Redeemed Pens

Restoring a classic model from Aurora Introduction This pen was designed, made and marketed to compete with the famous Parker 51. While there were many pens that were "inspired by" the 51, the Aurora 88 stands out as one of the better built ones. Even just holding the pen, you can feel that this pen was not a by-product, rather, a well designed one; made with enough material thickness that conveys the substantiality. Originally released in 1946 by Aurora in Italy, who enlisted a famous designer Marcello Nizzoli for this model. This 88 model is the first, followed by a few other varieties, including some which are not piston fillers. And because this pen is a piston filler, I slightly prefer it to my 51, plus the gold nib on these are sometimes flexible (in a crisp and nice way). As in the case of this particular sample. Before we start with the restoration story, here's a bit of glossary on the parts that make up a piston filling system: A dial (or knob). This is the par...

It is probably difficult for non- fountain pen hobbyist to fathom the common anxiety of choosing the pens to bring with on a road trip.  A road trip, usually spans a few days to a week or so, ideally visiting a place that we have not been to or haven't visited for decades. Given that context, those of us who likes to journal, sketch, or both, are faced with the dilemma of which pen(s) -- and ink, and notebook/sketchbook/paper/etc. -- to bring from our collection. Naturally, the more pens we collect, the harder it would be for us to decide.  I have many fountain pens, most of them are vintage (made in the eras when fountain pens were common household item ca.1880-1960s), which I bought and restored to be usable again today. I even have a website where I find new homes for some of my pens. The Road Trip So here is where the chronicle began. Last week my family and I trekked the Pacific Northwest in search of nice Summer weather, hiking trails, and awesome vistas. So which pen di...

 Reviving the Green Introduction This pen needs no introduction to those who like vintage pens, but for those are not yet familiar, it is a 1930s Conklin Endura in Verde celluloid color. The "verde" or green, came in many different shades. I've seen some that has very light, pistachio green, to this one, which is darker. This pen also came to my workbench with two major problems: The tines are on the verge of divorce. I don't have the photo showing that unfortunately, so you just have to take my word for it. If you look at the nib from the top (where you can read the engraving and the tines pointing up), the tip of the right tine was about 1mm above the left one. That's how messed up the nib was. The lever slides up and down its place in the barrel. Fortunately, the Conklin lever fillers were top notch and does not rely on a C ring sitting in a groove inside the barrel, instead, it hinges on a tiny pin that can be replaced. Unfortunately, replacing it is tricky. R...

At First Glance Here's a good-looking fountain pen. The name is Garant Alkor. Garant was a pen manufacturer in the former East Germany (DDR) in the 1950s. Some of their pens were identified as late as the 1960s. Beyond that, sadly, very few pen factories survived globally, and among those who did, there are even fewer who still manufacture fountain pens. This "Alkor" is considered the top-of-the-line model. There are the Nilor and Silor models (and maybe others that I'm not aware of) which are smaller.  It's quite a big vintage pen, clocking at 5-3/8 inches (or 136 mm) capped. The "girth" (barrel diameter) is about 13 mm, and the cap diameter is 14.6 mm at the widest part. Far from being small and skinny. Here it is with fellow German piston fillers from around the same era, the Montblanc 254 and the Pelikan 400: As you can see, it is quite big compared to the Pelikan, and the Montblanc. The material is plastic, but I can't say that it feels like cel...

The Brown Marble Beauty I got this beautifully preserved sample of the Camel pen late last year (2021). It was also one of the highlights for Redeem Pens if only because of the amount of time I spent restoring it. It is not an exaggeration when I said that it took me months to get this pen back to its original function. But it's all worth it because this pen is just amazing. Not only it looks good, but it is also a super nice pen to sketch / write with. Model-wise, this one does not have the ornate cap band, but it is equipped with the Camel 14K gold nib, which puts it near the top-of-the-line offering. The nib writes in a wet fine, and it is one of those vintage high-quality flex nib. It is absolutely one of those pens that I enjoy to sketch with. The History The Camel Pen Company was created by Joseph Wustman in the mid-1930s in New Jersey, USA. The star of the company's products is a fountain pen that uses dry ink pellets, stored in a compartment at the end of the barrel. Th...