Sheaffer Valor March/April 2006 Stylophiles Online

By Mike Stevens

There's something new on the way from Sheaffer, and this is coming as very good news to those of us who have been waiting anxiously to see what sort of fallout was destined from the closing of the historic Fort Madison plant. It's nice to see that Sheaffer will be carrying on, and in what manner.

When Sheaffer contacted us about the new Valor, we were very excited about getting our hands on a sample, and finding out in what sort of new directions the company was heading. The answer proved to be surprising...

Instead of a completely new look and feel, the Valor manages to capture a bit of the classic Sheaffer sense. At the same time, they've made a departure from many of the aspects that have made recent Sheaffer pens what they are.

For example, the cap is of the screw on variety, instead of the slip on style used on the legacy and intrigue. The looks are also a departure for Sheaffer, with a bold new clip design that really sets the Valor apart from their recent designs.

There's a real sense of familiarity once you remove the cap however, as the inlaid 14K nib is pure classic Sheaffer. Classic in more than just looks, as it also proved to have a surprisingly nice feel against the paper as well. More on that in a bit!

The Valor is a cartridge converter fill pen, with a cap and barrel in acrylic. The black material has a nice glossy shine to it, and enough weight to feel substantive without being so heavy as to be uncomfortable t use for long periods of time. The cap is very long in proportion to teh barrel, which left me in some doubts about balance when I first looked it over, but the cap posts quite low down on the barrel, keeping the balance point low enough in the hand that I found it easy to use posted. The light weight is a help in this regard as well.

Visually, the cap does carry the design on this pen. It's not just the length of the cap, but also that bold clip. The clip itself is long, running almost the full length of the cap, and set off at the upper end with a deep angled shape before it splits off to encircle the upper cap.

The signature white dot trademark is set into the cap just above the upper portion of the clip, and the cap finishes off with a slight angle to the cap top. It's a very striking, clean design, but thanks to the overall size of the cap when compared to the barrel, and the bold shape of the clip, it dominates the pen.

The barrel itself is much simpler in terms of appearance, with a slight taper towards the barrel end. There is a slender trim ring at the lower portion of the barrel, and another on the lower end of the section, just above the threaded portion of the barrel. The threads are very large, which not only makes getting the cap on and off quick, but also contributes to the bold, clean look of the design.

The heart of any pen, the nib, is Sheaffer's traditional inlaid style. This nib style has been in almost continuous use since it's introduction in 1959 on the Sheaffer PFM, it has also found a home on the Imperial, the Targa, the Legacy, and the Intrigue. It's a look exclusive to Sheaffer pens, and has found favor among pen lovers worldwide for its neat looks and good performance.

The nib used on the Valor is 14K gold, and is currently slated to be available in only medium width. This is the only real shortcoming of the Valor that we found. While it's understandable that most fountain pens sold today are bought by customers who want exactly that; a medium nib, it's a bit dissapointing that there isn't more choice offered in this regard. One of my favorite "character nibs" is a Sheaffer inlaid, a broad oblique on a Legacy. We can only hope that Sheaffer will come around to offering some nib grade choices on the Valor as well!

Aside from the paucity of nib grades offered, the inlaid nib on the Valor is, as we have come to expect from Sheaffer, excellent.

In fact, it goes a notch above excellent on the sample we received. It's a "true medium", with a line that falls right in the middle of the spectrum, and the tipping material is generous enough and properly finished to ensure a smooth feel on the paper. We were a bit surprised at the amount of give to the nib on the Valor. It's not flexible, but it has a nice spring to it.

Fit and finish of the Valor were excellent. The pen is being billed as "Italian Made" in the Sheaffer Press Release, so we weren't surprised at the somewhat continental flair that the design turned out to have.

In addition to the crisp design however, the Valor seems to be very well constructed, with the cap threads being very smooth, and the clip providing a nice tight grip on the pocket. When the cap was posted, it fit snugly down onto the barrel end. In all respects, this seems to be a well thought out design considered strictly in terms of it's performance in use.

The Valor weighs in at just barely over one ounce in weight, and measures just under 6 inches long closed. This makes it a "mid sized" pen for most hands, and comfortable to almost anyone. Posted it stretches to 6 3/8 inches long, and the section is a fairly trim 3/8 of an inch across. It might be considered to be a bit too big for some, and a bit slim for others, but all in all, Sheaffer has done a great job of getting the dimensions close to "just right" for as wide a cross section of the market as possible!

Due for launch in June of this year, the Valor will be available in fountain pen and rollerball versions, with either gold plated or palladium plated trim. It will be packaged in a nice, heavy polished wood presentation box. List price is slated to be $300 for the fountain pen, and $250 for the rollerball version.

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