Requiem for Elysee

[tonybelding]

Opening a pen case yesterday, I noticed a cap had popped off one of the pens.  Odd, that never happened before.  When I started to remove it from the elastic loop, however, everything was loose, the clip was loose, and then the outer cap fell right off, leaving behind the inner cap.  I scooped everything up and took it to a table where I could work, figuring something inside had come unglued and I'd just glue it back together.  But nope. . .

 

 

The cap had split from end to end!  Spontaneously, even.  There's no fixing this.

 

That is metal, by the way.  It seems to be brass, very thin brass.  Why did it split?  Metal fatigue?  I always thought metal fatigue required metal to be flexed repeatedly, which obviously didn't happen while it was resting in its storage case.

 

This is a pen that I was unlikely to ever carry-and-use again, but losing it still saddens me for nostalgic reasons.  This was one of the first pens I got when I was just starting my collection.  I had just discovered that fountain pens exist, and I dabbled with rollerballs while I was at it.  The Levenger Catalog and the Arthur Brown catalog were my only resources, and this is one of the first pens I bought from Art Brown.

 

And I really liked it!  I believe this was called the Elegance model by the German brand Elysee, and it was indeed slim and elegant.  I liked the design, I loved the color and pattern of the lacquer.  I don't think the Elysee brand was around for much longer after I got this.  I remember that with the same order I also got a Czar fountain pen from another German brand, Reform.  I still have that Czar and think it's fantastic, but Reform was another company on its last legs.  It was not a thriving time in the fountain pen business.

[tim77]

Ouch!  It takes quite a lot to make brass crack, and I've never seen such a long straight fissure.  Is it possible Elysee was using rolled sheet metal instead of drawn tubes?  Can you get a close look at the broken edges?  Are they quite smooth?  Is there any sign of glue or solder?

 

[tonybelding]

I don't see any evidence of a seam or join that could have let go, if that's what you mean.  If I had to guess I'd say a crack began at the top, at the notch where the pocket clip was accommodated, and then spread downward.  If the plastic inner cap was fitted in tightly, with enough tension, that force could have driven the propagation of the crack.

[NDeanMeyer]

This is the elysee Caprice (Staedtler era), page 86 in the book.  This was part of the Economy line, but a very pretty pen.  It came in blue, red, green (rare), and gray.

 

I've see this cracking before.  But it is uncommon.

 

Book on elysee:  ndma.com/elysee