Sheaffer Connaisseur

The Connaisseur line started in 1986 with the introduction of the black resin pen, this pen and all the standard Sheaffer Connaisseur resin fountain pens came fitted with a 18K mono-tone scrolled nib.

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The Connaisseur was the brain child of Dan Reppert, who originally had the idea of an up-graded Sheaffer No-Nonsense pen around 1983, at the time his idea was not greatly received by Sheaffer and shortly afterwards Dan left Sheaffer for two years. On his return to the company he found the Connaisseur on the shelf and ready to be shipped.
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The first edition Connaisseur standard black resin had a plain cap band and was stamped Sheaffer on the clip
810 1st EDITION BLACK STANDARD RESIN FOUNTAIN PEN
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March 1988 saw the introduction of what was originally referred to by Sheaffer USA as the European collection, these pens were made in England and sold only to the European market during the first year of production. The two Laque models in Black and Tortoiseshell were the first prestigious Connaisseur pens to be offered in the USA in 1989, then in 1991 the 23K Gold Plate and Sterling Silver Connaisseur pens were also made available to the US market. These pens were name ‘Grande Connaisseur’ by Sheaffer in the USA and Canada, while Sheaffer UK never adopted the term ‘Grande’ when referring to these Connaisseur’s.

All the Grande Connaisseur fountain pens came fitted with the 18K scrolled nib with palladium chevron.
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At some point production of the Grande Connoisseur was moved to the USA, therefore the four models shown above can be found stamped England or USA.

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Two new finishes in the standard Connaisseur’s were released in 1989 in Burgundy and Blue. The 810 black Connaissuers changed around this time, being fitted with a plain clip and Sheaffer stamped on the cap band.

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811 BURGUNDY STANDARD RESIN FOUNTAIN PEN
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812 COBALT BLUE STANDARD RESIN FOUNTAIN PEN
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810 2nd EDITION BLACK STANDARD RESIN FOUNTAIN PEN
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The Black Herringbone was introduced in 1991, this pen was priced between the Standard and Grande Connaisseur, while retaining all the features of a standard model. These pens normally sell for a premium, over the rest of the resin Connaisseurs.
815 HERRINGBONE STANDARD RESIN FOUNTAIN PEN
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One more Connaisseur was added to the range in 1992, the Ivy Green Standard model.  

813 IVY GREEN STANDARD RESIN FOUNTAIN PEN
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The Blue Ronce Grande Connaissuer is a little harder to place and date within the Connaisseur range. Conflicting opinions surround this model within the pen community. I have seen these pens referred to as a prototype, which is probably not the case, it's rumoured that as little as 10 pieces were made, while well respected collectors believe it had a run in the USA as a special edition with many more than 10 being made available. Whatever the case maybe, these are certainly very rare pieces and at the 2008 Washington Pen Show a set of fountain and ball pen changed hands for $1000.

SHEAFFER GRANDE CONNAISSEUR MARBLED BLUE RONCE FOUNTAIN PEN
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Two prototype Grande Connaisseurs have surfaced in the form of the Marbled Grey Ronce pattern and the Gold Plated Fluted pattern.
SHEAFFER GRANDE CONNAISSEUR MARBLED GREY RONCE PROTOTYPE FOUNTAIN PEN
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SHEAFFER GRANDE CONNAISSEUR GOLD PLATE FLUTED PATTERN PROTOTYPE FOUNTAIN PEN
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A Maki-E Grande Connaisseur was also made during the time when Sheaffer had links with the Sailor Pen Co, Japan.

SHEAFFER GRANDE CONNAISSEUR BLACK LAQUE MAKI-E FOUNTAIN PEN
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Standard Connaisseurs with a wide cap band have also come to light, I was told these could have been a special design made exclusively for a corporate event.

