Lifetime Balance Ebonized Pearl

[pen lady]

 

Somewhere, someone wrote recently about how (relatively) common it is to find near-mint pen sets out there, and why it happens. I think I have one here. I recenly bought this set on eBay and have been contemplating the reasons why it's still in such good shape - check out the transparency of the vistulated section. My theory is that Constance Ann Miller was given this pen, maybe when she graduated, and didn't like it. Perhaps the full size was uncomfortable to hold, I know the nib was awful and scratchy (not so now), but it must have sat, almost unused from 1936 or so till now. When I restored it, the original sac marked Sheaffers Anode was still attached and when I flushed it out, it was almost ink-free. Anyway despite the personalization, I love this set and paid $46 for it - how'd I do?

[jar]

You did great.

[Ceilidh]

Well done!

[loudkenny]

You did better than great... I'm very thoroughly jealous.

 

ken

[Scribblesoften]

That is a very nice set. Excellent find.

[Joe in Seattle]

Fantastic!

[georges zaslavsky]

well done

[rpk1204]

Great job! price is very good and I "assembled" a set by luck (one engraved and one not), but still a very handsome pen and pencil and It makes me sad to think of how many sets like this got "tossed" because somebody thought they were worthless....

 

Enjoy!

[pen lady]

Oh yes, "assembling" sets is fun too isn't it? I've just put together a grey striated balance set from about 1933 with a 5-25 nib. I picked up the pen for $5 at an estate sale and had the pencil in my collection already. Like your set, the pen is engraved and the pencil action is a bit arthritic, but it sure looks pretty in the drawer!

[kirchh]

Oh yes, "assembling" sets is fun too isn't it? I've just put together a grey striated balance set from about 1933 with a 5-25 nib. I picked up the pen for $5 at an estate sale and had the pencil in my collection already. Like your set, the pen is engraved and the pencil action is a bit arthritic, but it sure looks pretty in the drawer!

 

Might want to double-check that...there is no such thing as a 5-25 nib, and the striated Gray Pearl is 1937 at the earliest, per catalogs.

 

--Daniel

[pen lady]

Oh silly, silly me!!!!!! That's what happens when old ladies try to rely on memory. 5-30 nib of course. I'm reaching the age where im suffering from what my late mother called "CRS" - Can't remember sh**t.

[rpk1204]

Details, details. lol! Always love the hunt and the find!

[Lazard 20]

"... when I restored it, the original sac marked Sheaffers Anode was still attached."

Here´s a Sheaffer´S Anode sac for those who have not seen it before.

 

 

Edited September 7, 2014 by Lazard 20

[dannyboy]

A great find and bargain and a fine job of restoration! Congratulations!

[kirchh]

Minor terminological point: I'm starting to see "Vistulated" crop up with increasing frequency; Sheaffer's term was "Visulated" (note absence of 't' after 's'). Also, the term applied to the whole pen, which had a Visible ink supply and an insulated construction (sac inside barrel -- a bit of a stretch!). So strictly speaking, the section was not Visulated; it was, well, just transparent (in part).

 

--Daniel

[PAKMAN]

Great find, congrats!

[pen lady]

Thanks all of you. There's been a lot going on in my life (some good, some well.........) since November when I posted about this set and I'd sort of pushed it to the back of the junk drawer that is my mind. Unfortunately, I don't have a storage system that keeps all of my pens on view, but I've just checked her out, and Connie's set still looks good.

[robert1962]

By the time I lost, broke, or traded my third or fourth Birthday gift wrist watch, some relative had the wisdom to give me a personalized "gold" pen & pencil set. I hardly had time to touch it before my mom snapped the box shut and put it somewhere safe "until your old enough to take care of your things". We speculate it exited her house via garage sale - unused - probably for a quarter.

 

My youth was 40ish years after your set was made, but whatever the story of your pen, it is to your good fortune that they can occasionally be found so. This pattern is so well matched to those lean and clean lines. Add that radius clip. Seems balanced!

 

Love it - Bob