On a recent visit to my old stomping ground of Uxbridge, in the north west outskirts of London, I took the opportunity to check out the options if one were looking to buy a fountain pen. From my brief reconnaissance, I found three shops: WHSmiths for some entry level Parker and Lamy pens and a few own brand cheapies; Ernest Jones, jewellers for a few Montblancs and finally, F. Hinds, another high street jeweller for some mid-range Parker, Cross and Sheaffer.
It was in the Bracknell branch of F. Hinds in April, that I had first seen a Sheaffer Icon, but did not know its name at the time. I had been struck by the gleaming chrome finish and the contours which harked back to the Sheaffer Legacy, a pen that I admired but never owned.
Here in Uxbridge, I spotted the same model Icon in the shop window, displayed next to a matching rollerball. The fountain pen was reduced from £85.00 to £63.75. I went inside to have a closer look.
The sales assistant, a helpful lady named Vaishali, came back outside with me so that I could point out the pen in the window. Ah, the joys of buying from a bricks and mortar shop, which I have missed lately!
I had a close look at the nib, using the magnifying app on my phone. The pen felt very comfortable to hold with a generous wide girth and no step or cap threads. The nib certainly looked unusual and small in relation to the large pen but appeared to be perfectly aligned over the tiny feed. The tines and tipping and the tine gap all looked spot on. Without needing to try it, I decided that I would take it. Vaishali went to get the box, which she found with impressive speed, unlike my recollections of Paperchase or Rymans where this often means a long wait!
The pen came with a converter fitted but the gift box also contained two Sheaffer cartridges, one black and one blue. On a nearby public bench I inserted the black cartridge. I had a Stalogy A5 notebook with me and eagerly put pen to paper. Within a few seconds, ink reached the nib. The nib was very smooth. Ink flow was just right. However the Sheaffer black ink was feathering and bleeding through, even in my Stalogy notebook which normally resists this.
Later at home, I ditched the black cartridge, flushed the pen and filled it instead with Diamine’s Gibson Guitar Series Pelham Blue. This was much better: no feathering or bleeding on Stalogy. Indeed the pen felt so enjoyable that I wrote for five pages. I revisited reviews of the pen on The Pen Addict and SBREBrown.
Size and Weight.
| Length capped | 134mm |
| Length uncapped | 125mm |
| Length posted | 145mm |
| Weight capped / or posted | 44g |
| Weight uncapped | 29g |
| Weight of cap alone | 15g |
Likes and Dislikes.
Likes:
- Unusual, sporty design with elements from the Legacy and the Taranis;
- Striking, bold grip section and semi-hooded, tiny nib – which is exquisite;
- Comfortable grip, generous girth, no step, no cap threads;
- Tough, metal barrel and cap; Nib would be protected if the pen were dropped or stepped on;
- Long enough to use unposted and with a decent heft, without being too heavy;
- Small nib, (marked as “M”), beautifully set up and which writes a smooth, medium/fine line; A Fine nib is also available;
- No branding on the outside, except the Sheaffer white dot and, if you look very closely, the name Sheaffer on the far end of the pocket clip;
- On close examination under a loupe, I found that the red stripe in the cap band and the red portion of the grip section, are glittery!
- Converter included;
- Inside, there is a long metal collar to support the cartridge or converter; (this was lacking in my old Sheaffer Connaisseur, where a cartridge could wobble about);
- Metal threads on the outside of the cartridge collar, meeting plastic threads inside the barrel;
- Two cartridges included (although the black ink may bleed through)
- Lifetime mechanical warranty;
- Comes from Sheaffer, a brand for which I have a long-standing affection (albeit now part of A.T.Cross Company);
- Nicely presented in a lidded cardboard gift box, with padded pen bed, a clear plastic protector cover, and a compartment beneath for cartridges or converter and the care and guarantee booklet.
- Is photogenic!
Dislikes:
- Polished chrome looks great but is a bit slippery when you uncap the pen;
- The cap posts deeply but not securely (at least, mine didn’t) – although Stephen Brown did not have this problem;
- Cap is quite stiff to pull off;
- The metal collar which supports the cartridge or converter, is so long that it leaves little of the converter’s ink reservoir on view;
- Another reviewer commented that the rim of the cap is sharp, although this did not trouble me;
- Black ink cartridge included is so wet that it feathers and bleeds badly.
Conclusion.
Overall, I am delighted with the pen, glad that I bought it and happy that it was on special offer. The nib is tiny but a joy to write with. Although the design might not appeal at first sight, I have quickly come to appreciate it.
