Sheaffer Fountain pens 1958-2003

Fifty Years of Sheaffer Fountain Pens 1953 - 2003.

In Sheaffer’s 1953 trade catalogue the Snorkel and TIPdip range made a wonderful collection of fountain pens fitted with unique and intricate filling systems. The Snorkel filling system was first introduced in 1952 replacing the touchdown filler on the TM 'Thin Model' fountain pens and during the first two years of production they were called TM Snorkels.

As though by magic, this tube drinks the ink with siphon action...takes the "dunk"out of pen filling

The Snorkel clean filling system allows the fountain pen to be filled without dipping the nib in the ink. By simply twisting out the snorkel tube, placing it in the ink and with one sharp press down on the extended plunger, the pen fills through the snorkel tube.

The Snorkel was made in fourteen different styles, if you include the Demonstrator and had around thirteen colour variations spread across the range.

SHEAFFER'S SNORKEL SIGNATURE FOUNTAIN PEN IN BURGUNDY.

SHEAFFER'S SNORKEL VALIANT FOUNTAIN PEN IN BLACK.

SHEAFFER'S SNORKEL SENTINEL FOUNTAIN PEN IN AQUA.

SHEAFFER'S SNORKEL STATESMAN FOUNTAIN PEN IN PASTEL GREEN.

SHEAFFER'S SNORKEL SOVEREIGN FOUNTAIN PEN IN BURGUNDY.

There was sixteen different nib points catering for every writing style, giving the would be 1950's Snorkel customer a choice one can only dream about in the modern pen era.

The Snorkel window displays shown here are from the 1950's, the one below was at Messrs Lyon of Glasgow and these large centrepieces were normally loaned to stockist free of charge.

The TIPdip system brought clean filling to Sheaffer's lower-priced pens, only the tip of the nib assembley needs dipping for efficient and complete filling.

The first Sheaffer Cartridge pen was developed by the Fineline division of the company in 1955, and was simply called the Fineline Cartridge Pen.

Sheaffer’s simple skrip cartridge filling system was a great success and by 1959 the popular priced $2.95 cartridge fountain pen had sold over 8 million units.

The first Skrip ink cartridges made in the mid 1950's were filled, capped and sealed mostly by hand. The picture below is from a 1962 Sheaffer Review and shows equipment performing all these jobs automatically, in a eight-hour shift two employees could produce 75,000 cartridges.

Sheaffer continued to add more cartridge pens to its collection in the late 1950’s, shown below is the '500' Skripsert fountain pen which sold for $5.00 in 1958.

A new line of cartridge pens named 'The Lady Sheaffer' first appeared in American store’s in April 1958.The collection included 19 models and the patterns were inspired by fine fabrics, like tweed, corduroy, paisley and tulle. Extensive research was conducted by Sheaffer to find if there was a market for a pen designed exclusively for women. The results showed that generally women considered pens made for them previously were nothing more than reproductions of men’s writing instruments and that their fashion interests were centred in fabrics, costume jewellery and accessories. The Lady Sheaffer Skripsert fountain pens were developed to include all these features.

The introduction of the PFM (Pen for Men) in 1959 completed Sheaffer’s His and Hers collection, the scans below show some of Sheaffer's gender related advertising from 1960.

The PFM fountain pen incorporated Sheaffer’s exclusive snorkel clean filling system and a newly styled inlaid nib unit which was advertised as being built to take man sized pressure. The cap was fitted with the new loss proof clip with inner spring action, which was designed to grip any thickness of fabric. The collection had five levels in five colours which were numbered I, II, II, IV and V. The I and II fountain pens were fitted with a palladium silver point, while III, IV and V had 14K gold points.

There was also a PFM Autograph model which was a PFM III with a 14K cap band. This model was stocked in the black only, while Burgundy, Blue, Green and Grey were available by special order.

A PFM demonstrator fountain pen was made in two different versions, one fitted with the black nib unit like the example shown below and the other has a clear nib unit. Sheaffer UK commissioned a Masterpiece 9K Solid Gold PFM in 1962, it is believed that 100 pieces were ordered and made by the jewellers S.J. Rose.

