Here we have a stunning 1920's Sailor ebonite (vulcanized hard rubber) fountain pen with the largest gold nib I have ever seen on a Sailor. A #60.

The hard rubber was coated with several layers of urushi lacquer which has worked well to prevent the pen from oxidizing and turning a dull brown. The pen looks just as bright and shinny today as it did 80 years ago.

If you have Nakazono Hiroshi's book, "Fountain Pens of the World" turn to page 135 where you will see the same pen pictured. Nakazono dates this pen to 1927.

This pen is a Japanese eyedropper filler. The first Japanese-made fountain pens were influenced by the popular Onoto pens that the import company, Maruzen, was selling in their Nihonbashi store. The Onoto's could actually fill themselves with ink, using the plunger. The Japanese were not so interested in self-fillers. What they cared about was sealing the ink inside the pen so that it could not leak out. In the early 1900's, indeed as late as the 1950's most Japanese still wore silk or cotton kimonos on a daily basis. Staining a kimono with ink was a tragedy, so these safety plungers were of the upmost importance. The plunger has nothing to do with filling the pen with ink. It is only there to serve as a safety feature.

$950