Fountain pen blog 
Rupert,
Yes, I know exactly what you mean about the current Sheaffer inks. They do tend to both feather and bleed through even the best quality papers.
Since the closure of the Fort Madison plant, poor old Sheaffer has gone through some very tough times in recent years. Unlike Parker, which is mainly based in France (with an additional contract manufacturer in India), Sheaffer has become a rather nomadic brand. Most of their pens are made in China, but some in other Far East countries like Japan. A.T. Cross has now sold the famous name to a pen distributor in India. Apparently, this company does not have an existing factory, so who knows where they are going to be made in future?
I tend to use their ballpoint pens frequently to take rough notes in Court (I am a solicitor), but after the pandemic it become impossible to find authentic Sheaffer refills. Shops like Rymans and W.H. Smith stopped stocking them. The same thing happened with the fountain pen ink cartridges. For some years these were manufactured in Slovenia, but then transferred to China. Eventually refills were going for a ridiculous price on EBay due to scarcity. One hope that this situation will improve, but I am not optimistic.
Monteverde makes refills that fit the ballpoint pens. They are not too bad. Unfortunately, I don’t know any other firm that produces those stubby little Skrip cartridges for the fountain pens. For this reason Sheaffer ink converters have, once again, recently shot up in price. I hope that the new Icon is not the last of the wonderful Sheaffer line, but if it is it could become something of a collectors item.
Funnily enough, for a period of time after the end of American production there was a brief flourishing of new fountain pens bearing the Sheaffer name. From memory, there was the 100, the 300, the Sagaris, the Taranis and the Intensity. The Prelude also continued being made in China. Many of these pens, in my opinion, were pretty good for daily knockabout use, but most I believe are currently out of production and stock.
Anyway, enjoy your new fountain pen.
All the best.
Regards,
Adrian.
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Adrian,
Thank you very much for this information. I was not aware that Sheaffer had now been sold to a pen distributor in India, or of the scarcity of refills. My go-to for refills (if not available in High Street shops) would be Cult Pens. A quick look on their website shows that they sell both the K type and T type Sheaffer ballpoint refills, although I have not tried ordering. I have a Sheaffer ballpoint pen which I use daily.
I have many of the Sheaffer fountain pen models that you mentioned, save for the Taranis and Intensity. I used the No Nonsense pens extensively in the 1970’s, with black cartridges and didn’t have any issues with the ink in those days.
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I can’t help but pipe in here….
A number of pen companies are no longer independent. Parker and Waterman are now owned by Newell Brands, a company that also owns Rubbermaid, Sharpie, and Coleman (camping products), among others. As noted, Sheaffer is now owned by William Penn, a company located in Bengaluru, India.
See: https://www.newellbrands.com/
https://www.williampenn.net/
Now, FWIW…
Last year I bought a Parker Vector XL while in Rennes, France. It’s an inexpensive pen that caught my eye. I was on a multi-week bike ride and thought it would be a nice complement to the pens I was already carrying. But I soon found out that it wasn’t working properly – hard starts and skipping.
When I returned home, I futzed with it but was unable to get it to write satisfactorily. Eventually, I contacted Parker/Newell. Surprisingly, but happily, they sent me a new one without requiring me to return the old one. I’m quite pleased with the new one and have since fiddled more with the old one. It now writes okay, kinda.
I later purchased a Waterman Expert and was quite unhappy with it. Like the first Parker, almost every start was hard, and it skipped all the time. In fact, the nib and feed looked exactly like the one on the Parker. Luckily, I purchased it through Amazon and was able to return it.
As for Sheaffer, their old Skrip cartridge fountain pens were the “go-to” pens when I was in school many years ago. I loved them. When I saw a Sheaffer Pop (another inexpensive pen) at P.W. Akkerman’s in Amsterdam a number of years ago, I bought it. It wrote well and I enjoyed using it. It’s still in my quiver, but un-inked at the current time.
I revisited Akkerman’s about a year ago, and the wonderful saleslady showed me a Glossy Blue Sheaffer 300. At less than $60, I thought it was a steal and swooped it up. It quickly became one of my favorite pens. A short time later I saw a Glossy Black 300 on sale at Pen Boutique. You can guess my reaction!
I loaded the Black 300 with a black Sheaffer cartridge and wasn’t happy. I don’t remember bleeding or feathering, but the ink seemed to clog the pen. I have since switched to a converter filled with Diamine Graphite and all is well.
