Product Description
Type Vintage fountain pen
Product Name Stylist 440 with an Imperial II cap, perhaps a transitional model? The Stylists started in the late 1960s with flat two-sided triangular shaped nibs, but by 1968 they had changed to this version of the conical Triumph nib. See note below for further discussion.
Manufacturer and Year Sheaffer, USA - circa late 1960s - early 1970s
Length 5-3/16" long
Filling System The fountain pen takes Sheaffer style refills or a converter. It has a squeeze converter installed.
Color Aqua Blue barrel and section, a really nice medium blue hue. Brushed chrome cap with shiny chrome trim and short clip. White Dot model.
Nib Short version of the Triumph nib, though Sheaffer never called them by that name. Silver colored. (We have heard of these nibs being described as unmarked palladium-silver.)
Condition Excellent condition. The barrel and section have handwear and light scratching all over. There are some small tooth marks towards the end of the barrel. The plastic collar on the nib unit is faded, which is not uncommon. There are small scratches on the cap. There is also some pitting where the clip attaches to the cap. The White Dot is slightly yellowed. The imprints are clear.
Notes: This pen is a bit of a puzzle. The body is like that of a Stylist, and we know that in around 1968, Sheaffer started producing these with this short conical nib...but the caps on those Stylists had much longer clips. Some of the quasi-Imperials had clips like this one - short, shiny chrome. However, the Imperial were fatter, and this one is slim like a Stylist. It's not a Frankenpen, because Imperial caps don't fit Stylist models. We also know that Sheaffer had some inconsistencies in this late 60's/early 70's era. Perhaps this is some sort of transitional model?