The ‘Target’ touchdown fountain pen was introduced in June 1960, styled on the PFM but standard in size and was placed in the medium price field selling at $8.75.This was the first pen in the Imperial family and was fitted with a cylindrical precious metal palladium silver nib with gold accents.

SHEAFFER'S TARGET FOUNTAIN PEN AND PENCIL SET

The above image has been used with the kind permission of Jim Mamoulides of www. Penhero.com - some great information on the Sheaffer Imperials can be found on Jim's website.

The $1 cartridge pen was introduced by Sheaffer in 1960, and was the lowest price standard item in the history of the company. The high volume and low profit pen was made possible by introducing new manufacturing, assembling, packaging and shipping operations.

The touchdown pen range was also expanded in January 1961 with the introduction of the Imperial VI and VIII, these pens were styled on the PFM IV and V respectively, and unlike the Target model came fitted with the PFM style 14K gold inlaid nib unit.

SHEAFFER'S IMPERIAL VI TOUCHDOWN FOUNTAIN PEN IN GREY.

SHEAFFER'S IMPERIAL VIII TOUCHDOWN FOUNTAIN PEN IN BLACK.

In January 1961 a new range of deluxe cartridge pens called Compact were added to the range. The Compact I and II featured an ink view barrel and a new style arrowhead inlaid nib unit. The Compact I is trimmed with chrome plate, fitted with a stainless steel nib and stamped Sheaffer’s on the clip, no white dot is present on the clip. The Compact II is trimmed with gold plate, fitted with a 14K solid gold nib and a white dot is fitted on the clip. Later in production the ink view feature was dropped and I believe a shorter clip was fitted to these pens.

SHEAFFER'S COMPACT I CARTRIDGE FOUNTAIN PEN IN BLACK WITH INK VIEW BARREL

SHEAFFER'S COMPACT II CARTRIDGE FOUNTAIN PEN IN BURGUNDY WITH INK VIEW BARREL.

By 1962 the Imperial Touchdown had been expanded even further with the addition of 5 new models.
The’ Imperial I’ used a new short stroke touchdown filling system and was originally manufactured and shipped from Canada, the fountain pen also used a new inset nib in gold plate .

SHEAFFER'S IMPERIAL I TOUCHDOWN FOUNTAIN PENS IN GREEN AND GREY.

The above image has been used with the kind permission of Jim Mamoulides, Penhero.com.

The Target was renamed ‘Imperial III ’ and the new ‘Imperial II’ came fitted with a frosted stainless steel cap and used the cylindrical nib in stainless steel.

SHEAFFER'S IMPERIAL II TOUCHDOWN FOUNTAIN PEN IN GREEN.

SHEAFFER'S IMPERIAL III TOUCHDOWN FOUNTAIN PEN IN BURGUNDY.

The ‘Imperial IV’ was modelled on the PFM III and was fitted with the 14K inlaid nib.

SHEAFFER'S IMPERIAL IV TOUCHDOWN FOUNTAIN PEN IN BLUE.

At the top of the Imperial range were two all metal pens, the’ Imperial Triumph’ had a gold filled cap and barrel, while the precious metal 'Imperial Masterpiece' was crafted in solid 14K gold and retailed at $135 in 1962.

SHEAFFER'S IMPERIAL TRIUMPH TOUCHDOWN FOUNTAIN PEN.

A new range of pens named around their price points came in 1962, with three cartridge pens numbered 500, 800 and 1000, the touchdown filling system was only available on the 500 and 800 pens. The unique nib unit on these pens was a cost cutting exercise to give them the appearance of the more expensive inlaid nib, and this bulbous shaped unit gave them the nickname ‘Dolphin’ and like previous Sheaffer models each level was available in five colours.


Above Images taken from a 1963 Sheaffer's 50th Year Anniversary Catalogue.

The 50th anniversary of the Sheaffer Pen Company was in 1963 and to mark the occasion a range of Lifetime Premium Cartridge pens were introduced in four levels of trim and all were named at their price points. These cartridge pens were modelled on the Imperial touchdown pens and Lifetime was stamped on both the clip and nib. The only touchdown pens available at this time were the Masterpiece and the Imperial IV which was renamed 1350TD.

