I love the material for the 2nd one to the left, Kevmid!
I love the material for the 2nd one to the left, Kevmid!
Lady Onogaro
"Be yourself--everybody else is already taken." --Oscar Wilde
kevmid (December 29th, 2017)
Beautiful collection. I am envious, hoping to collect few and share with you.
Ball pen
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More than one year and 142 postings further I'd like to make a small contribution to this very nice and interesting thread. (Thank you Christof for starting it).
It's about my Merlin pens, more in particular the - in circles of collectors well known - Merlin 33.
I am collecting these nice little pens for quite some time now and I have them in 19 different colors. As it seems there are 59 different colors/patterns existing so there is still something left to hunt for. Apart from the 33’s, I own some more Merlin models, among them some also popular ‘Merlina’ pens that are even smaller that the Merin 33 that is only 120mm (capped), 107mm uncapped and 145mm posted.
About the other Merlin models I’ll write in a new post, later.
About 10 years ago it was not very difficult to find Merlins here in The Netherlands, as Merlins were a well-known and popular Dutch brand. (Parts made in Germany, assembled in Amsterdam for the Dutch market). Through the years the Merlins, especially the 33's, were more and more difficult to find, as they became quite popular as collectors’ items in the rest of the world. The reason why these little Merlin pens became so popular in the last 2 decades is mainly due to Mr. Andreas Lambrou (the well known author of the famous book "Fountain Pens OF The World). Already in Februari 2006 there was an article on the Fountain Pen Network site about how Lambrou and his friends acquired a large lot of 33's and Merlina's and how they brought them into the world.
The post is still there: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...995-merlin-33/
Apart from these 'Lambrou Merlins' one can still find some of these lovely little pens in the wild and as I am Dutch and live in the Netherlands, which is more or less the native country for this brand, Holland is the place to find them!
Just a few weeks ago I found a nice 33 on the Dutch "Marktplaats" (marketplace) for a very friendly price. I bought it because it was one of the colour varieties I did not own already. A beautiful orange/bronze marbled piece. It came to me very used and very dirty, but surprisingly undamaged, so a restoration to an acceptable condition was rather easy.
Here it is:
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I like Merlins for several reasons:
First:
They are Dutch (ok, almost) the main focus of my FP collection is Dutch manufactured pens or pens especially made for the Dutch market.
Second:
There are a lot of different Merlins, If you count all the colour varieties plus the many different model varieties (there is a lot more that only 33’s and Merlina’s) we talk about hundreds of pens.
At the moment my collection contains a modest amount of 68 different pens, including 3 mech. pencils that are part of a set, so there is still a long way to go to a complete collection.
Third:
I'ts celluloid, and I just love celluloid pens. Next to (colored) ebonite and caseine, for me celluloid is the best and most beautiful material ever used to make pens.
Fourth:
The quality of the pens. They are small, but sturdy, have a simple construction, most of them have the button filler system that is very reliable and easy to maintain or restore. The small nibs are 14K gold, mostly with their own Merlin signature imprint. Most of them are semi flex, what I like much more than rigid nibs. The nibs in the Merlins were mostly made by Degussa, some (younger ones) by Bock. Both brands are famous for their quality. Sometimes one finds a Degussa or Bock signed nib in a Merlin, which I find to be authentic or at least an acceptable replacement.
About the writing aspects and further technical details of the ‘33’ I cannot tell you not so much more than what Matt on his blog on Penhabit already wrote in 2015 in his excellent review, so for that info, please look here: http://penhabit.com/2015/04/17/pen-review-merlin-33/#
Now, finally, some more pictures, as this tread is supposed to show photographs of mini collections.
First my mini collection of all my 19 pieces of 33's, together with some original boxes I was so lucky to find.
Then some some detail pictures to show the amazing colors.
The Bronze '33' I showed above is the 4th from the left in the row.
Enjoy! Cheers to you all, Happy New Year!
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amk (December 30th, 2017), carlos.q (December 30th, 2017), catbert (December 30th, 2017), Cyril (January 20th, 2024), da vinci (December 30th, 2017), dfo (December 30th, 2017), farmdogfan (March 1st, 2018), Hawk (December 30th, 2017), jodylud (January 18th, 2018), Jon Szanto (January 1st, 2018), penwash (December 30th, 2017), popcod (January 14th, 2018), Robert (January 2nd, 2018), usk15 (December 30th, 2017)
Great post, Lexaf. Super pens and lovely colours.
