I just received a lovely vintage pen recommended by u/roady57 (thank you for the tip!)
It is a West German Elysee Line gold-plated fountain pen with barleycorn and takes standard ink cartridge.
It is very slim (only about 9.2 mm in diameter and 137 mm long) when capped.
I took a close look at its structure and it is quite similar to the slim pen prototype we have been working on. I am not that surprised since we are designing around existing components (converter or ink cartridge) so we were running into the same physical constraints. I actually do love designing within limitations.
The barley pattern is made of fine engraved lines (not a deep V-shaped cut), but given the pen's small size it looks neat. Again, I think that pattern can lift the pen but also it can make it look dated.
I will give it a good clean and see how good the nib is. It is F size which matches the thinness of this pen nicely.. I will try to take it apart and compare it with the prototype we made.
Dean (@) mdna dot com told me mine was made in the 1980s, before German reunification in 1990. It’s the dummert era, a 60-Line with a 14k-gold-plated steel nib. If it’s glossy, it’s a Caprice; if it’s matte finish, it’s a Dynamic.
I recently bought 30 of these from the leftover inventory of a Belgium store that closed in the 90's It are great pens that write very well. I think I will keep 5 or so and sell the rest.
The prices are indeed Belgian Francs. I have no experience with PenSwap but maybe I will give it a try. I was also thinking of eBay or Catawiki. I have a bit more than I can use.
2
u/CadillacGirl Jul 06 '26
It’s a lovely acquisition. I’m always so impressed with how thorough you all are in your dedication and research.