The trademark LIFETIME imprinted on the 14K gold point and on the clip to identify the new LIFETIME fountain pen guarantees its proper performance under normal conditions below for the life of the person in whose name a certificate finished for each pen is required. If during your life as the registered owner, this LIFETIME fountain pen should fail to function properly for any cause other than wilful or accidental damage send the pen to our factory postage prepaid and we will repair or replace it for you completely free of charge.

SHEAFFER'S 3000 LIFETIME CARTRIDGE FOUNTAIN PEN.

SHEAFFER'S 2000 LIFETIME CARTRIDGE FOUNTAIN PEN WITH 14K AUTOGRAPH BAND AVAILABLE IN BLACK ONLY.

SHEAFFER'S 1500 LIFETIME CARTRIDGE FOUNTAIN PEN IN BURGUNDY.

SHEAFFER'S 1250 LIFETIME CARTRIDGE FOUNTAIN PEN IN GREEN.

On March 1st 1966 Sheaffer Pen Co became a division of Textron Inc and the 'Sheaffer's' logo was change to 'Sheaffer' on all merchasing and literature.The Lifetime pens were discontinued around the same time and replaced with a new range of cartridge pens called ‘Stylist’, these slender style pens were fitted with a futurist looking reversible point nib unit and a newly designed spring loaded clip. Before the line was discontinued in 1969, the fountain pen was redesigned and fitted with an Imperial style clip and the cylindrical nib, previously used on the Imperial II and III.

The Imperial range was reintroduced around 1969, with touchdown and cartridge fountain pens made available in most models. The Imperial I, II and III were designated ‘Deluxe’ and unlike the earlier versions a white dot was fitted on the clip.

SHEAFFER IMPERIAL II DELUXE TOUCHDOWN FOUNTAIN PEN IN GREY.

The 1920's Flat top pens were inspiration for the new range of 'guys 'n dolls' fountain pens in 1969, the guys version was the forerunner for the No Nonsense range of pens .

The range of Lady Sheaffer pens continued during the 1960’s and by 1971 the range had been totally re-modelled with the addition of a clip to the cap and the introduction of a new recess style nib unit.

The first Sheaffer Limited Edition pen was made in 1970; the 1920’s overlay pens were the inspiration for the 1928 Nostalgia Limited Edition pens which were available with 14K solid gold or sterling silver overlay

The Imperial range continued into the 1970’s, the touchdown fountain pens were gradually being phased out of the range, and the ink convertor became the only option of filling the Imperial fountain pen with bottled ink. The Imperial range was redesigned in the early 1970’s, the top of the range pens were still named ‘Imperial’, however the lower price pens were called ‘Triumph’. A new style arrowhead inlaid nib unit was fitted to the Triumph pens and gradually this nib was introduced to the premium line ’Imperial’ fountain pens, later in production all the range was called ’Triumph’.

A new style arrowhead inlaid nib unit was fitted to the Triumph pens, gradually this nib was introduced to the premium line ’Imperial’ fountain pens and later in production all the range was named ’Triumph’.

The ‘Targa by Sheaffer’ was introduced in 1976, the initial Classic line up was mainly made up of the tried and tested finishes in stainless steel and gold plate, however in 1979 some colour was added to the range with the introduction of the French made Laque pens, these pens shaped the way forward for the Targa range and many other Sheaffer models in the years to come. The newly designed longer style inlaid nib unit, gave the pen a luxurious feel and was one of reasons the range enjoyed continued success for nearly 25 years.

The Sheaffer Nostalgia overlay pens were reintroduced around 1980 first in sterling silver, then around a year later the vermeil version became available.These Nostalgia pens were a normal edition and not numbered like the 1924 limited edition pens.

The first slimline Targa pens to be introduced into the range were the dual system pens in March 1982, these pens could be fitted with either the slimline rollerball or microtip refills. Later that year in July 1982 the new Targa slimline fountain pens hit the scene, the initial collection consisted of eighteen pens in sixteen different finishes.

