The brand name on the clip is Arnold; Made in U.S.A. is engraved on the lever. On doing some research, I found that there is still a pen company under the name of Arnold or Parrot Pens, but that company doesn't make fountain pens at all anymore, if it ever did. The Fountain Pen Network is where I've found the most info: Arnold was a third-tier cheap pen company at best. They were supposedly low quality, and sold at $1.75 for a dozen.
I'm not so sure about the quality assessment--the nib is a bit skippy, but the plastic of the barrel is in incredibly good condition: it feels solid, and is mostly unscuffed. It's very plain, especially compared to the ones pictured in the thread I linked.
Here--why don't I just show you the pen, and the writing sample?
Simple little pen. Kinda plain, since I can tell you're not seeing the color properly.
The shape is a lot prettier with the cap removed, isn't it? And the color shows a little better in this picture.
Yes, I was tempted to keep it. Out of all of the pens I have, I don't have a green one. I have several in burgundy, in black, in blue, and some reds. But the only green I have is a Parker Vector with a medium nib, cracked barrel, and wrecked clip, and that one is a sort of pale gray-green that Parker calls Jade. Not a true green.
But it is a nice pen, and I have several. I'd like to sell it to someone else who'll enjoy having and using it, someone who'll appreciate it.
And there are no modestly priced modern lever fill fountain pens, and so few vintage lever fills that don't need worked on before they'll work...I'd like to give someone else a chance to try out the filling system, and have fun with it.
If I wasn't flying so much, I'd try one, but lesson learned a long time ago was not to fly with fountain pens, as they will do just that at altitude!
ReplyDeleteIf you get a cartridge pen, you can remove the cartridge and fly without ink in the pen--just seal the cartridge with silly putty or wax until you want to re-ink the pen. Most modern pens use cartridges, and some (like Parker) even use large cartridges. The Chinese pen brands I like come with a converter, and are easy to find disposable cartridges to fit.
DeleteIf you naturally write small, you'll want a fine nib. If your writing is fair-sized, one of the Jinhao 450s would probably be a great pen to start with--Amazon carries them for around $3.50 (if you don't mind a month of shipping time) to $7-$8 (for the ones that you can get with AmazonPrime shipping). Those come with the converter, and the ink I like best is Noodler's Bernanke Blue (fast-drying), also available through Amazon.
Or...email me at heroditus.huxley@yahoo.com with your mailing address, and I'll send you a decent pen to try it out with, and a cartridge (let me know blue or black).
I really gotta get back to grading...even if my brain is bouncing around like a squirrel on speed, and I can't focus. ;)