Hello all, I feel delighted to join FPB, and say my greetings to all. I am a consultant surgeon, and hold a chair of assistant professor at a local hospital, and medical college. I belong to Karachi, Pakistan.From my class 1; I was attracted by fountain pens. In my college life I used to buy Parker pens, P 45 at that time. I also enjoyed Chinese pens, which always have dominated the pen market here, because of being affordable. After, graduating from medical college, my fervor for collecting fps tremendously increased.  Knowledge of different brand pens obtained fro web also" added fuel to the fire". Now I own a few very interesting and collectible pens , and my recent focus has been on Cross , and I have acquired a Cross Townsend Lapis Lazuli fp , with full accessories ,and owning this pen gave me a particular feeling of accomplishment that I hardly ever experianced.Having an fp hobby in Pakistan, is a very difficult ( and tiring !) job ,as prices are higher higher day by day , and almost impossible to get pen parts or repair done.I believe in loving ,and caring , and securing relation-ships thru understanding and co-operation. Like all, I dream to make word a better place. Thanks for reading. Enjoy your life, and pens,  

Regards,

Saleem Ali

 I cardially thank Dr David ,and all other members who responded so well to my introduction. Its  a wonderful experiance to be a member of FPB. A lot of Pakistani doctors are working abroad with good reputation.The Lapis  townsend  ball point,I reserved on a pen shop ,and hope i will get it soon .

 I have had similiar experiance with same pen ,but recovered the precious nib by dismembering the drain pipe , ajob i never did before!

welcome to FPB from my side.

Welcme Gary , your collection is impressive !

Here is my latest addition to my pen collection. Its a wonderful Cross Townsend Fp in Lapis Lazuli finish.I am , now a great fan of Cross pens. I did not pay particulr attention to Townsends ,though I was already having  a Townsend Medalist. For a few months  , I was searchinfg for a Parker 75 in Lapis finish , and then encountered Townsend in Lapis model . It was stunning ., so i decided to get one for me . It was a pure pleasure to acquire this pen in a big gift box , with all accessories ,suh as ink-botlle ,,ink cartrdges , information booklet etc. And my dealer provided it for economical price of 250 US dollars . Simply a wonderful pen, for a wonderful price!

pl provide the detailed image of the pen  and nib . sheaffer made targas in steel as well as 14 k gold nibs. 1005 is" gold elctroplated " marked on the cap with a crown ,also known as "flute " design.

 welcome to the board from my side ! hope we will enjoy together . saleem

very nice pictures, Dr David. I regret to know those days of crftmanship gone!

very very nice collection indeed ( making me jealous!) , Dr David . Absolutely wonderful. you got the "wealth" !

thanks all for your kind appreciation,

 Dear Dr David ,  your particular hunt for vaccumatics brought you this special delight ! Congratulations!

 I would say ,these are great finds, really nice vintage stuff ,and  the height of  delight for the collectors ! Congrats !

Thanks for your welcome , best regards.

as far as i know the box and cartridges , and converter are very early versions ,say 1965 or later, but as the pen has dished tassies,so not an earlier version , but of 70s . congratulations ! you got a very clean and excellent parker 75 sterling with big "fat "converter, on a very low price , my estimation is less than half  of the lowest price on e-bay , and also no shipping cost.if you check the inner side of the margin of upper part of outer card box , you will find date of printing ,and country i.e usa. again a very nice purchase.

Dear Randy, this particular find of green pens is a pure deligft , its simply wonderful in such a nice condition , congrats ! Happy New Year  to you  and  all FPB members. saleem

Dear David , personally  when I see such old things , letters and cards (not to me even!) I find a particular pleasure as the time passed tells you their real importance , people are now too busy to enjoy the art of "personalization "i.e leaving their impression by handwriting , drawing, and other form of hand designing , and of course such things harbour "happy memories". so they are enjoyable, as todays " sterile " communications are becoming devoid of human feelings .Thats my humble opinion , if not very correct!

yes, the box shows that the pen (original one) was made in september 1966 , but the pens did not crrespond to that date , as they lack flat tassies, but your purchase should be called a really lucky one, enjoy  them ., without worrying.good luck

Welcome friend , i would like to see some pictures of  your collection , hope you you will give us this opportunity.saleem

They are simply amazing, congrats ,on having such a marvellous collection!

Congrats! on your wonderful restoration , do you intend to fill and write with it ? 

Marvellous work, Christof Z , thanks!

Congrats Greg, truly amazing ! I also drem of it !

 I would like to make staement of my own bad experiances .Learning from FPN or other forums , I gathered a lot of theoritical knowledge about damaged or badly perfprming nibs . I was sucessful in straightening bent  nib of my parker 75  after falling on the floor, but scratchiness did not go away.  I tried many things including writng on glass , brown bag ,card cover of legal pads , and to the worst making circles on "very fine grit paper" , result : nib remains scratchy and annoying . The nib did not break because 14 k gold permits flexibility and prevents breakage , while to straight  a  steel nib can very quickly break it .Lesson learned ; Leave the job to a professional nibmiester, this is the best advice IMHOP.To my dismal , there are no nibmiester here in Pakistan who can restore these nibs, and sending them to Mr Mottisaw or Binder would cost so much  , so a new nib can be purchased ! Again very costly ,here about 70.00 Us dollars!!

Some people hold that, "vintage" means , a product  representing  of its time which has past .  Surely,  the making of pens has undergone  tremendous evolution since last decade of 19th century  ,or even before it . But by this time , we see some serious efforts to make a writing instrument which is portable , have a reservoir of ink , can be owned or used by most people , not only for " princely " people. The pens were dip pens , eye-dropper fillers , piston-fillers , various type of other filling mechanisms introduced at different times , to modern "swap-away " converters,and cartridges . There has been  profound  changes in nib  materials and types,  as well design of pens and pen materials ,such as hard rubber ,celluloid, plastics , precious metals like gold ,silver or platinum. if you look pens of a particular time they exhibit similar features in materials , filling system ,and nib types. Lets have a look at "celluloid " era , when most pens were made from this  hand -turned  material , had gold nibs which were flexible to suite the hand-writing style prevalent at that  time.This IMHOP, may explain the term "vintage"., which by above quoted-example represents design ,material ,trend and innovation of a pen of a particular past period. People love vintage items , because they love "classics " , or they pamper their inherited treasures , or simply a love for older or antique items.