Conway Stewart for identification

[VacMan]

I recently purchased a vintage conway stewart off of ebay. The seller says it is from the 1930s and notes something about the numbers 478. The seller is WaSuPEN vintage fountain pens. I believe the barrel says "the conway pen". I found a similar one on peyton street pens. I got this one for $50 before shipping. I was wondering if anybody could help me determine what the pen is and it's history as I have found little online about it and if the pen is worth the price or worth having at all. Thanks yall!

[Beechwood]

The pen is a 478M and produced 1931-1933, the $50 was a very good price. The only fault that I can see is some brassing on the clip but that wouldn't put me off parting with my $50 for the pen

 

 

[VacMan]

6 hours ago, Format said:

The pen is a 478M and produced 1931-1933, the $50 was a very good price. The only fault that I can see is some brassing on the clip but that wouldn't put me off parting with my $50 for the pen

 

 

Thank you very much! I thought it might be I just wanted to make sure that the dating the seller listed was correct and that the pen itself was nice. I've heard Conway Stewarts were great and I made a quick bid on it. Do you think it is.a quality pen. I was also looking at modern things at a similar price like the Sailor tuzu and fpr Himalaya, would you say the CS is better than these?

[Beechwood]

3 hours ago, VacMan said:

Thank you very much! I thought it might be I just wanted to make sure that the dating the seller listed was correct and that the pen itself was nice. I've heard Conway Stewarts were great and I made a quick bid on it. Do you think it is.a quality pen. I was also looking at modern things at a similar price like the Sailor tuzu and fpr Himalaya, would you say the CS is better than these?

 

I find it difficult to compare a 100 year old pen with something brand new, The CS is an excellent pen, some could say that it is more fragile than a modern pen, I would say that it has more character than the pens you mention

[pen lady]

And when you get it in your hands, do NOT soak the cap or barrel in water. It could be made of an early plastic called Casein - it's water soluble.  CS pens have very nice nibs and were made in a rainbow of colours.  They have fairly normal filling systems, mostly lever fill I recall, so are quite easy to service.  Enjoy.

[VacMan]

29 minutes ago, pen lady said:

And when you get it in your hands, do NOT soak the cap or barrel in water. It could be made of an early plastic called Casein - it's water soluble.  CS pens have very nice nibs and were made in a rainbow of colours.  They have fairly normal filling systems, mostly lever fill I recall, so are quite easy to service.  Enjoy.

Thank you for the info! Is it OK if water is used to clean as long as it is fully dried afterward or should I try to keep it away from water as much as possible?

[Beechwood]

4 minutes ago, VacMan said:

Thank you for the info! Is it OK if water is used to clean as long as it is fully dried afterward or should I try to keep it away from water as much as possible?

 

 

Keep away from water, all water.

 

I have made this mistake, the pen is ruined.

[VacMan]

6 hours ago, Format said:

 

 

Keep away from water, all water.

 

I have made this mistake, the pen is ruined.

Thank you for the clarification! I'll be sure to be gentle with it. Was it a conway stewart that happened to? How would you advise me clean it?

[Beechwood]

Yes a Conway Stewart. I cannot remember if your particular pen is made of casein, CS made pens of casein around this period and I would play safe. 

 

I made the mistake of putting a little water on the nib to clean it, left it overnight, the body of the pen wasn't touching the water. By the morning the barrel had swollen and was now soft, the pen never recovered, I could have kicked myself.

 

Not sure I have ever had a pen that needed water to clean it, never had one so dirty tbh.

 

I don't know where you are in the world and the availability of products to you but many just use a Sunshine yellow cloth to keep pen looking good.

[gweimer1]

Here's a handy reference site.  

 

Conway Stewart reference

[VacMan]

5 hours ago, Format said:

Yes a Conway Stewart. I cannot remember if your particular pen is made of casein, CS made pens of casein around this period and I would play safe. 

 

I made the mistake of putting a little water on the nib to clean it, left it overnight, the body of the pen wasn't touching the water. By the morning the barrel had swollen and was now soft, the pen never recovered, I could have kicked myself.

 

Not sure I have ever had a pen that needed water to clean it, never had one so dirty tbh.

 

I don't know where you are in the world and the availability of products to you but many just use a Sunshine yellow cloth to keep pen looking good.

I just meant using water to clean out the ink sac when switching colors in the pen or something like thar! Thanks for the suggestion!

[Beechwood]

10 hours ago, VacMan said:

I just meant using water to clean out the ink sac when switching colors in the pen or something like thar! Thanks for the suggestion!

You would be okay with that, ink is a big percent water anyway, just dry the pen with a Kleenex when you are done.

 

With pens of this age i think about the person who assembled the pen at their bench so very long ago and without any  concept that 90 years later someone would be taking their handiwork and putting it to good use.

