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I recently acquired a small collection of high end Sheaffer Targa pens and sets, mostly unused and in immaculate condition. The Targa is a well made pen that has stood the test of time, usually an excellent writer, and very practical.  These high end pens, particularly the Medici series, which was part of the 'Targa Luxury' series elevate the model to a different level.  Here are a few pics:  Targa 1011 Diamond Squares Targa 1005 Fluted. Targa 682 Medici Line Targa 683 Medici Diamond

The Parker Duofold U.K. aerometric filling pens were made from 1951 into the early 1970s.  They now represent excellent value, particularly when compared to a new pen as they all have solid Gold nibs and are renowned as good writers.  A new fountain pen with a Gold nib is considerably more expensive then a Duofold, and probably not as good. In terms of choice of trim levels and colour, however,  they are sometimes seen as a bit limited. There are only four colours, red, blue, black, and green, and all have the same Gold filled clip and cap band. Discounting...

The pen that Parker referred to as the '51 Standard' is one of the least well known of the 51 variants and is a very rare pen. This example is in American Burgundy:   From the picture the pen is indistinguishable from a Parker 51 Classic (the American pen was actually called a De Luxe).  It has a Lustralloy cap and a 14CT. Gold nib, suppled by a 'normal' Parker 51 collector and feed arrangement.  The material, finish, and build quality are the same, as is the cap and end stud.  So, what makes it a Standard and not a Classic,...

Parker were late comers into the rapidly growing ballpoint pen business, the Parker Jotter was launched in 1954, 13 years after Lazlo Biro's first offering, the 'Birome'. When criticised for their apparent lack of interest by Time Magazine, Kenneth Parker replied with a rebuttal.  In essence, he said that the current ballpoint pens were  rubbish and Parker would only offer a pen to the public when they were sure it was a great product.  Designing and testing such a product took time and Parker simply were not ready until they unveiled the Jotter, it was revolutionary and  orders of magnitude better...

Most Esterbrook J series pens that are still around are the 'double jewel' version, introduced in 1948.  The first pens, however, were single jewelled pens, often known as 'transitionals' because they filled a gap between the Esterbrook Visumasters, introduced in 1941 and the J series. The early transitional pens, from 1944, had a squared off barrel end: The top picture is the later double jewelled pen.  The Transitional clip does not have the Esterbrook name: Both pens are very nearly the same size but have a very slightly different profile, the transitional pen is less tapered.