A Collection Of Bexley Pens

[Nero]

Does anybody know if a Poseidon in the original size was ever made from the Tibaldi Impero celluloid, perhaps as a prototype?

[rpsyed]

Some beautiful pens in this thread! The Prometheus is Rosso Verde celluloid must look incredible.

[zaddick]

I have been slowly adding to my Bexley collection so I will add a few more posts to this thread.

 

This pen is a Cable Twist from 1994 in the much less common Honey color. Most of the colors in the series had 1,000 pens produced, but there were only 50 made in the golden yellow shimmery Honey. Apparently this was one of the first attempts by Bexley at offering special or limited run colors of standard pens. All the furniture is gold colored (maybe plated) and the pen is a button filler. It used the older gold nibs with the Bexley branding and one of the old solid rod ebonite feeds. It came in a wooden box, instead of the later paper boxes common today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only downside to this lovely rod of sunshine is the translicence allows ink to show through if it gets into the cap.

Edited September 1, 2017 by zaddick

[zaddick]

This pen is another collaboration between Bexley and the late Jim Gaston. Based on the Original line that is an homage to the Parker Duofold, this pen uses the pearly blue acrylic and adds a fancy gold clip with the scales of justice. The pen’s official name is “Bexley Gaston’s Salute to Lawyers” and it was limited to 100 pens. (You'll notice there is no mention of how many fingers were used for the salute.) The clip is really the distinct feature of the pen and it is made of 10K gold. The pen is a C/C filler and is a good size in the hand. As with most of my other Bexley pens this uses a #6 Bock gold nib in the original Bexley style. the pen also came with a special large faux suede box witha plack. I do not have a photo of it, but it is like the Bexley Gaston ruby red pen from the start of this thread. The pen is from about 2000 or 2001.

 

 

 

 

 

As of the date of this post, Vanness Pens still has 2 left for sale in unused condition. They are asking $225 instead of the original price of $400.

[zaddick]

Next up is another collaboration between Bexley and Gaston. This one is from 2003 and is the “Winter Wonderland.” The pen came in three variations: Red end caps with gold color trim, Green end caps with gold color trim, and Blue end caps with silver color trim. All three colors have the same cracked ice body and cap, but each has a complimentary color translucent grip section. Pens are engraved on the barrel in 2 lines, the first line reads “Winter Wonderland” and the second reads “Bexley for Gaston - 03” referring to the year. As far as I know there was not a specific number to this edition, although I doubt it was a lot of pens overall. I have the Red and blue pens, but just pictures of the blue for today. The pens came with the new style 18K Bexley branded nibs, but I have placed a wider steel JOWO nib on the pen for use (with Franklin Christoph branding). One of the nice things about this pen is that the feed will work for a Bock gold nib or a Jowo steel. The box is just the current production paper deal.

 

 

 

 

 

The pen in a C/C filler. The section is really neat because it acts a a long ink window. You have the regular ink wondow, but you can also see the feed. Luckily the pen comes apart easily so you can get all the ink out when cleaning!

 

The pen is on the smaller side of my usability range, but it is so charming I make an excpetion for it. I sold the exact pen pictured here, but I have an unused blue one to replace it.

[zaddick]

If you have been following this thread, you know I like the Bexley Decoband inspired pens. The original series came out in 1997 and was a big hit with the limited numbers selling out. In 1999, Bexley released a second series of the pens inspired by the old Wahl Decoband pens rom the 1930s. (Note: the new Wahl Decoband pens are awesome, but a lot larger than the originals, hence also a lot larger than these Bexley pens.) The pens came in several colors (including grey pearl and blue pearl) and use both solid silver and 14K gold trims. This pen is the brown and black swirl ebonite usually referred to as desert brown. The clip and the thick cap bands are hallmarked 14K gold. I think the came and barrel ring are just plated. The center band is marked with the number out of the total issue of 199.

 

A few things to point out about this pen vs the 1997 first edition. First, production number for the pens are higher. Whereas the first series was out of 50 or 100 pens, depending on the material, these are out of 99 (grey), 199 (brown), or 299 (blue). I thought it was clever that since these came out in 1999, all the pens are out out of a total number that ends in 99. Second, these pens are all shorter than the first series. Finally, after MB threatened to sue Bexley for the original design that had three gold cap bands, the second series only ever had 2. (They seem to have switched from 3 to 2 bands during the production of the first series at some point.)

 

I bought this pen without the original nib 14K Bexely branded nib, but eventually harvested one from another pen.

 

 

 

 

[zaddick]

This pen was a recent find at the San Francisco pen show. It was though a spotlight shone down from the ceiling onto this pen. The second I saw it, I know I had to add it to my collection. Yes, another Bexley Giant, but you see… it is a different color so it makes sense.

 

These pens are getting harder to find. There were a few prototype colors sold on eBay a few years ago and the occasional pen will pop up, but I have not seen a blue one listed for sale in maybe 6 or 7 years. (I am not saying I have eyes and ears everywhere, but I have a more than healthy interest in the pens so I do look out for them.) I was happy it had the #12 nib and has already been tuned for proper writing. These were, apparently not good writers out of the box – something I have heard from several independent resources.

 

I will not bore you with details as I cover them in my previous two posts on the Giants. This was out of a series of 100. Only the woodgrain ebonite color is left for me to find of the production colors. I’ll also keep an eye out for more of the prototypes. I have seen yellow, light green, and maroon colors. I am sure there are more.

