Happy David. An old Sheaffer Crest.

[david i]

It's been quite a Sheaffer Week. A couple threads back I offered to the hobby a thin-cap-band oversized Sheaffer Balance, and hinted at a challenge for someone to produce a non-white-dot (scarce in any case) similar pen with the thin cap-band (most found have the wider band of a White Dot Pen, even when found Non-White-Dot). Wee dabbling is fun.

Rick Krantz rose to the challenge, offering the hobby four whole days ago a Non White Dot OS Balance with the "expected" ( for Non-White-Dot pen, save in that size) thinner cap-band, a pen he found during the weekend at the Philadelphia Pen Show, found in the shadow of the chat here at FPG. Cool. Rick chose the venue of my wee Facebook pen group to release that pen. Our chat about these pens inspired Danny Kirchheimer to follow up here with a few he's had. Follow-up is good, and I'm tickled pink to see these discussions prod people to offer pens from their collections. It seems the only way to get the information out there. Perhaps we will have to trademark along with "Hack Amateur Newbie", the term "wee dabbler" (check it out on Google, though make certain to put the term in quotation marks). Hmmm... maybe trademark "pokity poke" too

Rick Krantz's pen, offered to the hobby Jan 17.

I couldn't attend the Philadelphia show this year (or the last couple years) due to work schedule out west, something I regret.

But, I scored a monster on ebay this week. Yes, it's a Sheaffer. Kudos if you recognize it. Certainly a few of the seasoned sort who play here will know it. Most Sheaffer collectors will never see one in person or handle one. An overwhelming majority of collectors will never own one.

It's not off-catalogue. It's not an anomaly. It doesn't require special explanation. It's just rare and of great cachet to those who know.

If no one calls it or provides details, I will follow up so.

Here it is. My nifty pick up on ebay this week. Or, as they say... happy David.

regards

-d

[david i]

Here's where it gets sweet.

Fairly few penfolk own an original Crest in gray barrel with Sterling cap. No joke.

I'm really not sure how *this* happened...

2 complete pens, 1 pencil and a spare barrel assembly.

So, the age-old question pops back into play, does someone need a barrel more than someone else needs a cap

Wee dabbling run amok.

regards

d

[Jeph]

I can't answer the question, but I will add one of my own. When did Sheaffer use cap threads at the nib end of the section instead of at the back?
THAT is what has gotten my interest.
I remember a discussion somewhere about why the white dot is on the barrel also but I don't remember the details.

[Roger W.]

Sheaffer used threads on the front from at least 1937-1941. So "first year crest" is never that.

Roger W.

[david i]

from Jeph:
When did Sheaffer use cap threads at the nib end of the section instead of at the back?
THAT is what has gotten my interest. I remember a discussion somewhere about why the white dot is on the barrel also but I don't remember the details.

Sheaffer used threads on the front from at least 1937-1941. So "first year crest" is never that.

Roger W.

I guess I am glad I posted this one. There be some learnin' t'be had

Alrighty, let's run more or less in order.

The distal threads on a Sheaffer are pathognomonic for early Crest. Roger is right, the oft-seen term "first year" is inaccurate; since earlier days of our hobby when that term appeared, we subsequently have learned that this style ran a few years, through 1941. Original Crest is a better label. I don't know of any other Sheaffer series to use this approach to threads/section-shape. Happy to hear of one. One readily can imagine the Original Crest inspired Parker's Vacumatic Imperial line.

Sheaffer did not start putting White Dots into metal caps until 1948, so White-Dot level plastic pens with metal caps made before then have the dot in the barrel, variably mid-barrel or at butt.

Roger touches on a good point though misses a detail (gasp!). Yes, Crest series was not called Crest until about a year after the pens first appeared, originally having different, lengthier descriptive names. What was the De Luxe Lifetime Visualated in 1937 became Crest in 1938. However, though Sterling Crest was short lived it did manage to appear in the 1938 catalog where it indeed was called a Crest by Sheaffer.

regards

David

[david i]

BTW, if you like checking information in catalogues, note that I will have the essentially free DVD with 600+ pen catalogues and such available soon.

regards

david