Two unique finishes were added to theTarga slimline range of fountain pens in 1982, both pens were made in the UK and place within the Lady Sheaffer collection. The Lame pens had multi-faceted centre bands and were made in gold plated and silver plated versions.

TRZ fountain pens were added to the collection in 1983 to compliment the ballpoint pen which had been available since 1981. The pens were advertised as designed to reflect the high tech styles of the eighties . In 1986 a range of clipless ballpens named ' In Fashion' were introduced into the range, these pens had the same profile as the TRZ ballpens, minus the clip.

A resin model called the Connaisseur was introduced in 1986 originally made in black only and called Classic, this pen was a tribute to Sheaffer’s 1920’s flat top fountain pens.

A Flagship version of the Connaisseur was made by Sheaffer UK, originally called the European collection and distributed within Europe for the first year, later production was moved to the USA and the pens were then referred to as the Grande Connaisseur range. The following four models completed the Grande Connaisseur range, Tortoiseshell Laque, Black Laque, Gold Plated and Sterling Silver, a premium two tone scrolled nib unit was fitted to all the Grande fountain pens.

A special Grande Connaisseur pen was made by Sheaffer UK in a beautiful Blue Ronce Laque, this pen never featured in any Sheaffer catalogue or price list, and it is rumoured only 10 sets were actually produced making it one of the rarest and most sort after Connaisseur pens.

SHEAFFER GRANDE CONNAISSEUR BLUE RONCE FOUNTAIN PEN.

Three coloured Connaisseur pens were added to the resin collection in Ivy Green, Burgundy and Cobalt Blue, along with a black herringbone pattern pen.

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR IVY GREEN FOUNTAIN PEN .

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR BURGUNDY FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR COBALT BLUE FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR HERRINGBONE FOUNTAIN PEN

A Crest collection featured in the 1989 Sheaffer UK catalogue, these early modern Crest pens were made in England and may not have even made it to any retail outlets for sale. They never appear in any price lists and by the 1990 catalogue they had been taken out of the range.

The first series in the Classic Pens CP Collection was lauched in 1990. The Sheaffer Targa was chosen for the CP1 and this was the begining of a fruitful relationship between Classic Pens Inc and the famous French engravers Murelli. This relationship has continued for over twenty years, in which time an amazing collection of Limited Editions has been assembled.The CP1 is cut in a basketweave pattern called 'Vannerie' which is unique to the CP1 Targa in sterling silver. This first CP Limited Edition was made available in only 250 piece worldwide.

A second version of the modern Crest was launched in 1992, the new pen was an upmarket version of the previous attempt being fitted with a 18K two tone nib.

The white dot on the first modern crest was above the clip just like the 1950's snorkel pens, however on the second version the white dot was move onto the clip.

The clip on the TRZ was redesigned around 1989, and by 1992 the pen had been renamed Fashion. A wider profile fountain pen was introduced into the fashion collection in 1993, while the slim profile pens were phased out of the range.

Two new Nostalgia pens came out in 1992 in sterling silver and vermeil, named ’Floral Etched’ the body of these Nostalgia pens is solid with a floral engraved pattern and again the inspiration for these pens came from the 1920’s. These pens only appeared in the Sheaffer catalogue for one year and with such a short run of production and marketing, they are sometimes incorrectly offered for sale as prototypes.

SHEAFFER 802 NOSTALGIA FLORAL ETCHED STERLING SILVER FOUNTAIN PEN -

Sheaffer and Classic Pens Inc came together again in 1993 to make the CP2 Pushkin Crest a Limited Edition piece of 500 fountain pens

Sheaffer Crest Pushkin CP2 By Classic Pens Inc - Photograph by Jim Mamoulides, www.penhero.com.

The remaining few Triumph pens were replace in 1994 by the Triumph-Imperial collection, the body of these pens was an exact replica of the Imperial cartridge pens of the 1960’s, the only difference being the pens nib unit which was either stainless steel or 23ct electroplated gold depending on the pens trim.

In 1995 the colour palette programme brought together the four Sheaffer models, Crest, Targa, Fashion and Triumph-Imperial. Four vibrant colours were used in the collection and each model had its own unique finish.

