Ring Tops & Odd Lever-Fillers

I picked up half a dozen small ring top fountain pens in the last week, most are from the 1940’s and were priced from $6 to $40, with only the cheapest one needing to be restored. Amongst these is a very nice 1926 Parker Lady Duofold, in Red Permanite plastic with a wide gold cap-band - at last I have a Lady Duofold!

The other ring top pens I bought are from ‘third tier’ manufacturers – Majestic, Arnold etc. The pens are in excellent condition, they have barely been used, and some have 14K nibs, so I’m sure a couple will be very sweet little writers.

This week I also overspent a little on a weird lever-filler which had captured my interest. As a fountain pen collector I have no brand preferences. I will buy a pen because it appeals to me – the purchase is usually based on the shape, colour or size. A pen may be complete tat, but if I think the colour or finish is great, I’ll buy it.

When I saw the weird lever-filler, the latent ‘organized collector/accumulator’ in me must have surfaced. I sometimes get a bit fixated on an object, and even though it may be of little use/importance/value, I must have it. I'm not sure who made the lever-filler, but I think it's an early model from a German brand. The pen does have quite a bit of gold Toledo decoration, but bits are broken and missing and the overall condition is poor. So while it is old, funky and fairly unappealing, the history of the pen interested me.