Lexaf (December 30th, 2017)
Wow Lexaf, your Merlin collection is really something. That candystripe red is simply gorgeous. I have a good few Merlins and they are absolutely addictive. Open the box and it is like sunshine came into the room.
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Let the sunshine in!
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All Merlins. And there are more... !
amk (December 31st, 2017), Cyril (January 20th, 2024), da vinci (December 30th, 2017), farmdogfan (March 1st, 2018), Jon Szanto (January 1st, 2018), penwash (January 2nd, 2018)
Lexaf,
Beautiful collection of pens. There are too many to choose a favorite. However, I’m partial to the reds.
We have met the enemy and he is us.
-Pogo
I own some of these in different variations. Excellent writers, affordable, and a lot of fun indeed with all the colors to find. Would like to acquire one or more Harlequin P45's though. Very difficult to find.
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The first 2 pens from the left are actually Eversharps. They were introduced just before Parker took over the Eversharp firm. It is said that the original design by Eversharp was further developed by Parker to become the P45, their first cartridge loaded pen and, next to the famous '51' also one of their most succesfull.
(I am not dead sure about these 'facts', so if there is anyone who knows more details about this Eversharp to Parker transition, please chime in!)
The 3rd Pen from the left is a Ballpoint, forming a set with the Fountainpen P45 on position #4.
Last edited by Lexaf; January 1st, 2018 at 11:12 AM.
Lexaf, I spotted a cherry Harlequin Circlet this year and couldn’t pass it up. It was made in England and has a steel nib. I wasn’t looking to get one until it surfaced. Keep looking....
We have met the enemy and he is us.
-Pogo
Hawk (January 2nd, 2018)
This tread about mini collections is great fun when one wants to express what pleasure it is to collect fountain pens. Anyway, for me it is. After more than 20 years of collecting pens it is nice to form sub collections within the total of all those pens that distinguish itself by brand, material, colour, (filling) system, country of origin, time of production, quality, etc. One distinction is rarely made when one would like to build a thematic group and that is size.
So that is exactly what I want to do here.
During the years I built a mini collection of what I call my ‘miniature pens’. The criterion of considering a pen as a miniature is arbitrary, but I like to see a pen as a miniature when it is smaller than what one would normally call a ‘Lady’s’ size so let’s say any pen significantly smaller that e.g. a Merlin Merlina, a Parker 17 Lady or a Waterman Lady Patricia.
In this topic about ‘Mini Collections’ I’d like to show this collection of my ‘Miniature Fountain pens’.
Enjoy.
From left to right, top row # 1-13, Bottom row # 14-26
(The Parker 51 on # 14 is for reference to show how small these pens really are)
(# 16 & 17 form a set of Pencil and FP)
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# Brand Filling System Material Nib Country Year (ca.) mm capped Diam. barrel 1 No Name Eyedr. HR (ebonite) GP Steel India 2016 50 7,2 2 No Name Safety HR+Silver+Enamel 18K gold FR? 1920 80 7,8 3 Loma Safety HR 14K gold DE 1915 87 6,8 4 Favorite Lever Celluloid Steel USA 1925 87 8,4 5 Treasure Lever Celluloid Steel USA 1925 90 9,2 6 No Name Button Caseine Ag/Pd alloy FR? 1930 94 11,7 7 Merkur Button Celluloid + HR Steel Bock DE 1930 94 11,2 8 Crown Lever Celluloid 14K Degussa NL 1955 97 8,9 9 Crown Lever Celluloid 14K Degussa NL 1955 97 8,9 10 No Name Button HR Steel Degussa DE 1935 99 11,4 11 No Name Lever Celluloid Steel USA 1935 96 9,7 12 Victapen Bulb Celluloid Steel USA 1935 100 9,6 13 Champion Button Celluloid 14K USA DE 1950 100 10,2 14 Parker51 Airomatic Plastic+GP steel 14K UK 1950 140 11,6 15 No Name Button Celluloid 14K RW&R DE 1935 102 9,6 16 Byron (pencil) Celluloid - NL 1955 105 9,7 17 Byron Button Celluloid 14K Warranted NL 1955 105 9,8 18 Böhler Button Celluloid 14K Bock DE 1955 107 9,4 19 Böhler Button Celluloid 14K Bock DE 1955 107 9,4 20 No Name Lever Plastic Steel IT? 1965 108 9,0 21 Pilot Lever Celluloid 14K Pilot Japan 1950 106 9,7 22 Majestic Lever Celluloid Steel USA 1935 107 10,8 23 Majestic Lever Celluloid Steel USA 1935 107 10,8 24 Platignum Syringe Celluloid+GP Alu. Ag/Pd alloy UK 1960 109 9,4 25 J.Faber Piston Celluloid 14K Rupp DE 1950 108 9,6 26 Ero Piston Celluloid 14K Ero DE/NL 1955 110 8,7
Wondering whether no 1 is a Guider - they gave out mini pens with the Onyx group buy on FPN, if I remember correctly.
