BY DON FLUCKINGER • Dear Santa,
This year I’m really into silver pens. Some with blue accents. A few gold ones, too, would be okay.
| None of these pens on this list trip your trigger? Maybe if you’re not on the “naughty” list, Santa’s sleigh will come your way. |
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Here’s my list, with a few comments as to why they’re top priorities.
Parker Premier: Richard has many pens in his collection, but few of them actually inspire abject jealousy. This one does.
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The 75, jazzed up and nicely heftier, too.
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Pelikan Souverän 625: There’s something about the classic Pelikan cap in silver offset by the transparent dark blue barrel that mesmerizes this magpie. A gorgeous pen.
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Richard loves this pen, too.
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Wahl Metal Pen: At some point I will have one of these long and lovely lever fillers in sterling with the Greek key pattern.
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This Wahl 652C is Richard’s.
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Yard-O-Led Standard Viceroy, Barley Finish: Ten years running on the wish list. From the first, it was love at first sight. The Grand size is honking huge, no thanks. I’ll take the Standard.
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Think this pen, but in Barley Finish. Wicked nice!
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Sheaffer Targa Sterling Barleycorn 1026: Not like I’m actually into grain or wheat or barley or corn more than the average person, but this one I don’t have. The barley pattern offers pure gravitas when paired with silver.
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From Fort Madison, as elegant a pen as you’ll find anywhere.
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Bexley 2008 Owner’s Club (silver): While this collector typically eschews the limited editions, I choose to think of this pen more of a small-batch coffee roaster’s brilliance than a collector piece. Only 150 of these are kicking around; too bad the 401K bit the dust.
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The 2008 Owner’s Club, in sterling dress
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Montegrappa Reminiscence (standard): Solid silver with the Greek-key pattern, a couple of these have come and gone from my collection. Shouldn’t have let them go. The Oversize is not too large, but the weight on the standard is much more manageable.
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Don reminisces about this, his first Reminiscence.
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Delta Nautilus: The original line had a pen with a sterling sheath over a solid midnight-blue resin. A great pen for a modern issue, period. Another one I used to have and shouldn’t ever have set free in the ’Bay.
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This Nautilus was another that got away.
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Eversharp Skyline 14K Command Performance: All right, this one’s pie in the sky, price wise, for most collectors. The ironic thing is, a passel of these came up on eBay when I first starting bidding on fountain pens in the last millennium, and I was spooked away by what seemed like an outrageously high $200 closing price most of them commanded — some of them new in box with pencil. Stupid me. With the price of gold up and the collector awareness of this phenomenal pen, these run up to $500-plus for ding-free, cherry specimens. I’d settle for a gold-filled Award Skyline with the nifty little Chevron pattern, too.
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This is a serious pen, its bullion value notwithstanding.
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None of the pens on this list trip your trigger? Interact on Richard’s pen blog and register your own wish-list pens. Maybe if you’re not on the “naughty” list, Santa’s sleigh will come your way.
| Freelance writer Don Fluckinger lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is the son-in-law of Richard Binder. His articles have been published in Antiques Roadshow Insider, The Boston Globe, and on the Biddersedge.com collectibles Web site. Please note: Any opinions stated in this column are Don’s alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Richard Binder or this Web site. |
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