Tradition has it that in 1907, after close study of some advertisements for a new fountain pen filling mechanism, a “self-filler,” known today as the Crescent Filler, Sheaffer began experiments to craft his own design. What he devised was a system integrating a rubber sac that, when depressed, by the proximal short end of a lever, as the long distal end is lifted, and then released, would fill with ink. Within a year, what would soon and thereafter be known as the “Lever-Filler,” had been patented. Four years later, in 1912, with the assistance of two former employees of the company whose self-filler had inspired his inventive adventure, he invested his life savings, putting together the organisational skeleton of what would be the W. A. Sheaffer Company. On January 1, 1913, with an initial investment of $35,000, and a total of seven employees, Sheaffer incorporated, setting up his first "factory" in the converted space of what had been, first his father's, and then his own jewellery store.

Often characterised as a period of dramatic and continuous legal strife, the early years of the mom-and-pop-sized W. A. Sheaffer Company were indeed fraught with somewhat ruthless litigation, and other related difficulties that could have served as good fodder for fairly respectable cloak-and-dagger yarns. Sheaffer himself had to frequently defend his patents from attack by other pen manufacturers, some quite a bit older and larger. In fact, there is more than one story actually involving private detectives, Sheaffer being “tailed” or “shadowed,” in and out of New York subway trains and the like. At one point, one of his founding partners, George Kraker, who had formerly “jumped ship” from a competitor to join him, likewise left Sheaffer, and started making pens under his own name in Kansas City, modeled after those of his latest former business associate. Though courtroom decisions ended that patent-stealing enterprise, it is illustrative of the rather cutthroat environment within the emerging fountain pen business of the era.

History establishes that Sheaffer’s lever-filler system was certainly, sooner or later, adopted by all pen companies, and that speaks for itself. Whether or not that particular filling method was superior to all others was essentially immaterial; consumers liked, wanted, and bought it. Accordingly, once patent rights had been firmly established, and production methods refined and expanded, W. A. Sheaffer Company experienced nothing short of phenomenal growth. A partial list of pen-model-release, and materials- and ink-introduction dates demonstrates a dynamic agenda of design and production:

1920 - Lifetime Pen
1922 - Skrip Ink
1922 - Radite caps and barrels
1924 - White Dot
1930 - Balance Pen
1931 - Feather Touch Nib
1934 - W.A.S.P.
1935 - Vac-Fil filling system
1936 - Transparent ink view section
1942 - Triumph conical shaped nib
1946 - Stratowriter Ballpoint
1948 - Injection molded plastic caps and barrels
1949 - Touchdown filling system
1952 - Snorkel filling system
1955 - Cartridge filling fountain pens
1959 – PFM

Subsequent years were too rich with collections design changes to fully recount in a brief history. The nineties brought a somewhat slower pace of introduction, but never did Sheaffer quality diminish, and true pen fanciers, and lovers of the written word still know that a finer pen cannot be purchased.

The Crest model was issued in 1991; its design recalled pens of the 1950s, with a gold Triumph point, and a cartridge/converter filler choice. From 1995 to 1998, Sheaffer offered the Triumph Imperial, a revival of the old Imperial model, offered as a small step up from Sheaffer's workaday pens and high-line models like the Crest. The Legacy model (revived yet again in the Legacy Heritage) was a reissue (at least in basic shape) of the PFM (Pens For Men); it was a cartridge filler, but, with the addition of a special converter, could use bottled ink as well.

In 1997, Sheaffer was acquired by BIC, the giant French manufacturer of disposable pens, razors, and other throw-away-type products. Pen fanciers may have had good reason to fear the takeover, since once before BIC bought a U.S. pen maker (Waterman USA), and closed it down almost immediately. However, for some reason BIC apparently had a different view of Sheaffer, and decided to preserve it as their luxury marquee.

Today, Sheaffer collections remain true to the paramount heritage of quality—quality of materials and workmanship—and simplicity. The true scrivener, one who not only writes because of need, but for pure pleasure, and a deep appreciation for the aesthetics of fine paper, and a chirographic technology that has not been—and likely cannot be—bettered by anything silicon or virtual. Regular collections and limited editions all reflect the jeweller’s meticulous attention to detail of design, and exactitude of execution. Representative are the following:

Valor
Legacy Heritage
Prelude
Stars Of Egypt Limited Edition