Dear FPGeeks,
I know that I posted a quick story on the ever growing "What is your latest pen acquisition?" thread. However, I wanted to post this reminder in the general pen forum so everyone would benefit from this sage advice that I learned today. Forgive my redundancy but unlike the previous post that focused upon the pen; this post focuses upon the moral.
Yesterday, a long time friend of mine stopped by to show me his latest pen acquisitions. He knows I'm a little deeper down this rabbit hole then he, so he wanted me to examine them, clean them, and repair them, if necessary. I'm not a professional pen repairman but I've changed an ink sac or two, polished a couple pens and have done some minor nib adjustments. One stood out that I had never used myself. In fact, I posted pictures here to see which model it was. It turned out to be a wonderful Waterman 32. After some cleaning, I inked it up and it wrote like a dream. I loved the flex and determined to put it on my growing wish list.
Today, I decided to head out early from the office and take a look at the local antique shoppes to see if, perhaps, I too could be as lucky as he was. I went to the first store which proved to be barren of any pens whatsoever. After speaking with the owner, she made a phone call to another antique shoppe owner down the street to see if he could open up his store for me to take a look around. He agreed to meet me there.
I went to the second shoppe and looked around a bit before asking him if he had any fountain pens. He said that he had a box in the attic and promptly when to fetch it. I waited for about 10 minutes before he returned holding only one pen in his hand. He explained that he couldn't find the box but would keep up the search and contact me when he locates it. He handed me the pen and said that was all he could find for the moment.
Now, I must admit that I'm not a Parker collector but as soon as I had this pen in my hands I knew a lot of attention and detail went into it. It felt like my Visconti Opera Elements. It wasn't heavy but perfectly balanced. I inspected the nib that had 18K in the bottom left corner. I knew big pen makers like Parker don't put an 18K nib on pens that aren't their flagship or at least their top tier. The top of the cap said Duofold. The pen was in perfect condition. Afraid to hear the answer, I asked him how much he wanted for the pen. He looked at the pen then looked at me and said, "How's about $30.00? That will keep some meat on the bone for me." I looked at him, looked at the pen and said in a calm but trembling voice, "I'll take it."
My research leads me to believe the pen was made in early 90's and I must say it is one of the most beautiful pens in my collection. The pictures below do not do it justice. The nib writes like a dream although with much less flex then I would have first imagined. I'm still not sure if it's a centennial or an international. At $30, what's the difference? Yet this is not a review, but a moral.
The moral is: don't underestimate the brick and mortar stores, especially consignment and antique shoppes. If you're in the area and have some time, stop in at your local antique stores and simply ask, "Do you have any fountain pens?" With a little bit of luck, you could walk out of the store with an absolute beauty at a unbelievable price. Happy hunting.
-HeresyHammer
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