 

 

[John T]

I own 2x #15, a #28, a #75 that I replaced the sacs and in 2 of them the JBar, inked and they are wonderful pens. That being said after writing with them I pulled the section/sac and rinsed them out, dried and reassembeled the pens and they look beautiful in my display cabinet. I cant carry them as EDC, things frequently get soggy at work, and I have to many nice desk sets at home lol. I have a #550 Dinkie on my workbench that appears to never been out of the box much less inked that needs a new sac I am very much hoping that's the only thing that it needs as it looks to be a miniature nightmare to replace anything else...

[VacMan]

23 minutes ago, John T said:

I own 2x #20, a #50, a #75 that I replaced the sacs and in 2 of them the JBar, inked and they are wonderful pens. That being said after writing with them I pulled the section/sac and rinsed them out, dried and reassembeled the pens and they look beautiful in my display cabinet. I cant carry them as EDC, things frequently get soggy at work, and I have to many nice desk sets at home lol. I have a #550 Dinkie on my workbench that appears to never been out of the box much less inked that needs a new sac I am very much hoping that's the only thing that it needs as it looks to be a miniature nightmare to replace anything else...

Interesting. Would you reccomend me do that with mine? I am going into college so if I do decide to bring it it'd probably sit on my desk in my dorm. I may opt not to bring it to avoid damage, I have a display case at home and it's only an hour away. Would you reccomend me rinse it out like that or was that more for you to preserve it because you had other pens? I have a sheaffer balance that I've fallen in love with so this pen probably won't see hard daily use anyway!

Edited July 10 by VacMan

[John T]

A few reasons, 1. I have way to many nice looking pens and for the most part carry a couple of cheap but nice writing modern pens as EDC

 

2. I buy pens not only to write with but that I like to look at. I have several that have been restored, and quite a few that I have fixed. (I don't put myself in the same class as those who work magic with pens). To me it is not just about writing with a pen. The darn things are works of art and engineering. and I hope someday to pass these little treasures along, So I put them in my case to admire and keep safe. Someday they will be 200 year old pens and if I take good care of them someone else will be able to admire them.

 

This is the Dinkie

 

[VacMan]

1 minute ago, John T said:

A few reasons, 1. I have way to many nice looking pens and for the most part carry a couple of cheap but nice writing modern pens as EDC

 

2. I buy pens not only to write with but that I like to look at. I have several that have been restored, and quite a few that I have fixed. (I don't put myself in the same class as those who work magic with pens). To me it is not just about writing with a pen. The darn things are works of art and engineering. and I hope someday to pass these little treasures along, So I put them in my case to admire and keep safe. Someday they will be 200 year old pens and if I take good care of them someone else will be able to admire them.

 

This is the Dinkie

 

Those are beautiful! I'll have to get some one day! And that's a great point! I do that with some of my more rare pens such as the waterman 52! I may take that advice and take the pen out only for special occasions! They truly are works of art! I do have to use some, of course

[Craig L]

I just bought the same pen from the same seller. He stated that he placed a new sac in the pen, but it does not have one. Unfortunately, I placed positive feedback on this seller before I realized this. Now I'm researching which size sac to get. 

[VacMan]

27 minutes ago, Craig L said:

I just bought the same pen from the same seller. He stated that he placed a new sac in the pen, but it does not have one. Unfortunately, I placed positive feedback on this seller before I realized this. Now I'm researching which size sac to get. 

How did you realize the sac was not replaced?

[Craig L]

11 hours ago, VacMan said:

How did you realize the sac was not replaced?

The pen arrived, and I opened it and lightly examined it, but then life called, and I wasn't able to get back to the pen for several days. This is my first lever pen. When I opened the lever for the first time, it felt suspiciously like it had way too much play in the mechanism. The true discovery came when I unscrewed the nub- voila! No sac.

[northlodge]

On 7/27/2024 at 9:18 PM, Craig L said:

I just bought the same pen from the same seller. He stated that he placed a new sac in the pen, but it does not have one. Unfortunately, I placed positive feedback on this seller before I realized this. Now I'm researching which size sac to get. 

 

A  size 18 should work ok.

 

Without an ink ac I would expect the lever to "flop" out annoyingly, and be easily spotted.  

 

Whilst I would not leave the pen swimming in water like a fish, I do not think you will do any harm if you used water to clean the inside of the cap / screw threads etc. Just wipe dry immediately afterwards.

 

Finally, regarding the OP, "The Conway Pen" was used on a number of models from the 1930's. Your one is less commonly seen than the other 4 series pens (eg 475 & 479). The tassie looks a bit battered and could be swapped without too much difficulty, or if you were happy with a 'quick fix' then use some micromesh to smooth and polish it.

 

good luck