Do you use a fountain pen?

[ClockworkCupcake]

Robbo 27 said:

The other great pen is the Waterman CF, even an ordinary Waterman CF is worth having but you have the top of the line version, worth a lot of money.

Ah, and on the subject of that, I've just dropped you an email.

Yes, it is a lovely pen. My dad bought well there.

[C&C]

ClockworkCupcake said:

Robbo 27 said:

Best time for ebay bargains is friday afternoon, the worst time is a sunday evening, especially if its wintry and raining and Poldark is on TV.

Did anyone here pick up the two Parker 17s that went for a tenner just now on eBay? I should have bid more but I wasn't sure how much I wanted them and then it was too late.

Wasn't me either.
I've got one Parker 17 so that's enough for me.
Saying that, having 1 of a model doesn't seem to have stopped me buying Parker 51s - up to 9 now - 3 vacs and 6 aerometrics (although I do intend selling some, as I keep telling my wife)!

[Robbo 27]

[quote=C&C]

Wasn't me either.
I've got one Parker 17 so that's enough for me.
Saying that, having 1 of a model doesn't seem to have stopped me buying Parker 51s - up to 9 now - 3 vacs and 6 aerometrics (although I do intend selling some, as I keep telling my wife)!




[/quote]

I dont know when price rises on the 51 are going to stop, 10 years ago they were everywhere at £20, now you think you have a bargain at £45. The whole world wants one, more than any other Parker model, Parker say that they made a million 51s every year you would think that would have been enough, but no, the prices still keep climbing.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Robbo 27 said:

I dont know when price rises on the 51 are going to stop, 10 years ago they were everywhere at £20, now you think you have a bargain at £45. The whole world wants one, more than any other Parker model, Parker say that they made a million 51s every year you would think that would have been enough, but no, the prices still keep climbing.

I got that 51 with the fine nib for £30-odd a few months ago which I don't like so much. Maybe I should sell it.

Always difficult to know when to sell on a rising market. That's why I have held onto my Sagaris so long but it really is going up for sale this year.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Friday 14th July 22:27

[ClockworkCupcake]

I might have rather rashly bid on, and won, some more modern Parkers to console myself on missing out on the vintage ones.

Oops.

One lot was a miss-matched but boxed Parker flighter set of a fountain pen and a biro. The biro looks like it is a 45 (and I already own one), and the pen looks like a Frontier.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PARKER-MISMATCH-FOUNTAIN...

Was only a tenner + postage though.

The other was a Parker IM which I think I overbid on and came in at £19 + postage. I think I made a mistake on that one as it is a very modern pen. But it might be a nice daily writer.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Parker-fountain-pen/2530...

Update: Looks like the IM is a Parker IM Premium Chiselled Deep Gunmetal, which was launched in 2010 and you can still buy brand new for £31 so at least at £22.99 (inc postage) I didn't pay over the odds for it.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Saturday 15th July 00:26

[Sway]

ClockworkCupcake said:

Always difficult to know when to sell on a rising market. That's why I have held onto my Sagaris so long but it really is going up for sale this year.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Friday 14th July 22:27

Going towards the new one?

Do you have a readers rides thread on the Sag?

[ClockworkCupcake]

Sway said:

Going towards the new one?

No, I have no plans to replace it right now.

[C&C]

ClockworkCupcake said:

I got that 51 with the fine nib for £30-odd a few months ago which I don't like so much. Maybe I should sell it.

Always difficult to know when to sell on a rising market. That's why I have held onto my Sagaris so long but it really is going up for sale this year.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Friday 14th July 22:27

Know what you mean re. the car. The M400 seems to just keep going up in value, and I don't use it anywhere near enough, but I also can't bear to part with it - I just know I'd regret it the second I did. I'd imagine similar situation with your Sagaris.

Still, life could be worse!!

[Robbo 27]

[quote=C&C]

Know what you mean re. the car. The M400 seems to just keep going up in value, and I don't use it anywhere near enough, but I also can't bear to part with it - I just know I'd regret it the second I did. I'd imagine similar situation with your Sagaris.

Still, life could be worse!!

[/quote]


Thinking about pens far too much, this is a Sagaris




By Sheaffer.

http://www.penheaven.co.uk/sheaffer-sagaris-brushe...

Edited by Robbo 27 on Saturday 15th July 08:04

[Robbo 27]

ClockworkCupcake said:

I got that 51 with the fine nib for £30-odd a few months ago which I don't like so much. Maybe I should sell it.

