1938-9 Ebonized Pearl Sheaffer Balance Admiral fountain pen and pencil

  In my opinion there is no celluloid quite like ebonized pearl Sheaffer celluloid. It was made in flat sheets with multiple layers of clear celluloid, black stripes (painted?), and nacre chips. The sheets were heated and bent around mandrels to form tubes for pen barrels and caps. The black diagonal lines became spirals in the tubes. The ends of the tubes were capped with black celluloid. The combination of transparency, spiral stripes & nacre chips with gorgeous 3 dimensional depth and iridescence makes for celluloid I think has almost no equal. The celluloid in this particular pen has excellent color and clarity with very little evidence of darkening with age and UV exposure. The clip is engraved R.T. Neither it, nor the band have any plating loss. There are no marks, cracks or blemishes in the surface of the celluloid. Perhaps the only flaw is a bit of lost platinum (according to Sheaffer catalogs) plating on the nib. Oh, and this nib. I believe the Feather Touch 5 to be one of