Marine Green Sheaffer Balance Premier (OS) pen & pencil - Vacuum-fil - fine point

Senior. Large. Oversize. Premier.

Call it whatever you like. I call it one of the best pens ever made.

Sheaffer introduced the revolutionary Balance shape ~20 years prior to the Montblanc 14x. Prior to 1928, most pens were cylindrical with flat ends - flat tops. Sheaffer introduced the Balance with a patented torpedo shape in ~December 1928. The pens were madly popular and the other pen companies scrambled to introduce their own new shapes. Montblanc introduced their torpedo shaped 14x line in 1949. This is at least 7 years after Sheaffer ceased making the Balance. By 1949 Sheaffer had moved on to the Triumph and Touchdown pens.

This pen is probably from ~1937. and the condition is nearly perfect. The only flaws are a couple of tiny spots of damaged plating on the end of the clip. I need a loupe to see them. The celluloid is nearly perfect with excellent color and clarity of the transparent strips. Both pen and pencil are personalized F.G. Bonewitz. The name is still gold filled on the pencil but it has worn away on the pen and I've not renewed it. That makes the name only discernible if the pen is held at just the right angle in good light.

The fine point has just the right flow and a hint of stubby shape to provide a touch of line variation. The pencil works perfectly.

I've restored the filling system with modern materials that will last for years with only an occasional dab of silicone grease on the filler rod.

 Length
Capped - 140 mm (5.5”)
Uncapped - 121 mm (4.8”)
Posted - 163 mm (6.4”).
Diameter
Cap - 15 mm (0.6”)
Barrel - 12.8 mm (0.5”)

Filler
Vacuum-Fil

Nib
fine