If you've ever enjoyed the ceremony of inking up a piston-filling pen before a long letter, the Sheaffer Balance III E893 might be the perfect pen for you. It's a re-imagining of a timeless classic, which pairs glossy black resin with warm gold-plated PVD trim, bringing the rounded, tapered shape of the 1929 Balance to a modern piston-filling fountain pen.
The piston draws bottled ink straight into the pen's large 2mL ink reservoir, and a transparent ink window makes it easy to see how much you've got left. The large #6 two-tone stainless-steel Medium nib carries a heart-shaped breather hole and a small 1913 marking, a nod to Sheaffer's founding year.
A leather pouch and gift box make it ready to travel with a notebook or give to someone who still keeps a correspondence drawer.
Why We Love it at Bottle and Plume
One of my first vintage fountain pens was a gorgeous green celluloid Sheaffer Balance lever-filler from the 1940s. Its distinctive shape really makes it stand out in my collection, and I frequently put it into my "inked pens" rotation. In the Balance III, Sheaffer has echoed that same classic body and cap shape - along with a lot of nice-to-have modern improvements, like the piston filling mechanism and the ink window.
Details
Model: Balance III E893
Body: Glossy black resin
Trim: Gold-plated PVD
Nib: #6 two-tone stainless steel, Medium
Filling system: Built-in piston; 2mL ink capacity
Transparent ink window
Removable nib unit for cleaning; use Balance III-compatible replacement units
Cap can be posted on the barrel
Includes leather pouch, lint-free cleaning cloth, care and warranty booklet, piston spanner, and gift box
