me to a base. In some cases I have no idea when the base was made, I just like how it looks.

 

If you wish, you can PM me with the listing number and I could take a look at the listing for you.

 

gud luk

[Anne-Sophie]

Brian and ac12, please consider posting pictures and the history of your beauties.

 

 

One of the wonder of our hobby is the fact that it is so diverse and has the possibility to grow outwards as in collecting ink, desk accessories... It can lead to an interest in office designs.

 

Lately, I found myself spying on desk in historical documentaries and classic TV series to see if I can spot inkwells.

 

They are easier to spot than fountain pens in classic films as they are stationary.

 

Historical pictures are also a treasure trove.

[Misfit]

I finally got my Sheaffer snorkel pen restored by farmboy. Now my plan is to become an enabler by reviving this thread with a photo of my desk set. Behold a Sheaffer desk set from the 1970s.

[Anne-Sophie]

Carter's Stylewriter Desk Sets, anyone knows how many colors were produced?

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I like old thread revivals.

 

Out of a number of desk pens, the ones that I keep using are three Esterbrook Dip-Less sets. Two are singles, and the other is a double with two pens side by side. It's a convenient way of having some of my less often used inks available when I do want them, red and black side by side in the double, green and brown in the others.

 

Several other desk pens sit around unused for now, just not enough space. A couple of Esterbrook lever filled ones, a Sheaffer Snorkel which I firmly intend to get around to restoring when I get the time, etc.

 

When considering pens that are too expensive for me, I have to admit that the Nakaya desk pen is attractive. But at $400 for the pen plus $140 for the holder, I guess I can resist.

[tonybelding]

I was about to post my own "Who loves Desk Pens?" thread, but then I paused to do a search and found this one. It's a few years old, but definitely worth reviving and reviewing — if only for all the great photos that have been posted.

 

I've had a soft spot for desk pens in the past, but then forgot about them for a long while. While looking back at my records, I just realized I haven't bought a desk pen since probably 2013. Now I'm making a resolution (I guess it could be my New Year's Resolution, just a little early!), that I'm going to keep at least a couple of desk pens inked and ready to write: one at my computer desk, one at my writing desk.

 

The star of my collection (just edging out that great OMAS) is a vac-fill Sheaffer Triumph:

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/triumph_01.jpg

 

Well, actually I have two of those:

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/triumph_family.jpg

 

I'm a little ashamed that I forgot about these for so long. What about the rest of you? Can anyone else share a few new photos?

[Addertooth]

The thing I like about old desk sets is their depressed value. You can get desk sets with amazing nibs, in some cases very hard to find nibs (music, Keyhole, etc), at a price which is lower than what Just the Nib sells for. My first Red Keyhole nib pen was courtesy of a desk set. It was a typical lever filler, it sold for less than the value of the nib. My second red keyhole was via a Ink-Vue Copper Ray desk pen, it went for a surprisingly low cost as well. I have lost track, but there are probably about 6 desk sets in my collection. Probably the fanciest set is a 1920s, cast bronze figural Waterman set with matching bronze and Onyx knife with an Onyx base. The pen is a desk pen is a lever filled long taper pen. I also have a vac-fill scheaffer desk pen, like yours (same color), but with an onyx base is in the collection as well. There is a Eversharp Skyline deskset, a Wahl rosewood desk set, and another waterman 52ish desk set with a black and gold marble base with bronze plate. At work is a nearly untouched Desk pen which was one of the few made from Lucite with the 100 year Waterman Nibs. I bought and sold a double pen "accountant set" desk pens. That Sheaffer double set had the smoothest extra-fine nibs I have ever used.

 

The secret sauce for a lot of these desk sets is the fact the pen is stored nib down. They all seem to start right up, even when ignored for weeks.

[penwash]

I love desk pens. Another plus is that they display very well next to my collection of vintage cameras

 

This is my most handsome Esterbrook:

 

[Zookie]

They certainly do! BTW, I've been looking for a Mamiya U in good working condition for the longest time. Some day maybe.

[tonybelding]

Here are a couple that came up on eBay and I regret letting get away from me. . .

 

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/desk/ds4.jpeg

 

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/desk/rb2.jpg

[A Smug Dill]

Here are a couple that came up on eBay and I regret letting get away from me. . .

I'm just annoyed that my attempts to acquire a new Platinum KDP-3000A desk pen from Japanese sellers didn't pan out. I ordered one from YouStyle on Rakuten Global Market, but because for whatever stupid reason Rakuten Global Express refused to forward-ship to me in Australia the pen it received from the seller on my behalf, it got returned and refunded (after I got charged processing fees!). I tried to order one from Pensachi along with other products on one of my previous orders, but they never followed up on whether they can get one in for me, but just shipped the rest of the order and said no more about it.

 

It's the cheapest new gold-nibbed pen from Japanese Big Three fountain pen brands, and I really want to test it out for myself.

[Misfit]

That’s a pity @A Smug Dill.

 

I tried twice to order a Pelikan white tortoise from an Amazon Global Seller UK. Both times the pen returned to the seller. Tracking showed it going out one day, and returning the next the second time. How does that happen? The first time I contacted amazon, and they said the pen was damaged in transit, and that was why it returned. I did not bother to contact them the second time.

 

I got refunds both times. I never knew who the seller was. It is shielded behind Amazon Global Seller UK.

 

I hope you eventually get the desk pen you want.