1941 Marine Green Sheaffer Balance Vigilant - vacuum-fil - fine point

Pen collectors describe this pen as a "military clip" pen. World War Two era US military uniform shirts had a flap covering the opening of the breast pockets. Regulation required that nothing within the pocket be visible. Some pen companies introduced cap designs to meet this requirement. This pen is a standard Sheaffer Balance Sovereign with the clip cleverly attached to meet the uniform requirement. Sheaffer had four such models: Valiant nee Statesman, Vigilant nee Sovereign, Defender nee Admiral and Commandant nee Craftsman. These pens appear only in the 1941 Sheaffer catalog. 

The celluloid is nearly perfect with like-new, light green, transparent stripes that have not darkened, or ambered. It remains green and clear as new. The gold plated silver trim (probably coin silver?) does have wear on the clip that shows the underlying silver base metal. It will tarnish black giving evidence that the base metal has high silver content. The normal brass base metal was not used for things like pens in 1941. The palladium plating on the nib tines is a bit worn. Perhaps someone polished it a bit too vigorously too often.

The nib writes a smooth, wet line. It has a very nice feel.

The filling system has been restored with modern synthetic materials that will last decades. The only necessary maintenance is an occasional dab of silicone grease on the filler rod to keep the seal working properly.

The pen is comparable in length to a Pelikan M6xx. Though the barrel is thinner.

Length
Capped - 123 mm (4.83”)
Uncapped - 109 mm (4.28”)
Posted - 146 mm (5.76”).
Diameter
Cap - 12 mm (0.47”)
Barrel - 10.6 mm (0.42”)

Filler
Vacuum-Fil

Nib
Medium