 

 

 

Here it is next to an MB Dumas, about the size of an MB 139 and shorter than a 149 but no small pen.

 

[zaddick]

This pen just came up for sale earlier this week and I picked it up from a long time member. It is a Bexley pen made for Fountain Pen Network. The pen is based on the Simplicity model and made exclusively for FPN in 2007 using the Blue Ice material, which you’ll notice is different from the cracked ice used in the Winter Wonderland pen. The pen is a C/C filler, about medium size with silver colored furniture. It has a simple cap band and a ring at the end of the barrel.

 

The pens are not numbered anywhere on the body or cap. It is my understanding based on research that initially 100 were produced and sold, and due to strong demand another 16 were eventually released. So the final could was 116 – a bit of an unusual number. Most came with steel nibs, but mine had an 18K upgrade. I think the original price was $100 with a steel nib.

 

Although this pen sports a simple design (ha ha, hence the name), apparently there was a large brouhaha as the epoxy used to meld parts of the cap together caused a ring of yellow to appear about 1 CM below the ball on the clip. People went back and forth with Bexley. Some people were peeved, some people reported having no color change, and even others reported that at some point the yellow band faded away. The other issue people had was with the engraving on “FPN” on the cap top. Some folks were upset the engraving was not drop dead centered. It was actually skewed slightly towards the clip. Well, picky folks that us pen collectors can be, enough stink was raised that Bexley made replacement caps. Most people who asked for a new cap wanted to keep the off-center engraving but get rid of the yellowing. Bexley customer service came through for those who asked. People received new pen caps and some got the centered logo they requested. Drama!

 

Well, my pen seems to have a replacement cap, but kept the off centered logo.

 

 

 

[eharriett]

There's only been one Bexley pen I've lusted for, and very few have ever heard of it. The Gemstone. It is an hommage to the Waterman 100 Year that is my favorite pen. After a little bit of help at the DC Pen show, I was directed to a gentleman who had most of the body, he helped me find someone who would finish it, install an appropriate feed and nib, and now, I have this beautiful pen I am proud to use as my new daily driver!

 

 

[amberleadavis]

OH WOW I love it!!!

[ParkerQuink]

This thread is making me drool! Thanks for posting all of these. I have been in a long lasting period of Bexley obsession. I have really enjoyed this!

[sansenri]

nice thread, I enjoy Bexleys (some very nice pens Zaddick!)

here is one of mine, an Americana Sierra Silver

 

 

 

[sansenri]

now that Bexley as we know it is gone, could we add to Zaddick's collection, making a sort of shared Bexley collection for everyone to look up?

(I don't own enough Bexleys myself to define it a serious collection).

Anyone care to add theirs?

 

Here is a recent one I bought Bexley OC 2017 purple

 

[JonSzanto]

I never seemed to warm to Bexley designs... until just at the end. I've gotten three recently, and will need a moment to shoot two of them. The following I picked up from Howard on eBay after snagging an identical model in different material. This is a big Bexley Prometheus had a perfectly nice nib but it was just crying out for something more. I found a really trashed Sheaffer 8C from the 1920s and salvaged the nib. With this smooth nail and fat 12mm section, you can write for days in comfort. I'll add additional photos of the other pens in the coming days.

 

[sansenri]

so nice, JonSzanto, I have a couple of these too, if I understand correctly this pen when it first came out actually had a size 8 nib.

I never got round to buying the orange version like yours, your picture does show it in all it's glory though.

And the vintage nib is a nice touch, fits so well with this traditional design.

[zaddick]

so nice, JonSzanto, I have a couple of these too, if I understand correctly this pen when it first came out actually had a size 8 nib.

I never got round to buying the orange version like yours, your picture does show it in all it's glory though.

And the vintage nib is a nice touch, fits so well with this traditional design.

The original Prometheus had a Jowo #8 nib and was a piston filler. It came in three colors, one of which I showed earlier in the thread. There was also. Jim Gaston Holiday pen the same year (2004) that was a Prometheus with different red and green acrylic. The new ones have a little different shape but are nice girthy pens. I have two.

[sansenri]

this is one of the two I got from Howard's prototypes that were showing up on the bay in the last period of activity.

I tend to think Howard already had his mind set on selling off and starting something new and was getting rid of stocked up material through his prototypes that were being sold at advantageous prices...

Well, he came up with quite a nice variety of proposals.

The Prometheus was one of the versions that was offered in many different colours/materials.

This one showed up only a few times though, so second time I saw it i picked it up! (in November 2017)

 

Bexley Prometheus Blue Bamboo

 

 

[zaddick]

I have a bunch of acquisitions since I last updated this thread. I should get the time to add photos at least.

[sansenri]

The original Prometheus had a Jowo #8 nib and was a piston filler. It came in three colors, one of which I showed earlier in the thread. There was also. Jim Gaston Holiday pen the same year (2004) that was a Prometheus with different red and green acrylic. The new ones have a little different shape but are nice girthy pens. I have two.

Thank you Zaddick, I remember you saying that before, it must have been a great pen with the size 8 and piston filler.

Did I also see an ebonite version perhaps?...

 

BTW did you add any more to your collection since couple of years ago?

Edited February 21, 2020 by sansenri

[sansenri]

I have a bunch of acquisitions since I last updated this thread. I should get the time to add photos at least.

ah, I would have thought so looking forward to seeing them soon