Black Swan
I met a friend for a business lunch the other day. He let me pick up the tab and gave me this Swan to sign the check. No ink. He told me that he found it in Vancouver BC at an estate sale for less than the cost of our meal. Not to shabby.
So here it is.
Mabie Todd and Co "Swan" Leverless - L642E/60. This more or less translates to Leverless - No 6 nib - 4 cap bands - E, I think is for Eternal(nail nib) and /60 for Black. In keeping with other manufacturers in the 1930s, this Oversized pen is a little more compact than earlier versions. Its about the size of a US Parker Maxima. This really lets the nib stand out, giving the pen a slightly aggressive but, still dignified, look.
The pen feels very solid in the hand, and that fits well with the very firm medium nib. Smooth, but little line variation. The Leverless uses a latex sac. Re-sac only took a few minutes. The only wrinkle was having to assemble with the nib and feed removed from the section so that the sac could be pushed past the entanglement bar. Once done, re-set nib and there you go. A high quality pen that really looks good.
A fun thing for the collector in me is all of the inscription and metal trim. Normal wear and tear shows up on these details, so getting an example with no brassing and deep imprints is really special on a Pre-War pen like this.
No brassing and nice turning knob
"Swan" marked section and big No 6 Eternal nib - 4 cap bands
Sharp edges and a clean swan
Crappy photo of deep imprint.
Even the feed is marked
Full model code "L 642 E / 60" branded on the bum.
Just a nice 80 year old pen.
* Most of the "scratches" are actually cat hair. Other than the re-sac, this pen is "as found", so there are a couple of smudges and rubs.
Bob
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Originally Posted by grainweevil
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