What's Up At Christof's

[christof]

Recently, I was able to buy a small collection of vintage and unrestored fountain pens....

 

...I'm still sorting and sifting, but I wanted to show you some pictures of some interesting examples. Later I will come eback with more pics and informations.

 

Here come's a quick update of the ongoing work and some pictures of the pens I have finished until now:

 

Waterman's #52 BCHR, flex nib

 

Waterman's made in U.S.A. ca 1940's, flex nib:

 

Soennecken 333 Superior, EF nib

 

Waterman's #52V, RMHR, flex nib

 

Pelikan 500, triple B nib (BBB)

 

That's all for now, but let's see what's next...

C.

Edited March 9, 2018 by christof

[Scribs]

That Soennecken looks gorgeous, sporting my favourite nib width too!

[Soot]

Oohhh... Pelikan 500 BBB~ I fancy those!

[pen2paper]

Thank you for pulling the feed so we could see the gorgeous pattern in the celluloid!

[AL01]

The patina on the Pelikan nibs are pretty cool.

 

I wonder type of gold is it on them Pelikans that patina...

 

When gold starts to 'age' (or oxidize) on other pens, it looks quite ugly IMO.

[christof]

I always keep the patina if there are no ugly stains of ink, because it is nearly impossible to photograph a "mirror shiny" polished nib properly.

C.

[ScottieDarin]

Today, I worked on two very cool and early Lamys of the collection of my friend. The piston mechanics of both is somewhat complicated to dismantle, but with a special tool I made it worked quite well. Both got a new cork seal and are now like new:

 

An early Artus Special:

 

 

And a transitional pen when naming changed from Artus to Lamy. The body still is marked Artus but the nib an clip are marked with Lamy:

 

 

Both have great flexible nibs and the same piston mechanics as the early Lamy 27.

 

...soon at the classifieds.

 

C.

The clip on the Artus looks very Soennecken-ish!!

Always nice to read your posts, Christof.

Regards,

Scott

[christof]

I'd rather say that the clip looks very Wahl-ish. And both, Soennecken and Artus copied this design:

 

 

C.

[drrusso]

Nice Pelikan 500, the speciality nib only adds more charm to the pen. That would be Interesting to know whether the owner of this pen used it in a daily basis. I only guess the way he/she would have wrote or made signatures. Beautiful . . .

[christof]

I am happy to inform you about a milestone we reached in the museum project.

The museum of design zurich (Museum für Gestaltung Zürich) reopnened its doors at 3. of march. Besides the periodical exhibithions, there was newly installed a permament exhibition as well. The exhibition shows highlights from several collections of the museum (arts and crafts, graphic design, photography and product design):

And... there is a showcase with writing instruments as well. There are mainly pencils, leadholders and fountain pens displayed. Of coursse there is a complete view on Caran d'Ache Fixpencils. These are important for the Museum because of the "Swiss-Design" factor.

The displayed fountain pens are a selection of important pens in history of pen design and are only a small part of the whole collection the Museum and I built in the past years.

So this project has finished for now and I am quite happy about the reslut. Hope you like it too, but let's see what's next...

C.

[Namo]

Grüetzi Christof!

 

I can see Lamys and Kawecos... is that because these pens were designed by Swiss designers? or is the museum focusing on design in general?

[Namo]

Grüetzi Christof!

 

I can see Lamys and Kawecos... is that because these pens were designed by Swiss designers? or is the museum focusing on design in general?

[drrusso]

Christof!

 

Tremendous effort has been put, which can be seen from the result/pictures. Hope, this museum will be one of the places which tourists as well as pen enthusiasts visiting places in Zurich.

[christof]

Grüetzi Christof!

 

I can see Lamys and Kawecos... is that because these pens were designed by Swiss designers? or is the museum focusing on design in general?

 

The Museum is mainly interested in Swiss Desig of course, but not only. Also, there aren't (wasn't) that many Swiss penmakers. On the other hand, pens are important and interesting objects for documenting history of design. That's why we decided to collect also foreign makers and designers. Lamy is of course of special interest because of its design culture and because of the few Swiss designers that worked for Lamy (Wettstein and Clivio). And the Kaweco Sport is an iconic designed pen which should not miss in a selection of relevant pen design.

C.

Edited March 22, 2018 by christof

[Dickkooty2]

Christof,

 

Great displays and a wonderful contribution to Swiss design and writing instruments in particular. Congratulations. Your dedication has been remarkable.