I don't know Byron as a brand - but those little pens look stunning.
You are right AMK, I should have known that fact myself. I did some searching here on FPG and in my personal memory (= my head... ) and found this:
https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/6936-Guider-Mini-smallest-hand-turned-ebonite-pen-in-production
Then I remembered: My piece was actually a gift from Mesu, who posted the tread above.
It was made in 2014, not 2016, so I shall edit that.
Actually my Little Guider was a gift to me from Mesu from India. It came to me together with the Onix and the other black pen in the picture, the double sided stick. Mesu posted the item above. Sadly, I lost contact with Mesu, I did not hear or read from her for quite some time now.
About the 'Byron' brand: it is probably one of those hundreds of brands to be found that were used for small firms such as stationary shops that wanted to have their own brand name. Most of those pens, or the parts they were assembled from, came from pen manufacturers in Germany. In this case it could even come from one of the few real pen manufacturers we had in The Netherlands that really designed and produced their own products: Union. The Union Fountain Pen Factory existed from the end of the 1920's until the end of the 1960's and was established in The Hague. They made a lot of beautiful mainly celluloid pens of high quality. The brown horizontally striped celluloid stock used for the Byron pen set is also used by Union in several models, so the Byron could very wel have been made by Union.
Now back to the Guider pens.
One mini collection leads to another: here are some pictures from the wonderful Indian Guider pens I own. All eyedroppers, all ebonite, except for #5 in the pictures which is celluloid.
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From left to right:
# 1 is the same mini pen I showed earlier.
# 2 is the Onix you mentioned. Attn: this is the version 1, with the flush cap & barrel, the vs.2 has a visible separation between cap and barrel. I liked the 'old' version a lot more, so Mesu had one made for me a Guider's. It is an exeptionally large, oversized pen, the length is 155mm, capped, 195mm posted and 142mm without cap.
#3 is also a Guider, it is a more or less experimental pen, only a few were made in this design. We called it 'The Magicians Stick'. I wanted a piece with white ends on both sides and a transparent window in the middle, buit Guider did not want to make that for me...
# 4 is much older, I bought it many years ago in a large lot of old pens with 'parts & pieces', all vintage Indian pens. I restored some of them and this is one of this lot. I guess it could be from the 1960' or 1970's, but it could also be much older. One never knows with these hard rubber / ebonite hand made Indian pens. It was my first green ebonite pen.
# 5 looks very European, but it is a (I guess) very old (1950's?) eyedropper made of beautiful red marbled celluloid.
This was it for now. Curious what the next Mini Collection will be....
Maybe I will post something more about my collection of Vintage Indian fountain pens....
Last edited by Lexaf; January 12th, 2018 at 04:46 PM.
After picking up a NOS stickered Penline in the unusual lady size/lever filler combination, I've finally completed my nickle-plated Nozac Conklin mini-collection. All the patterns in this trim configuration are represented, but still looking for pencils!
L to R:
1. Lady Penline (grey checkered, lever-filler)
2. 5M Penline (grey marble)
3. 5M V-Line (grey)
4. 5M Chevron set (grey)
Last edited by popcod; January 13th, 2018 at 10:50 PM.
aka Estragon (FPN); popcodswallop (Reddit)
WANTED: Vintage Pens with White Trim! –> Sheaffer: OS Balance w/ reverse trim (grey/red vein); Balance (grey/red fleck) | First-Yr Crest (silver cap); Canadian Balance 5-30 (roseglow, ebonized pearl, green) | Waterman: Lady Patricia (persian) | Wahl-Eversharp: Half Coronet (rhodium cap); Doric (Cathay); Skyline (SS/Sterling Cap) | Rebadged Parkers from Diamond Medal and Webster (silver web, pinstripe, etc.)
Thanks for showing Popcod! The chevron set is awsome. Nozacs are extremely rare to find in Europe.
English Parkers
That's a nice mini-collection - it encapsulates all the variety of British Parkers in colour and material. (Well, all the variety that doesn't involve marbled celluloid, anyway.) The only thing I'd be tempted to add is one of Parker's gold filled pens - maybe a 61 or 65.
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