The Conway Stewart 85 first appeared in the catalogue in 1956 and was replaced with the slightly longer 85L in 1957, it had a very short production run.
The pen has a very attractive pearlised Marbled Blue finish. It is actually a good deal more blue than it appears in the photographs, the camera seems to make the pearl effect mask the blue. The Gold filling to the clip and cap band is in good order and the barrel imprint is clear.
There is a small red dot on the back of the barrel, it is not a surface mark and seems to be some sort of inclusion in the plastic, perhaps there since new.
The box is brand new, it is very high quality and will serve well for transport, protection, and display.
The pen has been restored and tested. The lever filling system works well and the 14 Ct. Gold nib has a small but pleasing amount of flex which allows some character to be added to the writing.
At 13 cm. capped and a very respectable 15.5 cm. when posted the 85 is a good sized pen, very commfortable and well balanced in use.
The Conway atewart 85 was only made for a year, it probably didn't sell well during the short run so relatively few were made and they are now quite scarce and very collectable.