Jeph
September 13th, 2013, 03:19 AM
This week my girlfriend handed me an old fountain pen that used to be her father's. She generally only tolerates my fountain pen addiction, but this pen actually excited her. I am hoping for help in identifying it as there are no manufacturer markings on the pen. This may be impossible due to the vast number of small companies in Germany that made fountain pens over the years but I have to try. I can tell that this is not a valuable pen, but it not an el cheapo either, and neither matter since it is too precious for me to ever survive letting it out of my collection.
I can definitively say that the pen was purchased in Germany between 1950 and 2000. All of the indications that I can see point to the more modern end of that range. The complexity of the feed alone suggests modern manufacturing. The piston seal is synthetic although I have not removed the piston to check exactly what it is as the draw is strong. The plating on the nib does not rub off, so it is definitely not gold wash. You can see tooling marks on the back side of the nib, so it may actually be solid and not plated. It is more likely that the back side of the nib was not polished after stamping and the plating is showing the contour of the base metal. The feed slit on the nib is not particularly clean or precise but there is no pitting. In fact, there is no pitting anywhere on the nib. The nib has no breather hole like the modern Faber Castell nibs. In fact, the feed also looks very similar to the modern Faber Castell feeds. The cap is snap on with a white plastic inner cap. The clip is the only (magnetic) steel part of the pen and it has a mundane chevron pattern. The body, filler knob and piston housing are plastic. The body appears to be made of 3 parts: The nib section that has mold lines 180 degrees apart, the smoke grey ink window that also has 2 seams, and the barrel that has no mold lines or seams. All of the edges are clean and rounded. There are no seams on the cap and it has just enough additional weight to make the pen slightly top heavy posted. I have not written with the pen, but dry the nib is very smooth and water was wicking to the nib tip and back of the feed slit during the overnight water leak test. I initially thought that the pen was never used, although during piston testing some ink residue did come out. Here are some pictures of the pen as handed to me. This weekend I will clean it, polish it up and then ink it and see how it performs.
Please help me try to identify this pen.
Length 136 mm 5.38 in 5 3/8"
Posted Length 159 mm 6.25 in 6 1/4"
Unposted length 124 mm 4.88 in 4 7/8"
Barrel Length 108 mm 4.26 in 4 1/4"
Cap Length 65 mm 2.56 in 2 9/16"
Barrel Max Dia 11.9 mm 0.47 in 15/32"
Section Min Dia 9.2 mm 0.36 in 11/32"
Section Length 15.5 mm 0.61 in 5/8"
5346534753485349
I can definitively say that the pen was purchased in Germany between 1950 and 2000. All of the indications that I can see point to the more modern end of that range. The complexity of the feed alone suggests modern manufacturing. The piston seal is synthetic although I have not removed the piston to check exactly what it is as the draw is strong. The plating on the nib does not rub off, so it is definitely not gold wash. You can see tooling marks on the back side of the nib, so it may actually be solid and not plated. It is more likely that the back side of the nib was not polished after stamping and the plating is showing the contour of the base metal. The feed slit on the nib is not particularly clean or precise but there is no pitting. In fact, there is no pitting anywhere on the nib. The nib has no breather hole like the modern Faber Castell nibs. In fact, the feed also looks very similar to the modern Faber Castell feeds. The cap is snap on with a white plastic inner cap. The clip is the only (magnetic) steel part of the pen and it has a mundane chevron pattern. The body, filler knob and piston housing are plastic. The body appears to be made of 3 parts: The nib section that has mold lines 180 degrees apart, the smoke grey ink window that also has 2 seams, and the barrel that has no mold lines or seams. All of the edges are clean and rounded. There are no seams on the cap and it has just enough additional weight to make the pen slightly top heavy posted. I have not written with the pen, but dry the nib is very smooth and water was wicking to the nib tip and back of the feed slit during the overnight water leak test. I initially thought that the pen was never used, although during piston testing some ink residue did come out. Here are some pictures of the pen as handed to me. This weekend I will clean it, polish it up and then ink it and see how it performs.
Please help me try to identify this pen.
Length 136 mm 5.38 in 5 3/8"
Posted Length 159 mm 6.25 in 6 1/4"
Unposted length 124 mm 4.88 in 4 7/8"
Barrel Length 108 mm 4.26 in 4 1/4"
Cap Length 65 mm 2.56 in 2 9/16"
Barrel Max Dia 11.9 mm 0.47 in 15/32"
Section Min Dia 9.2 mm 0.36 in 11/32"
Section Length 15.5 mm 0.61 in 5/8"
5346534753485349