The Statesman had
previously been on of the higher models in Sheaffer's roster-- the
model as it appeared in the
1941 catalogue sat at the highest price point a pen without a gold
cap could occupy ($10.00!). This model from eight or nine years
later was also a $10.00 pen, but the Sheaffer ladder had grown some
more rungs, with the Valiant
and it's Triumph point squatting on the next one up at
$12.50. It does, at least, retain a gold point, which it would
shed in the Snorkel
incarnation.
This is one of the wide-bodied Touchdown pens, which ran in 1949 and
1950. My entirely subjective view of them is that they're more
pleasing than the subsequent "Thin Model", both visually and in the
hand. I am second to none in my admiration of the Triumph point,
but I do quite enjoy these large two-tone points that Sheaffer made.
This one coming from the period when a lifetime warranty was
forbidden in the US, the point lacks the word "LIFETIME" in its
impression, but it does carry a serial number which is something which
intermittently appeared on life-time pens in the 1930s and '40s.
For the curious, this one is 064357; numerologists may make of
that what they will.
Specifications: Medium 14k gold
point. Touchdown filler. 13.2 cm long capped, 15.1 cm
posted.
Condition: I start to wonder if this colour isn't somehow more
resistant to wear than other contemporary Sheaffers, as this shares
with it's upscale sibling in my collection a body that might as well
have just left the factory, although there are a couple of unpronounced
scratches on the cap; they're very rounded, and if not for the
length/width ration I'd call them depressions. The ink window is
unambered. The metalwork holds more evidence of use, although the
picture exaggerates it.
Repairs: Replaced sac and seals, cleaned old ink from feed.
Location: My collection.
For sale?: No,
although I might entertain offers; it's a very neat pen, but it's not
insisting that I keep it forever.
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