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Rather Special Sheaffer Snorkel

Started by david i, Sep 03 2012 04:12 AM

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7 replies to this topic

#1 david i

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 04:12 AM

Since being forced into Snorkeldom a few years back, I've had the chance to handle many nice pens. It was inevitable I'd keep some pens for my own collection, but also I'm happy to have managed to avoid mapping my usual completist bent onto that series. I've fewer than 15 Snorks in my own collection and doubt I'll ever top that number, though the pens I have are amongst the best of that series.

Still, I was honored to have a chance to shoot one variant I don't yet own. This one is most uncommon and hovers near the top of Snorkel's pecking order.

I was afforded the chance to borrow it at one of our Janesville Pen Club meetings.

Anyone care to comment, or shall I toss out the identifying info?

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regards

David

David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#2 FarmBoy

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 04:20 AM

Solid gold though I know not what carat level in wavey line or pseudo fish scale pattern.

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#3 brando090

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 04:59 AM

Solid gold though I know not what carat level in wavey line or pseudo fish scale pattern.

Most are usually 9k, so that's my .2 cents.

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#4 Hugh

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 08:39 AM

I just love these!! A chance to show how little I know.... Posted Image

I'll back a UK made Snork. in 14ct.. One thing I fail to see is a hallmark on the clip...that could be poor eyesight....

The nib indicates a late production, also seen on late Aust. Snorks....

Oh....did I mention... absolutely stunning!!!

Yours in Ignorance

Hugh

Hugh Cordingley

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#5 Jim B

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 06:53 PM

arrrrgh,
another previously unknown one (to me) that now I shall have to hunt.

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#6 wekiva98

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Posted 04 September 2012 - 02:11 PM

Although I own several 14K Sheaffers (but not one of these), I still have trouble figuring out who was expected to actually USE them. It’s obvious these were marketed as very nice gifts for people of the upper crust, but even if you’re some corporate bigwig in the late ‘50s, early ‘60s, would you really take one of these to work? I think most men of the time would see it as simply too gaudy for the office -- and too expensive to subject to possible damage from daily use. It seems more likely to me that most of these spent their lives in a desk drawer at home or in the gift box, waiting to be discovered by either a pen collector or (horrors!) a gold recycler.

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#7 david i

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Posted 06 September 2012 - 11:18 AM

This one indeed is a 9 carat Masterpiece, though for collectors it can have an asterisk (i suppose) for even those who seek comprehensive collections, as it is not regular issue in the USA. The pen is English. Was it called Masterpiece in England? Dunno.

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david

David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#8 david i

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Posted 06 September 2012 - 11:28 AM

Although I own several 14K Sheaffers (but not one of these), I still have trouble figuring out who was expected to actually USE them. It’s obvious these were marketed as very nice gifts for people of the upper crust, but even if you’re some corporate bigwig in the late ‘50s, early ‘60s, would you really take one of these to work? I think most men of the time would see it as simply too gaudy for the office -- and too expensive to subject to possible damage from daily use. It seems more likely to me that most of these spent their lives in a desk drawer at home or in the gift box, waiting to be discovered by either a pen collector or (horrors!) a gold recycler.

Good questions. It is possible that more of them are used today than back in the day, but that's probably ok.

These have the flavor of gifts for anniversary, retirement, award (for a non-starving populace).

I've seen though enough with dings galore, that some must have been used at least on occasion