Esterbrook
Nibs: Steel 9668 and 2668
Double “eight-ball” desk set with two lever-fill fountain pens
Condition: Pre-owned. There are no major imperfections to note: no chips cracks or any sign of faults or surface wear
* felt replaced on bottom
Both Lever-fill fountain pens One clear transparent barrel end and One Red transparent barrel end. With new sacs included
The Esterbrook Pen Company introduced heavy, high-gloss ceramic and porcelain desk sets—frequently nicknamed the "eight-ball" or round style bases (such as the Model 116L or 112 series)—during the late 1940s and 1950s as sturdy, elegant fixtures for offices, banks, and public counters.
Core History & Design
· The Era: Produced during the mid-century golden age of American desk accessories when Esterbrook J-series and lever-filler mechanisms dominated everyday writing.
· The Base: The glossy, weighted ceramic round base kept the assembly stable on busy surfaces and was sold in classic black, teal, and other pastel or marbled tones. Some public-counter variants (like the DB113) featured adhesive sticky bottoms hidden under tear-away paper labels.
· The Pens: Double desk sets held two specialized taper-ended desk pens (often featuring clear or coloured Lucite/plastic tapers) instead of capped pocket pens. Double sets sometimes paired standard black ink with red ink, signified by red accents or tapers on the secondary pen.
· Interchangeable Nibs: Like most Esterbrook instruments of the era, these relied on screw-in Renew-Point steel nib assemblies (such as the popular 2556 or 9668 tips), making maintenance and personalized line widths effortless