This pen comes from, if not the pinnacle of the fountain pen era, a
point from which the summit can easily be seen. In the near
future, the ballpoint would hoist its beady little face into public
view and topple the fountain pen as the writing instrument of choice,
but at this time there was still a fierce combination of technical and
artistic effort being put into pens-- they couldn't simply look good,
they had to work well, especially if they were expensive. The
Autograph, with its huge band intended for personalization, was not a
cheap pen... and that's what I had thought this pen was for some time;
previous readers will be startled to find this amendment, I'm sure, but
mistakes need correcting. Apparently the Valiant model of this
era had a much broader band than the same trim-level of Thin Model
pens, something I learn only belatedly. So, rather than a
top-of-the-line model, this is only a rather good model. All the same, here we are, six decades later, and this thing still
writes brilliantly. I actually prefer it to the "Thin Model"
Sheaffers found with Touchdown and Snorkel fillers-- it's actually a
little shorter than I like for writing if the cap's not posted, but it's
so chubby that it's easy to get a firm grip on.
I also prefer the look of the shorter, broader Triumph point as opposed
to the later thin models. This conical point was a response to
the hooded point on Parker's "51", and I have to
admit that it speaks to me more than Parker's innovation.
A small oddity of this pen is a second white dot right at the end of
the blind cap. This was done on models with a metal cap because
Sheaffer wouldn't work out a reliable way to fit the dot to those until
after the war, but it would sometimes creep into non-metal-cap models
too. It might be a sign of a cap-swap (top or blind), but it's not necessarily so.
Specifications: Fine
two-tone 14K gold "Triumph" point. Vacuum filler. Spring-loaded clip. 13.2cm long capped, 14.8cm posted.
Condition: Very good. Apart from a fine scar caused by
posting, there's no blemishes on the plastic, and the body imprint is
bold. There's an intimation of the tarnishing on the band still,
but since I don't know how many molecules thick the gold plating is, I'm
not going to try to do anything with it. The filler is still
doing what it's supposed to, and taking up a week's worth of ink.
Repairs: I greased the shaft with silicon in hopes of keeping the
felt packing in decent shape. Look for eventual replacement of
the mechanism with a reliable modern refit.
Location: My collection.
For sale?: No.
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