SHEAFFER 583 CREST EMERALD GREEN FOUNTAIN PEN IN NOVA PATTERN

SHEAFFER 1180 TARGA CADMIUM YELLOW FOUNTAIN PEN IN SWIRL PATTERN

SHEAFFER 291 FASHION FLAME RED BALLPEN IN RINGS PATTERN

SHEAFFER 2662 TRIUMPH IMPERIAL ULTRA MARINE FOUNTAIN PEN

A new flagship model named Legacy was introduced in 1995. The Legacy fountain pen was based on the Pen For Men and the design and dimensions are more or less the same as the PFM, the Legacy however has an altogether different feel, with its brass based body and newly designed touchdown filling system that allows the user to fill the fountain pen from the bottle or with ink cartridges.

The Legacy 1 was chosen for Classic Pens CP4 Limited Editions and the American civil war was theme, Murelli re-activated a 1928 circular engraver from his museum to create the moire patterns for the Washington and Ricmond.The year of the end of the civil war '1865' was the intended production number of each design, however Bic assumed control of Sheaffer just before the launch of the pens and an agreement was reached between Sheaffer and Classic Pens to limit production to 500 sets.

Production of the Sheaffer Connaisseur range in 1996, however around a year or so later an exclusive range of Connaisseurs were made for the Florida based retailers Levenger, the original collection included six transparent resin pens called Levenger Seas, each one given the name of a sea from around the globe.

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEA 1 CARIBBEAN YELLOW FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEA 1 ARIATIC PURPLE FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEA 1 MEDITERRANEAN BLUE FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEA 1 TASMAN TURQUOISE FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEA 1 RED FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEA 1 AEGEAN GREEN FOUNTAIN PEN

Two Grande pens were also made and both pens had the same polished palladium cap with one having a black laque barrel and the other blue, these pens were named ‘Levenger Royal’.

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER ROYAL PALLADIUM/BLACK FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER ROYAL PALLADIUM/ BLUE FOUNTAIN PEN

The Prelude was first made available in 1997, the original collection of Prelude fountain pens were made up five different finishes named, Magnificent Gold, Luminous Lacquers, Luxurious Metals, Distinctive Mattes and Classic Chromes. All the finishes came fitted with a two tone 23K gold electroplated nib.

Sheaffer continued to use pens from their past to inspire new models, a Limited Edition Balance lever fill fountain pen paved the way for a new range of Modern Balance pens. These pens used the convertor-cartridge filling system and the range included two levels, the plain resin pens fitted with a monotone lifetime nib and the marbled resins which were fitted with a two tone feather touch nib unit.

A few special editions were made in the Balance, including the Aspen, Disney and Millennium. A couple of Balance pens were made exclusively for Levenger, one use the Aspen resin but was trimmed with chrome plate and the other was a new finish called Tigers eye.

The Legacy II pens introduced in 2000 were redesigned with rounded ends to the cap and barrel, moving the pen away from the PFM shape. The touchdown filling system was retained and nine finishes made up the original collection, split into three groups called traditions, perspectives and trendsetters.

The Intrigue was another pen introduced to the Sheaffer collection in the year 2000. Sheaffer employed the Modus Product Design Company in Stuttgart to create a collection of six unusual designs and finishes, this original collection came under the banner "Born In Fire”. A new style inlaid nib was designed for the intrigue in 14K solid gold, all the "Born In Fire" fountain pens were fitted with the 14K nib and depending on the trim of the pen came fitted with either a gold or white gold nib unit.

The final Connaisseur pens were made around 2002, again an exclusive Levenger Seas edition in four transparent finishes, these pens were trimmed with palladium plate and were redesigned with single wide band being fitted to the cap and the traditional white dot move onto the clip.

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEAS 2 GREEN FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEAS 2 SMOKE FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEAS 2 BLUE FOUNTAIN PEN

SHEAFFER CONNAISSEUR/LEVENGER SEAS 2 ORANGE-COPPER FOUNTAIN PEN

In 2003 the Legacy was redesigned and renamed the Legacy Heritage, and the touchdown filling system was dropped in favour of the converter and cartridge system.