Gallery of Uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer Fountain Pens c. 1968–1971

by Jim Mamoulides, December 20, 2024

Lady Sheaffer “rough brushed chrome” fountain pen c. 1968–1971

More uncatalogued Lady Sheaffers!

As with the earliest Lady Sheaffer’s from 1958–1966, Sheaffer made a small number of uncatalogued versions of the 1968–1971 pens. Were these production, prototype, or short-run models? The fit and finish on them suggests they may have been special order pens but lacking any Sheaffer catalogs or price lists from that period, there’s no way to be certain. For the purpose of this article, I will call them uncatalogued unless and until more information surfaces.

Unlike earlier and later uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer pens, there are only a few examples that are known, the three shown here. Each is a new idea, and one was continued on the next design of the Lady Sheaffer pens.

Lady Sheaffer “brushed golden satin” fountain pen c. 1968–1971

All of the pens shown in this article use the same section and short conical nib as found on the Lady Sheaffer 901, 902, and 903 models. No model names are known, so descriptive names are used, especially when the pen is similar to a catalogued model. As nib sections are interchangeable, the pens are described as found, with the possibility that the nib section may not be the original.

It’s not known if these represent all of the uncatalogued finishes on this Lady Sheaffer cap and barrel design. I would be very happy to see any additional examples. There won't be the usual identification guide or performance review as there is little to no primary documentation and these pens are no different functionally than the standard Lady Sheaffer models, given that they use the same nib section units, so the writing experience would be no different.

List of Models:

Left to right: “rough brushed chrome,” “brushed golden satin,” and “chiseled black”

There are three known uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer models from this period. It is possible there are more. Each follows the design of the 1966-1968 Stylist, with a long, slender, tapered shape, and a long spring loaded clip. They are all cartridge fill fountain pens with rounded flat ended caps and barrels and have 14 karat gold or palladium silver short conical nibs. Each finish is described in detail below. General features are:

• Brass cap and barrel with different finishes per model, each described below
• Black or red plastic nib section, depending on model
• Gold filled clip with White Dot mounted near the top
• Cartridge filler with optional converter
• Pull off cap
• 14 karat gold or palladium silver short conical nib unit, depending on model
• About 5 7/16 inches long capped and 6 inches posted

The finish names on the following list are descriptive as there is no Sheaffer documentation for these pens.

Lady Sheaffer “rough brushed chrome:” Rough brushed chrome-plated finish with gold-plated trim. Black plastic nib section with 14 karat gold plated short conical nib. This finish does not appear on a catalogued or other uncatalogued model.

Lady Sheaffer “brushed golden satin:” Brushed golden-color lacquered finish, with a long gold-plated clip. Black plastic nib section with two-tone gold plated palladium silver short conical nib. This finish does not appear on a catalogued or other uncatalogued model.

Lady Sheaffer “chiseled black:” Chiseled black enamel finish revealing gold gold-colored rounded splotches. Red plastic nib section with palladium silver short conical nib. This finish was also tried on a later uncatalogued short clip White Dot Lady Sheaffer model.

Lady Sheaffer “chiseled black” fountain pen c. 1968–1971

The pens shown were on loan to be photographed for a Pennant article, so I was not able to try any of them out. Therefore, no Performance section for this article.

These represent the least common uncatalogued Lady Sheaffer pens and would be a challenge find for a collector. All of them are made to the same standard as the known production pens and if used, would write the same.

Lady Sheaffer pens represent some of the most interesting and creative finishes done by Sheaffer in the late 1950s through the early 1970s. Even uncommon or possibly rare Lady Sheaffer pens like these do not fetch high prices as there not many collectors who focus on them.

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Acknowledgement

Thanks to Gary Ellison for providing pens to photograph and much of the known information on these pens. His website sheaffertarga.com is an essential resource for Sheaffer collectors.

Reference Article on PenHero.com:

Lady Sheaffer Long Clip White Dot Fountain Pens c. 1968–1971, by Jim Mamoulides, December 13, 2024

Reference Article in the fall 2022 Pennant:

"Late Production Lady Sheaffer Pens c. 1967-1989" by Gary Ellison, Pennant, the magazine of the Pen Collectors of America, fall 2022

References

Sheaffer brochure, undated, England, 1967

Sheaffer catalog, May 1966

Sheaffer catalog, undated, August 1967

Sheaffer price list, England, July, 1967

Sheaffer Service Price List 1971, England