Pictured is a stockbroker pencil featuring an engine-turned sterling silver body with black and red bakelite ends. The piece is marked 935 or 93.5% silver. 925 or 92.5% silver is the accepted world standard for sterling. The English (England) established the standard many years ago. The pencil is 6 1/4 inches long and approximately 1/2 inch in diameter. Circa 1920's thru the 1930's. The high silver purity (935) suggests the country of origin to be Austria or Germany, but not England.
Coronation mechanical pencils are not my bag man. 🙂 These two impressed me as being exceptionally stylish and well made. They found a happy home in my museum. Both are dated 1937 and honor the coronation of George VI and his wife Elizabeth. The pencils are made of sterling silver. The bottom pencil features a blue guilloche enameled body. The top piece is fully hallmarked Sampson Mordan. The lower piece has no maker markings. The enameled pencil is further marked 1937 - 1939 to represent the 2nd anniversary of the celebration.
In the 1930's Parker Pen Company produced convertible fountain pens and mechanical pencils. Here I'm showing a short jade vest pocket pencil that converts to a long-stemmed desk pencil. A second example pictured of this combination is a senior size Parker Streamline pencil in a black and pearl pattern. The last picture better shows the sizing of the various pieces (pencils 6th and 7th from the top). For sizing descreptivity (yes, my word) the box dimensions arrive at 6 by 8 inches. The converted desk pencils would be fitting into a base and holder - likely with the associated fountain pen.
I'm showing today an Edward Todd Company figural mechanical pencil which speaks as a torpedo. Made in the United States. Circa 1885- 1900. Body material is silver - excepting the gold tip. The tip pulls away from the body revealing an attached one-stage telescopic section pencil. The compacted carry length is approximately 2 1/4 inches.
The Conway Stuart Company of England produced quality fountain pens and mechanical pencils since the beginning of the 20th century. The company's heyday featured incredible body color combinations which spanned the 1930's thru the late 1940's. Arguably, Conway Stewart's color patterns were the most interesting of all in the writing instrument world. Showing here are two ringtop Conway Stewart pencils and an associated lead holder. Some collectors refer to this pattern as 'end of day'. The story goes that at the end of the day all the colors used in various production projects were thrown into the vat to produce this non-production mismatch type of pattern. Stories vary. The top pencil is 4 1/2 inches in length. The lower piece is 4 inches long.
