This is my first desk set. I was drawn to it by the colour — a very light teal, crossed with robin’s egg blue. I didn’t know what it was back then.
Thanks to Brian Anderson for the identification! According to him it’s an Esterbrook 2140 “Medallion Series” Desk Set in Lime, circa 1955.
Few cosmetic flaws: the pastel barrel on the pen has darkened slightly, the clear taper is a little bent and there’s some wear on the chrome trumpet. Imprint legible though weak in some parts. The sac was still working 🙂
The set came with a 9668 nib which writes a finer line than my earlier production 9668 nibs. I appreciate the feed more:
The notch near the tip allows the pen to fill when the nib is just half-submerged in ink, like a Sheaffer Tip-Dip (incidentally some current production Pilot and Sailor pens have similar feeds too). So this feed prevents the section from being stained, which is a concern for me with this pastel colour.
When the pen first came to me, the barrel and taper were covered with some kind of residue. Generally I avoid using Simichrome for anything, but I didn’t think water would’ve worked. So I used a teeny tiny bit of Simichrome and very lightly wiped it off the barrel, but discovered that the taper reacted with the Simichrome to create gummy cloudy patches. Fortunately those came off with lighter fluid. On hindsight, perhaps I could’ve used lighter fluid or just tried a damp cloth anyway to clean the whole pen. I used Singer oil for the chrome parts (a tip from my contractor) and water for the porcelain base.
I only like Esterbrook desk sets, and a few models at that. Am waiting for a 113 (116L?) desk set in the same colour to arrive in the mail, and am looking for a Dip-Less 401 for my office desk.
writing without rhythm 