Pencil Identification - help!!

[juliet]

Hi all,

First time I've ventured into this part of the forums, so please bear with me.

Today I was quite blown away when my father handed me a gold mechanical pencil. I didn't know anything about it, and I don't think dad had been aware of it since he was a child. Recently he had been helping his sister move to a retirement home and she gave it to him as she doesn't have any children of her own to give it to.

Dad says he remembers his father using this pencil for some form of bookkeeping. He was a farmer and so would have had various accounts to keep a track of. Dad seemed to think that it was quite normal at the time to use pencil rather than pen. My grandparents weren't at all wealthy, and living in rural New Zealand in the early part of the 1900s Im quite surprised to discover a gold mechanical pencil was one of their possessions.

Dad is coming up 80, and his father died when he was just 7 years old. That this pencil is tied to one of his memories of his father obviously makes this pencil irreplaceable and invaluable.

Anyway, I was hoping that someone on here might have some insight into this pencil. There is no branding or hallmark that I can find on it. There is however a small line of text that runs around the top of the pencil that says "guaranteed 14 carat rolled gold". Based on Dads age his father must have been using it up till around 1945-47.

First task after looking for help on here will be to find lead for it. With no markings Ill need to try a few different sizes I guess.

Probably like many on here I enjoy mechanical watches, and own an Explorer 214270 and Submariner 114060. I bought these two models as to me they represent two of the purest watches Rolex make. They have essentially not changed since their introduction around 1953. I bought two (over time) because I wanted to have a watch to give to each of my twin boys later on in life. Personally I would have loved to inherit a family members watch, but was happy enough starting, hopefully, a new tradition with these two watches. To now receive this pencil is indescribable, and I can't imagine the joy of being able to hand it down to one of my sons in the future.

Well that's enough of the story. Probably a long shot, but if anyone does have an idea of the background of this pencil I would love to hear it.

Cheers.

[jar]

For lead and possible ID contact Sam at Pendemonium. She might point you in the right direction and can certainly help you with lead and erasers.

Pencils were the general portable writing tool of choice. Even when I got my first traffic warning the officer used a pencil to write it out.

The style was pretty common and rolled gold a nice upgraded finish, often though the same price as steel. There were lots and lots and lots of NoNami pens and pencils often sold mail order and costing a dollar or less.

[Dave455]

Hi juliet,

I wish I could be more helpful than I’m about to be, but I can tell this is an important heirloom to you, so I’ll share what I can.

There are some folks who will probably tell you it’s a Wahl Eversharp. I’m pretty certain it’s not. While Wahl did produce a pencil very similar, the clip and it’s fixing are subtly different. Also, they generally have “Wahl Eversharp” engraved. They’re also, I have to say, generally better quality.

I’m pretty sure your pencil is of British origin as I’ve seen several like it over the years. In fact, there are several identical on U.K. eBay right now!

As to the maker, well I don’t think it’s one of the big pen makers like De La Rue, Swan, Parker etc, I don’t think it’s from one of the smaller ones either. Most of them were pen manufacturers first, their pencils resemble their pens, and I recognise most of them.

One of the best pencil makers was (and still is) Yard O Lead, but it’s not one of theirs.
There was a small firm who produced a pencil marked “Sylveke”. Whether that was the maker, or their trade mark, I can’t say, but some of them were very similar indeed to yours, and they date from about the right period.

[juliet]

Thank you both jar and Dave.

I have no idea of the monetary value of this pencil, but I was surprised as I said to find a gold plated pencil used by my grandfather in rural New Zealand in the 1940s. By the sounds it may have actually been a fairly common item?

Even by ruling some brands out you are helping, so thank you.

If anyone can elaborate further I would appreciate the information. I'll do some research on the brands mentioned and see what I can come up with.

What a fantastic resource, to be able to pose a question and have such knowledgeable and helpful answers.

[330ci]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/7102203...xoCNaAQAvD_BwE


I think I found it

[juliet]

330, I think you may be right!

So in that description is perfect tip a style of pencil or a brand? I’ve done a search and just find different examples of gold pencils.

[MILGAUSS88]

I would say 90% of the gold filled mechanical pencils were made by Wahl-Eversharp.
They were so dominant in that field that mechanical pencils were often time referred to as
"Eversharps". Much like face tissue is often times called "kleenex".

Being in NZ however, you may have an English copy. The only English company I can think of is Conway Stewart.