This is almost certainly a late 1940s model, though maybe early 50s. The lever fills were phased out for all but black after the war. Re-sacced this one many years ago, IIRC with the polysac out of a Sheaffer converter, but I’m not inclined to crack it open to verify. Conical 14K triumph nib in a western F/M. Smooth with a hint of feedback, and no flex whatsoever. This was a thoroughly midrange offering, meant to be used daily. It slotted in between the Admiral and Craftsman below it, and several models and trims above it. The 1/4” gold fill band is the giveaway. The nib is STOUT, and the gold fill on the clip and band has held up beautifully.
They were not fucking around with these pens. Even this one retailed for around ten bucks in 1949, making it an $80-100 pen today, roughly equivalent to the cheapest solid gold nib pens from major makers today, funnily enough. Really though, general purchasing power inflation is a weird analogue in this product category, which changed so drastically in the 60s and 70s.
Yeah, years and years ago, I had a palladium conical-nib Snorkel. It had an air leak and was beyond my skill to repair, but when dipped it was also very smooth and easy. I know there’s a lot of survivorship bias with what we have left, but it is so interesting to me to see what the companies and customers expected during that half century when pencil and fountain pen were the only viable options for writing things down.
My palladium snorkel I bought refurbished, and it was done with a latex sac. Well, the sac dissolved… my fault wrong ink. And I have not wanted to take the time to fix it, since it is a little time consuming. My two tone snorkel and touchdowns all have silicone sacs. The palladium is my favorite, though.
I hate to say it, but Sheaffer kind of overthought themselves after the era of the lever fill. Parker did the Vac, but then said, "hey guys, this is ridiculously complicated and kind of a pain… why don’t we just add a little extra ventilation and tell them that it’s high tech to actuate the pressure bar by hand!
Meanwhile, Sheaffer kept doubling down on complexity, from vac fill to touchdown to snorkel, right up until they just said “Fuck it. Everything is a cartridge now!”
Oh, definitely. I can’t think of a more complicated mass produced filling mechanism. But I love them. Especially the Snorkel. Maybe because I’m an engineer. It reminds me of mechanical watches with lots of complications. But when they are in fully working order, they are so simple and convenient to use! Just unscrew, fill, and close it back up. Nice clean nib, no fuss.
Yup, that’s absolutely fair, and the fact that any of them are even repairable is a testament to the quality that went into it. It would be a boring world if everything were eyedrop fillers and cart pens. :-)