Rare 1920's Diamond Point New York USA Checkerboard Gold Filled Wet Noodle Flex 14K Nib Fountain Pen Item ID: VAR-055

Diamond Point

Manufacturer/Model: Diamod Point New York/USA
Year of production: Early 1920's
Filling system: Bladder Lever filling (new sac installed)
Nib: Solid 14K gold; M medium flat. Super flexible wet noodle nib, will write as a paint brush up to 3B 
Material: All body and cap thick 14 gold filled with checkerboard pattern. Base is hard rubber
Length (pen closed): 124mm closed, posted at 150mm

Condition and information:
We are very proud to offer this American relic, a piece of history, pen made by one of the first American pen companies, Diamond Point, made in New York in 1920's. The Diamond Point Pen Company was founded in the later 1890's. They've set up a goal to compete with the major pen companies at the time, Parker, Waterman, Conklin and other. They made progress with every new line they launched, step by step they were coming closer to the quality and craftsmanship of their competitors. First they sold their brand under few other names, and distributed by different vendors, however when new leadership set in early 1910, they were already catching up to the competition. This pen was made at the peak of their manufacturing and quality. A trained eye will see many of the features found on the Wateman pens at the time, the quality is amazing, and having this pen here in such a condition after nearly 100 years, is a proof of that, speaks volumes. Entirely made by hand, this was one of the companies flagship pens at the time, famous for their completely flat top caps, the Diamond Pen company. Unfortunately the Great Depression hit and pen sales started to plummet. Even the biggest players had trouble surviving it and many didn't. The Great Depression was a death sentence for many of these smaller pen companies. The Diamond Point did survive it, but started to make lower quality pens, sold here and there and never reached its full potential, finally closing in early 1950's.

This pen is however the legacy. The pen is perfectly balanced, with superb form factor. Thin at the section with a nice form factor firm grip section, and thicker at the body and cap. The bladder filler works like new. We have replaced the bladder with new one with optimal capacity. The pen feels very solid, long and heavy. Beautiful checkerboard pattern gives the pen a stunning looks. There are also long guilloche lines in a group of 5s, one of the finest ever seen on the pen. Keep in mind this was all done by hand, so this is truly astonishing craftsmanship. A very unique feature is the clip engraving. "Diamond point" was usually written as a whole name on the clip. On this clip is written as "Diamond P.P. Co" - standing for "Diamond Point Pen Company". The nib is one of the best we've ever tried. Its a true "wet noodle" nibs, as they use to make in the early 1900's. It melts on the paper, feels like a paint brush. I will write any size the user wants. If no pressure is applied, we would rate the nib at M medium, but this is unlike modern pens its is a flat point M. This means that with a slight rotation the pen can write thinner then M, F or even EF. Nice heart shaped breading hole. The nibs tines split apart as soon as it touches the paper, so it will get some time to adjust to writing with such nib. The feed is elongated and with deep and wide ink canal to support such a wet pen. The pen is in excellent condition, there are some signs of use, some surface scratches but barely visible. This is truly a remarkable pen in every respect, and a true piece of history worthy a museum place. Too bad this company didn't make it, to keep Parker, Waterman and others on their toes.