The pen is mightier than the sword!

August 7, 2007 3:28 PM

What kind of pen did Dr. Jones use in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?

My Google-fu is failing me! I'm trying to identify this pen. Bonus points if anyone can tell me where to buy a replica/collectible version of it. Thanks!

posted by banjo_and_the_pork to grab bag (8 comments total)

I know this is hardly conclusive, buy I have a Mont Blanc pen with the exact same striping at the base of the cap, and I have seen MB pens with very similar finishes.

Could you show your picture to an employee of a fine stationers?
posted by chudmonkey at 4:12 PM on August 7, 2007

It looks like "Made in England" is written on the inside of the case.
posted by mdonley at 4:18 PM on August 7, 2007

Hard to tell from the photo, but the top (marbled) one looks like an early 1930s Parker Duofold Streamline, and the bottom one may be a black Duofold Streamline Deluxe from roughly the same period. You can get a sense of the various models from this collection.

You can buy originals on eBay for not a huge amount of money. Here's a black Duofold with a slightly different cap band (the Deluxe had the three bands).

I'm pretty sure they're both 1930s Parkers, but the alternative would be Conway Stewart, which had very similar styles in its line. (They're mentioned, but not identified, as part of this list of movie penspotting moments.)
posted by holgate at 4:24 PM on August 7, 2007

And here's a set of Conway Stewarts for comparison. I'm pretty sure that the top one doesn't have a CS clip, but you can't see the bottom one.
posted by holgate at 4:30 PM on August 7, 2007

Some of the vintage pens made by Conway Stewart of London resemble the pen in your shot. (Better images on this Australian website; note particularly the top three pens.)
posted by rob511 at 4:31 PM on August 7, 2007

D'oh!
posted by rob511 at 4:32 PM on August 7, 2007

Thanks! I'm asking for a friend, so I'll pass these suggestions along.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 6:53 PM on August 7, 2007

rob511: no need to d'oh. My first thought was that the black marble one looked like a grey-hatched Conway Stewart 58 Duro, but you can't see the lever that distinguishes it from the button-fill Duofolds.
posted by holgate at 7:51 PM on August 7, 2007