I’m not well informed on Sheaffer Balances. They come in a variety of sizes and trims. This one is slender, just under 14 cm long capped and has no white dot. The trim is gold.

I’m fond of Sheaffers though I no longer handle many of them. At one time I imported pens from the US, Sheaffers among them, but that became too expensive with the charges that have been imposed. I regret that. Sheaffers have great quality, or at least they had until they were taken over and ceased to be real Sheaffers.

This pen is a lever filler for which I’m thankful. I think that Sheaffer went rather astray with some of their other filling systems, pesky to repair and in some cases not holding much ink.

The gold plating on this pen is good except, strangely, on the cap ring where it has almost disappeared. Its real glory is in the celluloid, black with iridescent inclusions that change colour as you move the pen. They really knew how to produce beautiful patterns in the nineteen thirties, for Sheaffer and Waterman especially.

The Balance was a revolutionary pen, and not just for its new tapered style. Sheaffer produced a pen that sat well in the hand without having to be posted and that is how to best enjoy a Sheaffer Balance today.