Platignum Varsity

Blue pen with brushed steel cap.

I have little to add regarding the description of the pen to that which appears under the red model I've previously posted. The noteworthy thing about this pen is that it was sent to me by a chap in Scotland who appreciated my own appreciation of the low-end and unregarded pen. So, that's one in the eye for the stereotype of the grasping, miserly Scot-- this is a free gift to an utter stranger. I'm scanning in an anonymized copy of the letter he sent along with the pen, as much so that the rest of the world can see what nice handwriting he has as for its content. I also want to refer to an email which lead to that letter and the arrival of the pen, because there's a note of slightly-opposed nostalgia in it which I expect a lot of pen-fanciers will sympathize with:

My memories of Platignums were not fond, but the only ones I had during the latter years of primary school were the very cheapest ones which came in a bubble-pack from Woolworths. I know now that they made some more durable pens and some quite good calligraphy nibs, and of course they came from a firm which had an honourable history. Back then, though, they were the bane of my life, conferring ink-stained fingers and blotted copybooks upon me. Later I discovered the excellent Osmiroid 75 and the range of nibs they offered and they lasted me until I left school.

I stuck with fountain pens and have several De La Rues and Swans that I bought in junk shops and used as dip pens because neither sacs nor cork seals were available for a while...

If you replace Woolworth's with Pinder's Drugs, and Platignum with Sheaffer, that's more or less my experience, athough because the thing was self-inflicted there's a litle more fondness in the memory.

Specifications: Medium plated steel point. Aerometric filler. 13.7cm long capped, 15.3cm posted.

Condition: Very light pocket-wear on the body, and that's about it. The point is in a much better state than the red one's

Repairs: None.

Location: My collection.

For sale?: Not likely-- from a stranger it may be, but a gift is a gift.

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