This post should really be subtitled, “A Little Help From My Friends”.
As I think I wrote previously, in order to collect vintage pens, you need a combination of knowledge and the ability to restore pens (unless you are made of money and buy only mint). And, in order to be able to restore pens, you must possess some degree of manual dexterity and the right tools. I have neither.
Fortunately, I joined a pen club (http://ca.geocities.com/swopc@rogers.com/) some time ago and met some very nice pen collectors. Most of them are vintage collectors, so being a modern guy, we showed each other our different collections until I decided to join them. Now we mostly talk vintage (except for when I break down and buy a modern pen, every month or so).
My second vintage purchase was a Lapis Parker Duofold Streamline from the UK on Ebay. I was simply looking at different Duofolds and ran across this pen with only 1 bid for Cdn $50 and a couple of minutes left. From the pictures, I could not tell the size of the Duofold, whether a Junior or Senior (although I suspected the former), and it was clear that the pen needed a clip; nevertheless, I was shocked when I looked at the nib and overall condition of the pen (especially the colour). After mandarin, lapis is the most sought after colour, which works for me since most of my collection is blue anyway. So, I bid a few more pounds and next thing I know, I am the owner of the pen.
What next? The seller advertised the pen as in working condition – it was not, unless you count dipping as a proper filling mechanism. So, off to my pen buddy who takes a look at it and then determines that it needs a new pressure bar as well as resaccing. I have no parts and no tools; he has both. After a little hard work (99.9% on his part), I have a pen that looks great and writes even better (but needs a clip). I take it to our next pen club meeting – tell the story, show the pen, everybody tries it and oohs and aahs, and mention that we need to search for a clip. The clip for a Streamline model is a little more difficult to find, however, John Culmer of the Peel Pen Shop (http://www.peelpenshop.ca/) mentions that he might have one. Next week, John hands me an envelope with my shiny blue Duofold with a perfectly fitted clip. Of course, I hand John some cash for the clip (after everyone agrees on a fair price for it!).
After all is said and done, I have this incredible pen that cost $75, that happens to be worth 2.5 – 3 times that amount if I were to sell it. I could care less about its selling price; this pen is going on my desk into my rotation.
Filed under: lapis, Parker Duofold, Peel Pen Shop, streamline, SWOPC, vintage
Coming Soon – Visconti Opera Club in nordic blue
