This is an archive of the pens that have sold from this website since September 2015. It is provided as a reference source for the vintage fountain pen community, and is available for open use. The descriptions are abbreviated versions from the original For Sale listings. Full, unabbreviated versions are available upon request. All pens listed here have been sold and are not currently available. Listed prices are the sold prices.
Artus was the name of the German fountain pen manufacturer that became Lamy, a company that has always focused on engineering and durability. This pen is of black celluloid, lever-filled, with some chasing. The trim is gold-plated and clean. There is some evidence of wear. Nib is original, and fine.
Price: $65
This is a beautiful pen of 1940’s styling from an almost unknown brand, with brown and green Vacumatic-like stripes descending vertically in triangular slanting patterns, an unusual and remarkable appearance. The pen is 12.3cm long capped, with gold trim. It is very clean — no tarnish to trim, no scratches of note. The button filler is strong; the pen fills well. The Aurea imprint is partly present but easily read, and there is an indecipherable trace of a second line to the imprint. The Aurea’s nib, which cannot be identified as original to the pen, is marked “Globus”, and “Osmio”, and with what I presume to be a size indicating “4”. It is also marked “585”, for 14K gold. The nib is a long-tined flexible writer, and it is both strong and delicate.
Price: $225
This 88 carries serial number 253135, which means it is probably from 1947, the first year of 88s’ production. It is an excellent, expressive writer, with an EF flex nib, one of 14 distinct styles Aurora produced for the 88. The pen was completely restored, but it does show its age, with some missing plate on the bottom cap edge and at the base of the clip and some minor age wear along the barrel, both accommodated in its price. If you have not owned an Aurora 88, be warned, they are addictive. Every time I restore one, only the fact that I own three others keeps the one in my hand from joining them.
Price: $125
This 88P is from my personal collection, from 1958-1963, and is in excellent condition, showing only the microscratches of use on its gold cap and one grip mark on the section. Its piston mechanism has been freshly restored. It writes a fast, wet fine with just a touch of flex. The barrel and section are black celluloid and the cap is gold filled. The nib is a wet fine with a touch of flex. It is a delightful writer, and a very sturdy and elegant pen that can be a daily user for years to come.
Price: $135
This is a typical Aurora 88P from the late 1950s-1960s, with the black celluloid barrel and section, gold cap, and hooded nib. As an 88, and not an 888, it is a piston-filler, and it fills fully and easily. This pen is in very good condition, although it has a few non-serious marks of use. The nib is a EF/F, and like so many 88s, it is pretty firm but not stiff. A fast writer.
Price: $135
The 88 engendered Aurora’s next generations of pens, in numerous models, among them the 98 family of the 1960s. This pen, in steel with chrome plating, is a cartridge filler, introduced as a less expensive option. While not a true 98 (hence its asterisked title), it is much more affordable and less complicated, and carries the 98’s wonderful, expressive nib, which writes a wet medium line with a bit of flex. This pen has been recently restored by the manufacturer and comes with an Aurora cartridge and in the Aurora service case.
Price: $118
The Duo Cart was produced by Aurora in 1954 as a means of combating the rise of ballpoint pens, a budget level 88. It was Italy’s first cartridge filler and first pen made of extruded plastic, so has no o-rings or moving parts. Indeed, its name reminds one that two of the original cartridges fit in the barrel! In dove grey plastic, this pen is generally clean and shiny, with some spotty wear to the chrome trim. The section shows Aurora’s imprint. Aurora made some inexpensive pens, but not bad pens. True to form, this Duocart has Aurora’s wonderful semi-hooded nib, which writes a wet fine/medium, firm without being stiff. An original cartridge not having been found (although the search continues…), this pen comes with an altered cartridge from a different brand. It also functions well as an eyedropper with its high threaded section and near-absence of metal inside the barrel. It was designed to be a budget pen, so is presented here as a Bargain.
Price: $42
Marco Polo, slim and dressy at 13.7cm, this pen is in very clean condition. Either gold-plate or gold-filled with long deep ribbing in the barrel and cap. The cap ring is horizontally ribbed with what appears to be black enamel filling in the ribs, giving the pen a very handsome appearance. There is a small Aurora imprint, in their 1980s font, running on the cap from the top of the cap ring to the base of the clip. The nib is an Aurora, and it writes a nice full fine/medium.
Price: $95
The Olo Lusso, a sub-brand of the top quality manufacturer Aurora, with gold trim was a 1930-1935 line, and it appeared in marbled and horizontal-over-marbled patterning; this pen is one of the latter types. At 13.2cm long capped and 1.2cm wide just below the cap, it is substantial. It is in outstanding condition, giving one the impression of having not been previously used. The celluloid is unmarked. There is a bit of tarnish around the gold crown, but this mark of age is this pen’s only flaw. The imprint is “Olo Lusso” in script; it is complete. The nib is steel, and is engraved with “platiridio extra aurora 5”. The nib is firm, a wet enough F/EF, that grants a bit of flex and audible feedback. A very fine example of a model that is rarely seen.
Price: $390
Excelsiors were a very successful midrange model for Bayard during the WWII years, and they came in several varieties, of which the 540 appears to be the one seen most often today. Of black celluloid with silver trim, this pen is a typical French size, 4 3/4” long with full girth. The nib is gold, marked Excelsior, with the Bayard PF/crossed nibs insignia; it writes a typical medium line that is a bit wet and soft. This particular pen’s clip and lever are both in the “bowtie” style; others I’ve seen have one or the other but not both. User pen, with some typical swelling around the lever area. The imprint is faint but complete; it is interesting to note that this Excelsior, unlike the almost identical one in my collection, does not have Bayard printed in its imprint.
Price:
$65 $53