Always difficult to know when to sell on a rising market. That's why I have held onto my Sagaris so long but it really is going up for sale this year.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Friday 14th July 22:27

If you sell on ebay, mark it for worldwide and aim to sell after 9.00 on a sunday evening, the Americans generally print rather than cursive so get on better with a fine nib. Might also get on very well on FPN classifieds, you should expect £45.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Robbo 27 said:

Thinking about pens far too much, this is a Sagaris

By Sheaffer.

Is it a pen that requires constant upkeep and fettling and, although is lovely to use, it has a nasty habit of breaking every so often? And, when you add up the costs, you realise you could have bought 500 Jinhaos for what it has cost to repair over the years?



Joking aside though, I might have to buy one simply for the name.

[C&C]

ClockworkCupcake said:

Is it a pen that requires constant upkeep and fettling and, although is lovely to use, it has a nasty habit of breaking every so often?

Joking aside though, I might have to buy one simply for the name.

Looks like I'm going to have to buy a Pelikan M400 just to match the car too then!

Weirdly, after getting the Pelikan 140, and seeing Prohibiting's posts about his Pelikan, I had been thinking about a tortoiseshell M400 but never made the connection with cars.....

[ClockworkCupcake]

Managed to land a job lot of fountain pens overnight on eBay for not a lot of money. No idea what the pens are or what their condition is, but one looks like a Parker 51 and if it is genuine rather than a knock-off then the price will be worth it for that alone and the other pens a bonus.

I'll report back when they arrive.

[C&C]

Anyone on here just won the rather nice collection of Parkers on ebay?

I reckon they still got a bargain for £253.

Knew I should have bid more than £238, but it was still at £104 with less than 30 seconds to go!

[ClockworkCupcake]

ClockworkCupcake said:

Managed to land a job lot of fountain pens overnight on eBay for not a lot of money. No idea what the pens are or what their condition is, but one looks like a Parker 51 and if it is genuine rather than a knock-off then the price will be worth it for that alone and the other pens a bonus.

I'll report back when they arrive.

Well, they have arrived and it was all a little disappointing.



The possible Parker 51 was just a Hero 616 but to be honest I wasn't expecting it to be a 51.

The next pen up looks pretty unremarkable. The only clue to its origin is "Iridium Point Germany" on the nib. The barrel has wear on it, and the cap doesn't stay on.



The pen at the top of the pic is a Platignum pencil of some sort.

Next down is a nondescript Platignum cartridge pen



Finally, the one in the middle is the only one that is any way interesting. It is marked "Platignum Bijou" and is a very short delicate little pen with a lever filler. I haven't tested it yet.



Still, you win some and you lose some. That lot only cost £12.90 so could have been worse.

[Robbo 27]

Not me, works out around £20 a pen which is a bargain, resell price would be around £50 a pen at least.

There is a large crack through the cap of the red Duofold, apart from that I couldnt see much wrong.

There is a new vid on youtube of repairing pen cracks by Grandmia Pens. It useful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNeAIhPub_U

Not everyone does things his way but thats not to say that his training is valuable.

[jinkster]

I've got a Mont Blanc Starwalker - black rubber and platinum ball pen which I use everyday for work

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5...

I'd only ever use a fountain pen for signing letters which is not very often so cannot really justify the MB version.

Which would you recommend that won't disappoint me for not so silly money?

[briang9]

This is good, I was starting to think very few people actually write these days, I know the only thing I do is the shopping list, everything else is electronic these days

[Robbo 27]

jinkster said:

I've got a Mont Blanc Starwalker - black rubber and platinum ball pen which I use everyday for work

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5...

I'd only ever use a fountain pen for signing letters which is not very often so cannot really justify the MB version.

Which would you recommend that won't disappoint me for not so silly money?

There is a brand of pen called Jinhao, a Chinese maker, that makes fountain pens that are well made and reliable and cost less than £5 delivered.

This one is £3 from amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Estone-Jinhao-Fountain-Bl...

Brighter finishes are available but some regard black as a classic pen for the office




If you look on ebay for Jinhao 450 or 750 you will see a range of options, all under £5.

You will need to budget for some ink, which will probably cost more than the pen, £5-7.


To get something significantly better than these pens means paying quite a lot more money, around £30 will buy you a TWSBI Eco, a piston filled pen,

http://purepens.co.uk/acatalog/TWSBI-Eco-Fountain-...

Or you are into some lower priced Parkers such as the Frontier

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PARKER-FRONTIER-STAINLES...

At £10 that looks good value to me, plus £4 for a converter unless you only want to use cartridges.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Thursday 20th July 06:28

[Sycamore]

I've just bought 4 different coloured Jinhao 250's from Amazon for £9 total, with same day delivery. For everyday office pens which I'll inevitably lose/give away, it's criminal not to.

I've filled each with a different colour ink which makes marking up technical drawings a doddle.