Sometimes, it's all about who you know. Last September, I purchased a vintage Parker Duofold fountain pen. A local shopkeeper knew I collected them, and was kind enough to put it aside for me when he came across it in a bin full of old office supplies. The black hard rubber pen has a date stamp of 1921, boasts the original feed and nib, and although dulled and obviously aged, is still quite beautiful to me.
The pen, as purchased, had been out of use for a long time; a calendar with the lot of office supplies was from 1967. So the ink sac needed to be replaced. The tines of the nib were also misaligned, resulting in scratchy writing, so I had that adjusted. Black hard rubber just won't polish up well, and getting the metal polished likely would have just taken off more of the gold plate, so I left that as-is for the moment. My goal is to have a functional vintage pen, not one that I've prettied up for resale.
Meanwhile, I picked up a bottle of Waterman Encre Havane, a pretty brown ink with an almost-coppery color to it when used on white paper. I have a soft spot for Waterman inks; Encre Verte (Green) is a rich color, while my daily user Pelikan at work is filled with Encre Bleu Effaçable (Florida Blue). Plus, I thought it would look right coming out of a pen that is somewhat older than my grandmother -- a nice vintage touch.
I can't wait to get it home and write some notes with it this weekend. I'm not a great one for writing letters, and if it weren't for fountain pens and the fact that I love to write with them, I'd probably have gone all electronic for my written communications years ago.
The pen, as purchased, had been out of use for a long time; a calendar with the lot of office supplies was from 1967. So the ink sac needed to be replaced. The tines of the nib were also misaligned, resulting in scratchy writing, so I had that adjusted. Black hard rubber just won't polish up well, and getting the metal polished likely would have just taken off more of the gold plate, so I left that as-is for the moment. My goal is to have a functional vintage pen, not one that I've prettied up for resale.
Meanwhile, I picked up a bottle of Waterman Encre Havane, a pretty brown ink with an almost-coppery color to it when used on white paper. I have a soft spot for Waterman inks; Encre Verte (Green) is a rich color, while my daily user Pelikan at work is filled with Encre Bleu Effaçable (Florida Blue). Plus, I thought it would look right coming out of a pen that is somewhat older than my grandmother -- a nice vintage touch.
I can't wait to get it home and write some notes with it this weekend. I'm not a great one for writing letters, and if it weren't for fountain pens and the fact that I love to write with them, I'd probably have gone all electronic for my written communications years ago.
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