 

The picture that shows the pens in the grid layout ... would you explain what the x and y axes represent in the display? Timeline and Style? Style and Engineering? Is there a printout plot available in either German or English that can be referred to?

 

Congratulations again,

 

Dick

[christof]

Dear Dick
I am sorry to say that, but there is no grid, no y and no x axes. It's just the idea and taste of the curators of the exhibition.
The pens are sorted by makers to small groups, and in the groups sorted chronological - nothing else.

There is no printout, neither in german nor in english.

But I will try to compensate this with additional informations and pictures here and show the groups closer. Since all the pens went trough my hands (and photostudio!) I have pictures of all of them. I will come back to this topic. Promised.

C.

Edited March 23, 2018 by christof

[christof]

Here you can see detailed pictures of the pens on display:

1. The Waterman's

_ Waterman's pencil #21 with solid gold band (from Mark Hoover)

_ Waterman's #42 bought from André Mora

_ Waterman's #52

2. The Rotring's

_ Rotring 600 pencil

_ Rotring 600

_ Rotring 900 stylograph

_ Rotring 900 pencil (super rare)

_ Rotring "Tintenkuli" stylograph

3. The Parker's

_ Parker 45

_ Parker 61

_ Parker "51" (first year)

_ Parker Vacumatic OS

_ Parker Lucky Curve 20 1/2 BCHR

[/url]

4. The Pelikan's

_ Pelikan P1 Silvexa

_ Pelikan 140 black and chrome

_ Pelikan 100N

_ AUCH Pelikan 200

_ Pelikan 100 wartime model

5. The Kaweco's

_ Ball point pen 619

_ Kaweco Sport V16

_ Kaweco pencil 19

_ Kaweco Sport 712

6. The Aurora's

_ Aurora Hastil (Zanuso)

_ Aurora 88 Nikargenta (Nizzoli)

7. The Sheaffer's

_ Sheaffer's PFM I

_ Sheaffer's Imperial II

_ Sheaffer's Snorkel Admiral

_ Sheaffer's Snorkerl Clipper

8. The LAMY's

_ Lamy Aion (Morrison)

_ Lamy Dialog 3 (Clivio)

_ Lamy Scribble (Wettstein)

_ Lamy Safari Umbra (Fabian)

_ Lamy CP 1 (Fabian)

_ Lamy 2000 (Müller)

_ Lamy 27

...picture coming soon

9. The Pilot's

_ Pilot Capless Decimo (2006)

_ Pilot Capless à facettes (1994)

_ Pilot Myu 701 (1971)

_ Pilot Capless (1965)

...picture coming soon

10. The Pelikano's

_ model 2010

_ model 1969

_ model 1965

_ model 1960

missing pictures coming soon.

C.

Edited March 23, 2018 by christof

[Dickkooty2]

Dear Christof,

 

Thank you for the background of the display and your close-ups and identifications.

 

I realize that curators bring their backgrounds, exposures, education, and taste to exhibits and that this is what gives an exhibit its pull and contribution. I also realize that in this type of overall museum series of exhibits, the particulars may be more aptly termed 'displays'. The effect may be in the overall conception.

 

My hope is that the museum realizes the extremely valuable asset they have in you, your interest, time, and contributions. I would hope that at some time soon you are given the chance to mount a dedicated show with your insights that uses more of the collection and presented perhaps with x and y axes that tell a more dynamic story!

 

Thank you again for your thourough response to my question.

 

Grüss,

 

Dick

[christof]

 

 

Thank you again for your thourough response to my question.

 

Grüsse,

 

Dick

 

You're welcome Dick. Here comes the two missing pictures of the Lamy and Pilot group:

 

8. The LAMY's

_ Lamy Aion (Morrison)

_ Lamy Dialog 3 (Clivio)

_ Lamy Scribble (Wettstein)

_ Lamy Safari Umbra (Fabian)

_ Lamy CP 1 (Fabian)

_ Lamy 2000 (Müller)

_ Lamy 27

9. The Pilot's

_ Pilot Capless Decimo (2006) ...not my picture. Unvortunately I forgot to photograph this pen before he went to the Museum.

_ Pilot Capless (1994)

_ Pilot Myu 701 (1971)

_ Pilot Capless (1965)

C.

[drrusso]

Dear Christof!

 

The enormous work with quality as well as quantity ... is very much beautiful!

 

keep going.

Best,

Arvind.