JEB's LE 'CA' Duro Custom Fountain Pen
in Brown & Black Cellulose Acetate Acrylic.
(Click each photo to view larger views)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Drop down to the bottom of the page for info & specs for this pen.
About the Name:
I made the JEB's Duro in homage to the Conway Stewart Duro, so I thought it was only fitting to borrow the name. The original Conway Stewart Pen Company (CS) was located in England and in opperation for over 100 years. But sadly they had to close their business in October 2014. If you're not familiar with the company and their pens, they were a British company that had been in operation since the very early 1900's with more than two dozen different pen styles to their credit over their many years in business. Their most famous tag lines was "they made the pens for the Queen". Contrary to what many may believe, the name "Conway Stewart" did NOT come from the name of the founder of the company, but rather it was believed to have been derived from a popular vaudeville act of the day. Eventually the original materials and parts were sold off and made available on the open market. Many of those original materials are still available, while others are being reproduced by the original UK manufacturer. If you have an interest in having a replica of a CS pen made,
please send me an email. If you would like to read more into the history of The Conway Stewart Pen Company, you can find additional information at wikipedia.org/Conway-Stewart.
I've always been a fan of several of the CS pens. So after they went out of business and some of their original material became available, I decided to make a few pens based on some of their original styles. This pen is based on their DURO. CS had several versions of the Duro. The basic model used the same material for the entire pen, while another used a secondary (solid) black for some of the parts. Then once in a while they made a few Limited Edition (LE) pens that were again different from the others, usually made from a special material and/or used a higher grade of plating on the hardware.
One of those LE's was called the "Tiffany Duro". It had an all black cap, black section, black barrel threads and blind cap, with only the center section of the barrel made from the featured "Tiffany" material. In this case the "Tiffany" was the name of a Casein material pattern. So named because the pattern is reminiscent of Tiffany glass. "Casein" is a type of material, which is a an early form of plastic-like material made from milk curd. The COLOR for this one was called YELLOW Tiffany. The supplier also has PLUM Tiffany, but couldn't find any CS pens made from it. The Plum has the same distinct Tiffany glass pattern, but has purple and white streaks with light blue highlights.
JEB's Duro Dimensions:
The JEB's Duro is similar in size to the CS Duro (so when compared to many of my other pens, it's one of the smaller sizes). The length is a little longer than the CS Duro (about 5.75") because the barrel and finial are longer. On the CS Duro, the finial was shorter than the blind cap, which I didn't care for, so I matched the height of the finial to the length of the blind cap. The cap is the same length as the original, but the diameter is smaller .563"). The specs say the CS cap had a .59" diameter cap. It doesn't look that way in the photo's but I thought that was too large for the .50" diameter barrel, so I made it thinner. I couldn't find the length of their barrel, but based on the capped length and length of the cap, I think it was about 3". I always make mine 3 1/4" (not including the threads) because I think the longer barrel looks better, so that's where the rest of the length is. But the diameter is the same as the original (.50").
*CLIP NOTE: As shown with some of the Duro's, I now have a small supply of the original Conway Stewart Duro/Churchill clips. So you can now order your pen with one of those original clips while the supply lasts. With the original clip, I'm also able to TAPER the cap so the cap style is more similar to the original. However you can order your pen with either the straight or tapered cap.
NEW for 2021: I'm pleased to announce that the JEB's Duro (and JEB's Churchill) are now available with RHODIUM hardware! So now along with having your choice of materials, you also have a choice between two different hardware finishes (Gold or Rhodium).
JEB's Duro Options and Upgrades:
The JEB's Duro doesn't allow (or require) many upgrades or options. But you could use your imagination and change up the color combination. Maybe swap out the black for another solid color, or really change it up and make the entire pen from the same material. An easy upgrade would be changing up the stock C/C inking system for a button filler. Since the pen uses a threaded blind cap on the barrel for the band, the pen is prepped for the upgrade. You could also upgrade the stock steel nib with a 14k or 18k gold nib to make it really special.
I also offer a variety of hand-made Pen Props and Pen Buttons, and Cuff-Links and Button Covers. You can order a Pen Prop in the same material to match your pen, or any one of the wooden styles made in a variety of stained or dyed colors. The Pen Buttons are available for any of the clipless pens. The Cuff-links and Button Covers can also be ordered to match your pen. I have a variety of styles and finishes in the Cuff-links. The Button Covers are available in gold and nickel.
About this Pen:
This pen is the first of a Limited Edition series available that features various colors of vintage Cellulose Acetate acrylic. As you can see in the photo's, the material was used sparingly--with only a short section used in the barrel. This is because the blanks are very short (only about 2 7/16" long). When I first received them, I didn't think I'd be able to use them. A: because they were so short; B: because they weren't very thick--slightly less than 9/16" diameter; and C: because they were pre-drilled. So in order to use the blanks, I had to come up with a way working within those narrow parameters. But after some thought, I realized I could use them in a pen style similar to the Conway Stewart Tiffany LE Duro. That pen uses the featured material in the main part of the barrel, and then solid black for the rest of the pen. Only these blanks were shorter. So in order to use them, I had to extend the amount of black acryhlic used up by the threads. So then, here were are. And I'm calling it the "LE CA Duro" (CA for Cellulose Acetate). Another change I made with with the clip. I used a different style clip, reminiscent of the much earlier Duro's. Conway Stewart was also known to use different hardware on their Limited Edition pens (the Sterling Silver Duro series was a good example), so I didn't stray too far. The clip I used here is a vintage unbranded NOS clip I found. I thought the arrow shape at the bottom look similar to the diamond shape used on CS clips. The small engraving at the top of the clip reads: Made in USA.
About this Material:
As mentioned earlier, the material used is vintage Cellulose Acetate (CA) that the supplier said was made sometime in the 1930's to 1950's by the Pen Rod company in Le Mans France. The Pen Rod company's material was used on some of the finest pens in the world by companies such as Conway Stewart, Mabie Todd, Waterman and Parker to name a few.
CA is one of the earlier types of acrylic that was used for a variety of items, with the most notable being photographic film. CA gets a bad rap in the pen making community for the somewhat of an old wives' tale that "it will catch on fire!". But like most other acrylics, as long as you aren't too aggressive with your cutting and drilling that would allow the material to build up heat, you don't have to worry about spontaneous combustion incidents as long as you use moderate speeds.
The color used here I'm calling brown & black. I don't know the original color name. But if you know, I be obliged if you would know what it is. I'd describe this pattern similar to shreds of paper wrapped around in a barber pole twist. I was very surprised with the depth of the color once the material was polished (it's gorgeous!). As with many of the acrylics, the photo's don't do them justice.
I also mentioned
earlier that this was the first in a SERIES. As you can see in the photo below, I have several other colors, so if you see a color in the samples that you like (or know the name), send me an email. I'd be glad to make one for you.
This Pen's Specifications: |
 |
For help with your Fountain Pens on replacing cartridges, filling converters or button-fillers; with cleaning or
any other general fountain pen maintenance, click the link below to visit my "Fountain Pen Help Line" page:
For pricing, shipping and warranty information see HERE.
