6 replies to this topic

[Inkysloth]

Hi all,

I was eying up a Seal pen on someone's sales site, but it was a bit too expensive for me. The I spotted one on Ebay. Waited, pounced at the last minute, and won it. Hurrah!

It arrived this morning, and it's the crispest pen I've held - the chasing is so clean it almost doesn't look like CBHR, but given a sniff it definitely smells of it. It's been inked - there was dried ink on the nib & under the feed, but the band is intact, so I can't imagine it's been used more than a couple of times.

My understanding is these were made by Conway Stewart for WH Smiths, but where I need advice is what years were these sold between?

Thanks all!

Robin


The Seal Pen by Inkysloth, on Flickr


The Seal Pen by Inkysloth, on Flickr

Edited by Inkysloth, 31 October 2013 - 07:25 PM.

[wastelanded]

Sorry I can't answer your question but look at the chasing on that, wow! Beautiful pen.

[Widget]

I have just finished repairing a WHS Seal pen. After reading Steve Hull's book FPFTM it appears these pens were supplied to WHS in the 20's and 30's although Andy R will probably be your best source on this forum. My pen has no chasing and looks as though it never had any. The nib, pocket clip and barrel are marked WHS but the lollipop on lever has CS. Impossible to say if original lever but it certainly looks like.

[AndyR]

Hi Robin,

It certainly looks like a CS made Seal pen. To be honest it could be almost any date from mid 1920s to mid 1930s, very difficult to tell, especially from this distance! It also looks to have the usual WHS logo in the oval lever paddle. The way the lever stem is formed (more of a rectangular profile than an inverted U) looks towards the later end of the date range to me, and the pen is possibly derived from the CS Scribe 330, but I wouldn't put money on it. Lovely to have the box in good condition as well.

It would have been more helpful if the original owner had filled in the date of purchase on the underside of the box.......!

Andy

[Inkysloth]

Thanks all! I was thinking maybe early 30s, so this is really helpful. The lever is gently curved on top, but it's definitely closer to a box than a U.

[AndyR]

I have tried to show the differences in a couple of Seal lever stems here, the same rules apply to CS paddle levers and this can help with dating. Generally, those with the inverted U profile are longer, slimmer and earlier than those with the more rectangular profile. The early Seal lever is boxed, which is unusual for Conway Stewart (though it is seen on several of their 'own brand' pens of the mid 20s) but the profile of the stem is typical of most of the pre-1932 CS pens. As with all these 'rules' the dates can be variable - not all models changed at the same time so there can be several years overlap of the various styles.

Early (mid to late 1920s)



Later (post 1932-ish)



The pictures of the complete pen in each case can be found in FPFTM, page 26.

Andy

Edited by AndyR, 03 November 2013 - 05:27 PM.

[Inkysloth]

Hi Andy,

That's great - thanks!

My pen definitely matches the later lever design.

I really need to rein in my pen-buying impulse and spend my next chunk of pen budget on FPFTM.

I have tried to show the differences in a couple of Seal lever stems here, the same rules apply to CS paddle levers and this can help with dating. Generally, those with the inverted U profile are longer, slimmer and earlier than those with the more rectangular profile. The early Seal lever is boxed, which is unusual for Conway Stewart (though it is seen on several of their 'own brand' pens of the mid 20s) but the profile of the stem is typical of most of the pre-1932 CS pens. As with all these 'rules' the dates can be variable - not all models changed at the same time so there can be several years overlap of the various styles.

Early (mid to late 1920s)



Later (post 1932-ish)



The pictures of the complete pen in each case can be found in FPFTM, page 26.

Andy