Burgundy Sheaffer PFM V set - extra-fine fountain pen and ball point pen

It is difficult to write about the Sheaffer PFM (Pen For Men) without fumbling through clichés. There truly is no other pen like it. It is the almost ludicrous complexity of the Snorkel filler wed to the inlaid nib - the best nib Sheaffer ever made - all wrapped up in one of the biggest pens Sheaffer ever made.

A Sheaffer PFM is on most vintage pen collector's wish list for good reason. It's even on the list of many pen aficionados who describe themselves as almost exclusively into modern pens. There is perfectly good reason for it's popularity. Cliché or not, there is nothing else like a PFM.

Vintage Sheaffer nibs have a well earned reputation for being rigid stiff. At least those found in pens from after the celluloid era began in 1924. The inlaid PFM and Imperial nibs aren't flexible but they are more expressive than their predecessors. I find they offer excellent, if subtle, line variation under normal writing pressure. They are beautiful and fun nibs that are unlike anything else. And this from a die hard fan of the Sheaffer Feather Touch 5.

This pen set has only three flaws that I can find. First, the ball point refill is dry. I do not have a replacement but they can be had easily if one truly wants to use that pen. The fountain pen has a flea bite in the plastic of the barrel and a tiny dent in one corner of the cap peak. Both are shown in the photos. Otherwise this set is clean and beautiful.

The pen filler has been restored with a silicone sac. It is impervious to any fountain pen ink and will last longer than a latex sac.

The extra-fine nib is smooth, wet and has a pleasant bit of line variation. It's so nice.

Length
Capped - 136 mm (5.4”)
Uncapped - 119 mm (4.7”)
Posted - 143 mm (5.6”).
Diameter
Cap - 13.9 mm (0.55”)
Barrel - 12.6 mm (0.5”)

Filler
Snorkel

Nib
Extra-fine with subtle line variation