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Writer's pictureKraftyChloé

How-To: Identify Manufacturer and Model of a Fountain Pen

It's happened to us all...


You have such a large collection of fountain pens that you've completely forgotten the name of the manufacturer of a few, or a friend sends you a vintage pen and you Must Know Everything about it. This can also happen if you buy an old pen online or at an auction and the seller hasn't got a clue about its history.


I'm going to teach you how to be the Sherlock Holmes of the fountain pen world (second Sherlock reference so far on my blog, what can I say, it is a good book!) and sleuth out the origins of any pen!


However, this only works if the pen isn't Frankensteined, because if you have a Sheaffer nib in a Parker body with a Monteverde ink converter, it is anyone's guess what it originally was. In all other situations, this guide should be all you ever need.


I'll assume that you know nothing about pen brands, which is perfectly normal and nothing to be ashamed of. That way, I'll show you that even a complete newbie can do this!


Take my Conway Stewart 70, for example.


First of all, look at the barrel. Anything etched into it? Yes, we're in luck! This plainly reads 'Conway Stewart 70, Made In England.'





Well, that was easy. Now you just type it into Google and tada! You will be able to find the year of manufacture, etc.


'But mine doesn't have any etching!'


Don't panic! That doesn't matter. You have another valuable sourse of info - the nib.


Most pen manufacturers etch, at the very least, the brand name into the nib. For example, if you zoom into this picture that my good friend Kendra took of a fountain pen from the 1930s, you can see 'Sheaffers, Feather Touch' on the nib.





The barrel of the pen is inlaid with mother of pearl, so type into your search engine, 'Sheaffer feather touch mother of pearl inlay' and you should be presented with product listings and pictures of that pen.


'But the barrel and the nib are blank!'


Were you a little overzealous when polishing the pen?


I kid, I kid. Some pens, especially very old ones, don't have any etching, or it is so worn as to be unreadable.


Now we will really Sherlock it and make a series of inferences.


Let's say that my Conway Stewart pen didn't have any markings. What are its defining features? A lever-filler, as it has a lever. Pens with one of these tend to be old. it has a green and black marbled barrel, a gold nib, and a diamond shape on the end of the clip.





This is what you type into your search engine: 'vintage green black marbled fountain pen gold nib diamond clip'. Lots of words, but you just have to trust me on this.


What have I just found after five seconds of scrolling? Bad quality screenshot, but same barrel shape, colour, and the distinctive clip.





So it may be a Conway Stewart pen. But ours doesn't have a gold clip. Must be a different model, not a No.15. Search 'Vintage Conway Stewart gold nib silver clip.' Another ten seconds of scrolling reveals this:





An exact match. So we have a Conway Stewart No.75. Elementary, is it not?


My pen is actually a No.70, as you can tell from the etching, but comparing the two I can't really tell the difference. Research tells me that a No.75 is a tad shorter than the 70.


I hope this guide helps you identify your mystery pens. I intend to publish more guides like this one in the future, so subscribe to be notified of more articles!




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Lorena Norris
Lorena Norris
Sep 04, 2022

My pen has no markings on it, except for a 3 on the tip of the nib. There is no cap on the pen, and it doesn't look like it ever had one. There is a lever to lift, so I'm guessing it has a bladder inside, but I don't want to open it until I have more information. It is 8 inches long. 3-1/2 inches of it are at the end, and is black in color. The rest of the handle is black and green marble color. It writes well if I dip it in ink, but I want to know if I can fill it. Does this sound familiar? Can you help me identify it?

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KraftyChloé
KraftyChloé
Sep 04, 2022
Replying to

Good evening! So, after further research, I have concluded that your pen most likely isn't a Parker. I can't find any lever-fill Parkers matching your description, and so your pen is probably another brand. Many manufacturers produced green marble pens, Conway Stewart and Mabie Todd being just two of these companies. I'll start another hunt through Google for a match, and see if I can find a match!

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suyog.ketkar
Jan 24, 2022

This is some super-useful insight. Yet, I have a pen that was gifted to me as an unused inventory. It has a gold (or gold-polished) nib, which though is a Fine one, writes smoothly and doubles for flexing, too. It goes from F to BB. The brand isn't etched anywhere. The only information etched, on the nib, is "Iridium point, Germany". In fact, its closest match is a Wordsworth & Black rosewood fountain pen. So, in conclusion, I've stopped worrying about it. All I do is fill it up with a great color and enjoy the experience. It appears to be a mediocre fountain pen with a great nib; the story ends there for me! :)

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suyog.ketkar
Jan 25, 2022
Replying to

:)

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twtreasures
Jan 14, 2022

You are a very clever sleuth and this was great information - plus you made me famous! LOL.

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KraftyChloé
KraftyChloé
Jan 14, 2022
Replying to

😆 thanks! More than happy to make you famous!

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