Tropen were one of Germany's most prolific pen makers in the aftermath of WW2. The pens were all piston fillers, the favoured filling system for German manufacturers, and were made in solid colours, usually black.
In 1989 the company produced this pen, which they called the 'Scholar 500', although, apart from the filling system, it bore no resemblance to the earlier pens of that name, and it is multi-coloured, a first for Tropen.
This pen is in totally mint, unused condition. It has a ball ended clip and the squared off shape resembling a pen from the 1920s or 1930s. It is made from celluloid, a material that allows the vibrant swirled colours and high gloss finish. At the end of the barrel is a transparent green perspex ink view window. The nib, quite long and slim, is imprinted 'Tropen Iridium Nichroma'. It may be Gold plated but it is certainly not steel.
At 13.2 cm. capped, the pen is a most impressive 15.8 cm. when posted for use, a large, chunky pen with a high quality feel.
When this pen was released the Visconti pen company had just been formed and one of their first offerings was the Visconti 'Classic Candy Stripe Celluloid pen'. There is little doubt that this pen was, in fact, a Tropen Scholar 500, the only difference being that the Visconti had the name imprinted on the cap ring. At the time, Tropen provided nibs for visconti, it appears that, in this case, they provided the complete pen. The last photograph shows the Visconti version, it can be bought for $295.
It is likely that very few of these pens were produced, I haven't seen another one either 'in the flesh' or on the web, apart from the Visconti version. It may well be a collectable 'sleeper'.