Colorful Celluloid Dual Desk Set White Dot Lifetime Nibs.

[Addertooth]

I ran across this on ebay. So many of the Sheaffer desk sets seem to be the standard black body fountain pens.

These had an nice splash of celluloid color, which I found strangely appealing. (Possibly "Balance" version derived?)

Both of them are white dot, lifetime nibs, celluloid bodies with lever fill.

They seemed less common than other examples.

Enough of my chatter, pictures below.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Addertooth

[pen lady]

''Fine'' nibs and a red band round one trumpet. I'd speculate that this set was used by a book-keeper or accountant. One pen for black/blue ink, the other for red, and yes, the colour, called pearl and black was used in Sheaffer's Balance pens from 1929-1934. But I'm not sure the pens are a pair, the section on one seems fatter, and the nibs don't match either. Cool reminder of days-gone-by though.

[Addertooth]

Pen Lady,

Good eye, and I agree, the section on one does appear shorter, and the barrel appears larger (but I am not sure the fatter barrel isn't a trick of color/light). I will know more when they arrive.

I already have two desk set pens, and am rather fond of them. These two are going to be on rotation at my work desk.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Addertooth

[Roger W.]

Looks like it may be an L14 from 1930. The sockets date it to no later than 1930 as well. The pens are near in date so may have been original even though they aren't exactly matching they are approximately matching. Nice having the red lipped socket as these are less common and do indicate an accountant type use.

 

Roger W.

[Addertooth]

Roger W,

Thank you for your insight. Clearly, I need to read through the old catalogs and get more familiar with the Sheaffer product line.

 

Addertooth

[JonSzanto]

One last small point: it's a bit of a misnomer to consider it colored celluloid. The pattern was originally black and white pearl, and in pens of this age the gasses coming off the latex ink sac have usually (as in this case) yellowed the white, most often all the way to a caramel brown. Doesn't affect any function of the pen, just the look of it.

[Addertooth]

Very true JonSzanto! At the point I snagged these, I didn't have an example of an unchanged black pearl pen. This made me draw the wrong conclusion. All things equal, I was drawn to the "colors", so their lack of pearly whiteness does not offend me. It is interesting how gas permeable old celluloid is, but then, there has been the passage of decades, which is the great equalizer. I remember when I bought some non-yellowing variety of plexiglass about 50 years ago. It has yellowed now. Time almost always wins out over thoughtful chemistry.

[Roger W.]

Very true JonSzanto! At the point I snagged these, I didn't have an example of an unchanged black pearl pen. This made me draw the wrong conclusion. All things equal, I was drawn to the "colors", so their lack of pearly whiteness does not offend me. It is interesting how gas permeable old celluloid is, but then, there has been the passage of decades, which is the great equalizer. I remember when I bought some non-yellowing variety of plexiglass about 50 years ago. It has yellowed now. Time almost always wins out over thoughtful chemistry.

Time was not really the issue as Sheaffer knew celluloid was discoloring permanently within a couple of years of production. Jade came out in late 1924 and the repair manual of 1927 states that if the cleaning method is used and fails the celluloid is permanently discolored. Later celluloid was cured better and is a bit more stable but still discolors.

 

Roger W.

[JonSzanto]

All things equal, I was drawn to the "colors", so their lack of pearly whiteness does not offend me.

 

Oh, I agree, it can look very nice at times. Many Parker Duofolds in the black/white similar material have mellowed to an almost tortoise-shell look. A little over a year ago I had the opportunity to purchase a Sheaffer OS Balance that had retained a great deal of the original look and I am very pleased with it... and take care to keep it this way (it has a silicone sac and lives away from other pens):

 

[Addertooth]

Well, the pens arrived today. And they are as the photographs represented. It is no surprise the sacs are hard/brittle crackling messes. The only modest surprise is how stiff these nibs are, they could be used to drive finishing nails. These nibs are stiffer than the stainless nib in a German pen of mine.

Pen Lady was correct earlier, they are two different models of pen. One of them has a larger body, longer section, different feeds, and with different threads that hold the "tail" onto the body.

The lever has no sign of brassing, but the tails show some marks which will need some work to smooth them out.