c.1917 Sheaffer-Clip No. 2 Flat Top Fountain Pen - SUPERFLEX

Vintage: c.1917

Make: Sheaffer

Model: No. 2

Color: Black

Materials: Black chased hard rubber with nickel-plated trim

Filling System: Lever filler (resacced and guaranteed to fill as designed)

Length: This full-sized model measures 5 5/16” capped.

Nib:  Super-Flexible 14k Sheaffer Self-Filling #2 nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.2mm) under light pressure.

Condition: Hard rubber retains its dark black color with with negligible oxidation. Chasing is quite faint. Hard rubber has a smooth, lustrous surface with no noteworthy blemishes aside from a 1/2” scratch to the right of the clip. Nickel-plated trim is clean aside from some small, inconspicuous marks on the center of the lever and toward the bottom of the clip. Manufacturer imprint on barrel is quite weak but mostly legible when held to light.

Details: It was Walter A. Sheaffer who first patented the lever-filling fountain pen in 1908. In 1912 he founded the Sheaffer pen company and his revolutionary design was met with resounding acclaim. In the 1910s, when the pocket clip and lever filler were recent innovations, Sheaffer pens were typically marked "Sheaffer-Clip" on the clips and "Self-Filling" on the nibs to distinguish them from the oldfangled clipless eyedroppers of other makers. Most of their model lineup in this period – before stiff, manifold nibs became the rage in the mid-20s - was comprised of simple black hard rubber pens with long-tined gold nibs every bit as flexible as early Waterman's but known for their more responsive snap-back. The "big S" imprint and barrel threads of this pen date its manufacture to c.1917.