IVY GREEN STANDARD RESIN FOUNTAIN PEN WITH WIDE CAP BAND
SHEAFFER ROYAL SELANGOR BAMBOO FOUNTAIN PEN
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The Royal Selangor Bamboo fountain pen although not technically a Connaissuer, it is close enough to be included within the Connaisseur family. The pen comes fitted with the Grande Connaissuer 18K two tone nib unit and the overall shape and size is similar to the Connaissuer, the pen uses the same style clip with the ball shaped end, the difference being the white dot is fitted on the clip.
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The Bamboo fountain pen was advertised as the first in the series of Asia Special Edition fine writing instruments, a result of a partnership between Sheaffer and Royal Selangor. The cap and barrel are made of solid pewter and incorporate an original bamboo design in sculptured relief along the surface, polished to a beautiful, luminous finish.
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Moulds prepared from an original sculpture are filled individually by skilled artisans, then hand finished to enhance the beauty of the original design.
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The Bamboo pen came packaged in a custom designed wood presentation case with lined interior.
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CONNAISSEUR ACCESSORIES
A Connaisseur brass desk accessory was available for one year only in 1987, crafted by David Gibson, these pieces were turned by hand from solid brass. The accent is rich black onyx, cut, polished and fitted to each base individually.
GB07 CONNAISSEUR BRASS DESK ACCESSORY WITH CONNAISSEUR BLACK FOUNTAIN PEN
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THE LEVENGER SERIES OF SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR'S

Around 1998 Sheaffer made a series of Connaisseur pens for the Florida based office supply company Levenger. Six finishes completed the first series all named after the seas around the globe, these pens were made from a transparent resin and named Connaisseur Seas.

LEVENGER SEA I CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PENS
825 PURPLE GT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR ADRIATIC SEA FOUNTAIN PEN
826 TURQUOISE GT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR TASMEN SEA FOUNTAIN PEN
829 RED GT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR RED SEA FOUNTAIN PEN
830 BLUE GT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR MEDITERRANEAN SEA FOUNTAIN PEN
831 GREEN GT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR AEGEAN SEA FOUNTAIN PEN
832 YELLOW GT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR CARIBBEAN SEA FOUNTAIN PEN
These pens were fitted with a 14K nib stamp both Sheaffer and Levenger. The nib units used on the Connaisseur Seas pens used the straight nib shell associated with all the previous Connaisseur fountain pens and the curved nib shell used on the Sheaffer Balance II pens.

Apart from the 14K nib and the new transparent resin the first series of Levenger seas pens retain all the features of the original Standard resin Connaisseur pens, unlike the second series of Levenger Seas pens which had a series of re-modelling work done.

The Levenger Seas II pens were made in four new finishes and used the transparent resin like the first series. These pens had a new look being fitted with a 14K palladium plated nib with the curved nib shell fitted to all the fountain pens. They were trimmed in palladium plate to match the nib with the cap having a new single wider style band. The main revision to these pens came with the revamped clip which totally changes their appearance, the longer clip goes all the way to the top of the cap and has the white dot fitted onto it, the ends of the cap and barrel have metal domes like previously used on some of the Grande Connaisseur models
LEVENGER SEA II CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PENS

818 GREEN CT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PEN
9054 ORANGE CT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PEN
9055 SMOKE CT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PEN
BLUE CT LEVENGER/CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PEN

Two Grande Connaisseurs were made for Levenger around the year 2000, these models called Royal Palladium were available with a bright blue laque barrel or black laque barrel, and a Polished Palladium cap with gold plated accents.

 
LEVENGER GRANDE ROYAL PALLADIUM CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PENS
833 BLUE/PALLADIUM GT LEVENGER ROYAL GRANDE CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PEN
836 BLACK/PALLADIUM GT LEVENGER ROYAL GRANDE CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PEN
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The two Levenger Grande Connaisseur fountain pens shown below turned up at the Washington pen show in 2009, to date no reference has been found for these two finishes, they could be another Levenger Royal Edition or a couple of Prototypes.
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BLUE/ CHROME CT LEVENGER GRANDE CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PEN
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BLACK/CHROME CT LEVENGER GRANDE CONNAISSEUR FOUNTAIN PEN
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