Finally, earlier this year, I acquired two Diplomats while in Paris. The first was a red Esteem; the second was a black/gold Excellence A2. They are both wonderful and now top my list of pens in use. When I got home, I followed up with the purchase of Diplomat Marrakesh Excellence A2 from the Online Pen Company. I use all three regularly and have to force myself to use others in my stash.
That’s my (long) story….
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Jonathan, Thanks very much for your comments and for sharing your own pen journey. You have certainly done the rounds! Finding a pen you like, and an ink and paper that it likes, is one of the joys of this hobby.
I have some experience with all of the pens you mention. I do sometimes find it necessary to adjust a nib on a new fountain pen, typically to make it wetter to suit my lefty overwriter style. It is only recently that I discovered that left foot oblique nibs best suit my writing style.
I have a black Sheaffer 300, which is the pen pictured in the banner heading of this blog site. I agree with you about Diplomat pens. I started with an Esteem and was very impressed with the nib. I went on to buy an Excellence Marrakech. That one actually had a gold nib, but the steel nibs are so good that there is no real need for a gold one. I have now acquired five Excellences, with a selection of fine, medium and broad nibs and different finishes. The nibs have all been among the best steel nibs I have come across. Even the nib on the smaller Diplomat Traveller is superb.
Currently, my pen journey has landed me on vintage Parkers, in particular the Parker 17. They can be picked up on eBay, sometimes for less than the price of a Lamy Safari and are a joy to use.
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That is a very interesting pen, and the above comments are very enlightening — thanks to both posters for all that information. I must say, I’m highly tempted by the Icon, though not sure about the shiny chrome finish, which I would imagine will show every fingerprint. But the style of the pen as a whole is so unique and vintage-looking that I find it very attractive. Hmmm … Funnily enough, when I first saw the pen, my brain leapt to the conclusion that the red stripe above the nib was the clip, as that is where the problematic clip on the Pilot Capless sits, so I was quite relieved when I realized that the clip is indeed on the cap, where it belongs.
As a side note, you have made a convert here to Parker Blue Quink! Even with drawers full of “fancier” inks, sometimes a girl just needs a good, plain, solid blue, and this has become my preferred ink for journalling. Thanks, Rupert! (Also wonderful that you have returned to the blog!)
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Thank you very much for your kind comments Ruth.
Yes, the Lustrous Chrome finish does show up finger prints. There are other finishes to chose from, including green or blue, which are a matt, metallic look. I have not seen them in stores and you need to hunt for them. The Medium nib is on the fine side. I have not tried the Fine nib version.
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Always nice to find and take home a good pen in person. Having had a pleasant in-store pen shopping experience myself recently, the feeling is fresh.
The size and presentation of the nib relative to the section almost gives the sense in my mind it could be retractable. That would be a neat, if unnecessary, trick for a capped pen.
The chrome, black, and red color combination is striking. Speaking of race cars, the McLaren Formula 1 campaigners from round about 2008 might be a match.
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Sorry if I wasn’t meant to post a link or image in the comments, just thought folks might like to see the car I was referring to. Cheers.
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Thanks Nathan. If you would like to see a retractable nib fountain pen with a cap, look at the Montblanc Heritage 1912.
The racing car shown in the link is a good match for the Sheaffer Icon Lustrous Chrome edition. Well found!
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Thanks for this post! I just bought the black/red Icon and enjoy the look and feel very much, but am a bit surprised at how fine the medium nib writes. Is that your experience as well? I’ve been thinking that maybe they installed a fine nib by accident but thanks to your post, I now know where to look to see the nib size stamping and it is indeed marked as a medium. The fine would be VERY fine, I would imagine given how fine this medium nib is. Or is my pen an anomaly? Thanks!
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Thanks Mary, for your comment and for subscribing to the blog! Welcome aboard!
Yes the M nib on my Sheaffer Icon is certainly on the fine side of medium. It happens to suit me well. I therefore think yours is quite normal and not wrongly marked.
I do not have much to go on. I read another review by Jeff Abbott who was also favourably impressed. Search “sheaffer icon review pen addict”
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I did read Jeff’s review as well but I don’t think he mentioned the nib size. I’m so used to writing with fat mediums and broads (European) that this just surprised me. It’s definitely more like a Japanese medium. Enjoying it nonetheless!!
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I think somewhere he mentioned “the fine tip”.
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You’re right!! 😁
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