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JEB's Duro Custom Fountain Pen - in Yellow Tiffany Casein.

(Click each photo to view larger views)

Tiffany w/o Black JEB's Duro (capped) Tiffany w/o Black JEB's Duro (uncapped) Tiffany w/o Black JEB's Duro (close-up)
     
Tiffany w/o Black JEB's Duro (posted) Tiffany w/o Black JEB's Duro (uncapped-2) Tiffany w/o Black JEB's Duro (close-up-2)

 



A
bout 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 and Material:

This pen was a custom order, and the client wanted the entire pen made with the Tiffany Casein, rather than using only a small amount of the feature material and then solid black for the rest of the parts. As you can see in the photo's, it made a beautiful pen!

About Casein... Casein is an early form of acrylic that's made from milk curd, and was one of the forbearers of the modern acrylics we use for pens today. Most material sold today as Casein is actually a synthetic version, but THIS is the real thing. This material is true Casein. One of the "tells" that lets you know you're turning real Casein is the odor it omits while turning-- it smells like powdered milk. Besides the Tiffany Casein, I think the pen would look just as nice with any number of acrylics in it's place. One example (my initial sample pen) shown below in Brown Ice Italian acrylic.

This Pen's Specifications:
Color / Material: Yellow Tiffany Casein.
Length: Capped = 5.79"; Uncapped = 5.171".
Diameter (max): Barrel = .51"; Cap = .562".
Gold Bands: Cap: 9/16" dia x 4mm wide.
Barrel / Section: 7/16" dia x 1mm wide.
Wgt (w/o ink): Capped 21.5 gms;
Uncapped 10.1 gms; Cap only 11.4 gms.
Nib: Broad #6 2-tone Steel Meister.
Clip: 24k gold plated cast with steel ring.
Bands: 24k gold plated.
Filling System: C/C.