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The long awaited new arrival from Sheaffer, comes complete with a truly monumental designation: the Sheaffer Legacy Heritage Special Edition Victorian... In an effort to save wear and tear on the keyboard, we'll refer to it as the Victorian. You'll be pleased to know, it's not just the name that's impressive... The Sheaffer Victorian comes across a winner in several categories.
If it sounds a bit busy... That's because it is. But then intensely busy design was what the Victorian era was all about. It's ornate, but without becoming florid, and when looked at as a whole, the design works quite well. There are a couple of points that have caused discord among the staff here, but for the most part, everyone quite liked the engraving pattern as is. The trim is silver colored to match the cap and barrel, and this is really the main sticking point for some who otherwise like the pen. It's going to come down to personal taste, some just prefer the slightly more traditional look of gold colored trim on sterling silver pens, while others prefer the monochrome approach utilizing matching trim. The other issue with the Victorian is that the engraving cuts themselves are very shallow. There's not a lot of relief with this style of engraving, and some of us felt that the pen had as a result a rather "flat" look to it that didn't set well with the overall design. Of course, in true Stylophiles fashion, an equal number of folks argued that the light touch on the engraving itself was just what was needed to offset the ornate nature of the pattern. Of course, all of this is "merely" aesthetics, and in no way affects the usability of the pen. It just gives us all something about which to argue loudly!
The Victorian is available as a medium nib only, and this is fine as far as that goes, if you like a medium nib, you'll love it! There's a hint of flex to the tines, and the ink flow with converter is nice and even, and adequate for a truly "medium" line, not heavy enough that smearing the just written line is a problem, not so light that skipping becomes an issue. In other words, it's a good nib.
In the hand, the Victorian is a pleasure. Weighing in at just under 1 1/2 ounces and 5 3/4 inches long posted, it fits into the "just right" category for most folks. A true mid-sized pen, it should prove to be comfortable for both those who prefer large pens, as well as those who tend to like slim pens. The cap posts securely, and so far down on the barrel that the balance doesn't change much between posted and unposted. The Victorian is being made as a special edition, with production limited to those orders placed as of August of 2005. This should hold the number of pens produced low enough to make the Heritage Victorian quite a special pen for Sheaffer collectors. However, since the pens are not individually numbered, Sheaffer is not calling this a limited edition. The list price is set at $450 for the fountain pen, and $375 for the rollerball, and both come packaged in a very nice gray colored presentation box.
Copyright 2005 William Riepl All images copyright 2005 William Riepl
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The
Sheaffer Legacy has been a leading model for Sheaffer since 1995,
as a pen designed to recall the PFM, Sheaffer's flagship pen of the
1960s. The original Legacy has since undergone some changes, and today's
model is slightly different than the Legacy of 1995, but still immediately
recognizable as the same basic pen. The Legacy is currently available
in what Sheaffer describes as an "interrupted barleycorn"
pattern as the Legacy Heritage.
The
Victorian is identical in terms of size and weight to this current
production Legacy Heritage, but there the similarity stops. The engraved
pattern on the Victorian is a very ornate design, clearly designed
to bring to mind the Victorian era, with it's use of repeating scrollwork
set against an underlying pattern of small diamonds.
Getting
down to the point ( so to speak) we're faced with the nib, and the
way this pen performs on paper. The good news is that it seems to
share with most modern Sheaffers a combination of the sense of dependability
and reliability coupled with a rather unassuming plainness.
It's
just rather... Well, plain. A pen as ornate as this practically screams
out for a fine or medium italic cut nib. Something to give your handwriting
a flair to match the pen's design! It would be nice to see the Victorian
offered with some more nib choices. As it is, it's very likely that
the custom nib grinders will be seeing a few of these pens to personalize
them to their new owner's tastes.