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By Bill Riepl Every once in a while, you get a chance to grab a good deal. Stick with pen collecting long enough, and you learn that sometimes those good deals turn out to to be bonafide "once in a lifetime" deals. Passing them up means missing out. So, after a few missed opportunities, you tend to be much more open to finding a way to stretch the budget when one of these deals come along. Stretch it, bend it, leave it in pieces on the floor sometimes! After all, it's "only money"....
With an original list price of $995 per pen, and an edition size of only 500 sets, the CP7 was a beautiful example of engraving, matched with one of the best modern pens available. Sailor has built a reputation for some of the best nibs made today, and when it comes to writing performance, it's hard to beat a Sailor! Despite being attracted to the pen when they were first launched, he never got around to buying one. Of late, he had been tempted by the great prices available on Ebay, but still hadn't gotten around to picking one up. Why the sudden decision to grab this set?
It turns out that this set is marked as number 000 of 250, which drops it squarely into his collecting focus: prototypes and one-off examples. Most of his collection consists of Parker prototypes, with both fountain pen and ballpen versions of the 75 predominating, and a few "pre-production" versions of modern limited editions. The CP7s fit in perfectly. The lack of a box or other packaging didn't bother him at all, as he doesn't believe in letting pens sit idle. Only a few of the rarest of his collection spend their time in a display case, most end up in a daily rotation as users.
The Cross Emperor nib takes a bit of getting used to, and puts down a very broad, wet line, but it makes a great signature pen. The Atlantic was fitted with a "plain" medium nib, which might get a bit more use in everyday writing.
From the limited use he's given them, both perform perfectly, with the great ink flow and reliable line that Sailor nibs are known for. Given that it's a "plain" medium nib, at least plain in comparison to the Cross Emperor nib, the medium nib stands a good chance of becoming a favorite. (Favorite enough that I was unable to convince him to sell at least one to me!)
If nothing else, this example of a great
deal proves that it always pays to keep your eyes open, and never more
than when at a pen show. You just never know what you might not find
lurking on one of those tables full of pens! copyright 2005 William Riepl |
Of
course, every once in a while, you get a chance at a deal that doesn't
require breaking the bank. Events turned out this way for a lucky buyer
at this year's Chicago pen show. He had been looking for something special,
and had just about settled on a new LE when he came across a set of
CP7 pens. These pens, based on the Sailor 80 Anniversary pens were first
launched in 2003. 
Instead
of explaining, he just handed me the pens and said "look at the
cap band".
Of
course, in addition to being rare pens, they are also great writers.
Both pens show signs of use, and one is fitted with the Cross Emperor
nib... Naturally, it was impossible not to put them right into use,
and he had both pens filled and in his pocket. 