- #WHAT SHADES OF BLUE WERE AVAILABLE FOR TRIUMPH TR3A UPGRADE#
- #WHAT SHADES OF BLUE WERE AVAILABLE FOR TRIUMPH TR3A FULL#
Let's go back to that first question: "What colors are the hardest to find?" Most collectors, myself included, see the most difficult to find colors in this order: Fern Green, Periwinkle Blue, Peacock Blue, Mandarin Orange, Fiesta Red and Vermilion. Nine Snorkel models were offered in as many as 7 to 11 different colors over the production run.Īs you can see, there are a large number of Snorkel model / color combination offerings, which would make for a large complete collection of Snorkels. Some colors were offered with matching color grip sections staring in 1956, though most Snorkel sections are black. Sheaffer started with five available colors in 1952 and expanded to nine new colors in 1956.
Sheaffer Snorkel Sentinel Fiesta Red, open One color, Burnt Umber Brown was exclusive to the desk pen model. Some colors were only offered on White Dot pens, for example. Over the 1952 to 1959 run of the line, Sheaffer offered 15 different colors, though not all colors were available on all Snorkel models. The pens were made in three cap and barrel combinations: plastic cap and barrel, metal cap and plastic barrel, and all metal.
Sheaffer made thirteen different Snorkel models, nine were White Dot pens with Triumph conical nibs and four were non-White Dot pens with standard open nibs. Sheaffer Snorkel Sentinel Fiesta Red, posted All the colors of the rainbow! This was likely due to the growing success of inexpensive ballpoint pens encroaching on the fountain pen market. Sheaffer launched the new pen line with a heavy print advertising campaign that emphasized clean "dunk free" filling and ease of use. Once filled, the Snorkel tube is retracted into the feed by reverse twisting the end cap on the barrel, completing a clean, no wipe filling of the pen. The pen is filled by inserting the tube into an inkwell and pushing in the plunger, creating a vacuum by compressing the internal ink sac, filling the pen with ink. It has an ink filling tube that extends from the end of the feed by twisting the knob on the barrel end. The Snorkel is one of the most complex filling mechanisms ever put in a fountain pen.
#WHAT SHADES OF BLUE WERE AVAILABLE FOR TRIUMPH TR3A UPGRADE#
The pen was a major upgrade to the Thin Model or TM Touchdown pen line by adding the new Snorkel filling system, elongating the pen. Sheaffer introduced the Snorkel pen line in 1952. Let's start with a refresher on the Snorkel pen itself.
#WHAT SHADES OF BLUE WERE AVAILABLE FOR TRIUMPH TR3A FULL#
Click the image above to see a full screen slideshowĬollectors interested in Sheaffer Snorkel pens often ask two questions: "What colors are the hardest to find?" and "How do you tell the difference between the blue, red and green color Snorkels?"