My First Vintage Pen... Maybe?

October 8, 2020

By way of context...

...my girlfriend likes to do crosswords, and she has a habit of holding the pen with the cap off while she thinks. In the interest of getting her a pen that won't dry out, I've been on a Parker 51 style hooded-nib kick. I figured I'd get a cheap knock off or two for her to try so she could see if she likes that style.

So a few days ago I bid on one of those "loose pen" lots from an eBay auction. Six pens for $15 is a pretty good day, any way you cut it. The first four pens where various HERO 616 / Jinhao 51A style pens, which was what I was after. The fifth pen was some kind of strange looking un-marked blingy pen with a standard Chinese #6 nib / feed combo (Iridium Point stamp, the feed looks identical with what you find in a Jinhao 159). But that's a story for another day, because the sixth pen...

Well the sixth pen was this one:

It seems to be a '60s or '70s vintage Pilot Lady Pocket pen. This one has a hooded nib, which is different from the pictures of similar pens I've found online.

Even the steel nib versions of these pens from the '80s seem to be going for $20 - $30, and I have a kind of reluctant and excited hope that this is the 14k version!

Since I spent roughly $4, I kind of feel like I made out like a bandit. I cleaned it off (using just soap and water) and flushed a lot of partly dried blue ink out of the collector. The finish on the exterior (the flowers and so on) is a bit pitted and scuffed - clearly the pen has had a life of use - but the nib itself seems to be as good as new. No pitting or scratches, and I barely had to realign it.

I have a couple of questions:

First: Information about this particular sort of pen seems to be thin on the internet. Does anyone know of a site, or someone who collects these pocket pens, who might have more pictures / information about the line?

Second: When I opened it up, an o-ring fell out. It seems to be working just fine without the o-ring (I put a CON-20 in), but I wonder where the o-ring is really supposed to go? I haven't tried too hard to disassemble the pen, because it seems like a nice pen and I don't want to mess it up. I'm concerned that the nib/feed are glued in.

- N

October 9, 2020

I really like the Pilot short/long pens, got one in a lot of pens myself. Can't help with the details on the pen however. Congrats!

October 9, 2020

Awwww! It's such a cute pen!

I'm such a pushover for cherry blossoms so there really is no question that I adore this pen. Congratulations on your find! Wow!

October 9, 2020

Richard Binders site exhaustively states that these pens were manufactured by the Big 3 in the 70s. You might find more interesting info by digging deeper. Ive not seen much more on 70s pocket pens outside of that.

October 9, 2020

Very strange, never see o-ring in this type of pen

October 9, 2020

I really like the Pilot short/long pens, got one in a lot of pens myself. Can't help with the details on the pen however. Congrats!

Awwww! It's such a cute pen!

I'm such a pushover for cherry blossoms so there really is no question that I adore this pen. Congratulations on your find! Wow!

Thanks! It really is a cutie, isn't it? I'm thrilled.

Richard Binders site exhaustively states that these pens were manufactured by the Big 3 in the 70s. You might find more interesting info by digging deeper. Ive not seen much more on 70s pocket pens outside of that.

Thanks! Going by the info in Richard's (enormous!) page about these pens, I'm going to tentatively say it's a Pilot Lady pocket pen with a hibiscus floral design, probably from the 1970s. I haven't found another just like it searching the internet for images - most of the ones I see have inset or fingernail nibs, and not hooded ones.

Very strange, never see o-ring in this type of pen

The closest match I can find is in this Reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/8xbewl/need_help_in_identifying_this_pilot_pocket_pen/

The teardown shows an o-ring, but I can't tell from the "exploded view" where it's supposed to go. Surely it doesn't actually go between the nib and the breather tube!