Sheaffer Stylist 404C foursome set c. 1967

by Jim Mamoulides, February 7, 2010, updated April 4, 2025

Sheaffer Stylist 404C fountain pen c. 1967

Even more stylish!

It’s not every day you get to open up a pen set that looks very much like the day it was for sale in the store. It’s also very unusual to see a four writing instrument set of any kind, complete with all the refills and papers. This Sheaffer Stylist 404C foursome set has something for everyone, a cartridge/converter fountain pen with a two-way nib, a press-clip ballpoint pen, a twist action mechanical pencil, and a refillable felt tip marking pen that uses the same Sheaffer Skrip cartridges as the fountain pen. This was in the days before the rollerball pen, or it could have been a five writing instrument set!

Sheaffer Stylist 404C foursome set c. 1967

In the process of working on a story about the Sheaffer Stylist line, I stumbled on my 2010 article on this Stylist 404C foursome set and thought I would update it since a complete set like this is such an unusual find. It’s a time machine set to almost sixty years ago.

Sheaffer Stylist 404C fountain pen c. 1967

The Stylist was the first major line announced by Sheaffer after the acquisition of the company by Textron on March 1, 1966. The line was obviously already under development as Sheaffer scheduled an advertising campaign in several magazines, including Life magazine in the April 22, May 6 and May 27, 1966 issues, the May, 1966 Ebony magazine, and the May 22, 1966 edition of major newspapers in the top ten market cities. The emphasis for the new line was style, thus the name, and the magazine campaign consisted of full page, full color advertisements with the tagline, "Style is", followed by the keywords taste, showing a young couple stepping out of a limo, performance, showing dancers in motion, and togetherness, showing a couple heading out on a date. The copy and images in the advertisements tied the Stylist line to each of these traits and was aimed at both men and women. This is something of a departure for Sheaffer, which had previously marketed separate lines to men and women, as recently as the 1959 Lady Sheaffer.

Sheaffer described the Stylist line as slim and having “sculptured styling,” a long, slender, tapered shape, and a newly designed spring loaded clip stamped with a new ‘S’ logo, highlighted with white color fill on higher level models. This replaced the familiar Sheaffer White Dot, a major design change. The clip operates like a clothes pen by pressing the top tab.

Sheaffer Stylist 404C Glideriter pen c. 1967

The fountain pen and Glideriter pen have caps and barrels with rounded flat ends, and a new and distinctive Stylist two-way nib unit decorated with a 'V' shaped arrowhead mark on the top side for the high end models and a triangle mark for the lower end. Converters were available at launch, initially a plunger type in 1966, replaced with a button type in 1967. The new, "dual point" two-way nib unit writes finer on the backside than right side up. The nib bisects the unit and very little metal shows. The backside of the nib unit has the nib grade molded in and is threaded for easy exchange.

The new line included models across multiple price points and writing modes. The top end were the 707 models with gold electroplated chased caps and barrels. The 506 models have chrome plated chased caps and barrels. The 505 models have chased gold electroplated caps with black or metallic lacquered barrels and sections. The 404 models are brushed chrome finished with gold electroplated clips. The 202 models have chrome plated chased caps with solid color plastic barrels and sections.

Identification Guide and Features:

Sheaffer Stylist 404C foursome set c. 1967

The fountain pen is the Stylist model 404C with a brushed chrome finish, “gold-tone” clip and two-way “dual point” nib unit. The set includes a push button converter and two cartridges each of the two cartridge pens. The “foursome” set includes a Glideriter felt tip pen that uses replaceable “Flourocarbon” felt tips, one replacement tip is included, and it is refillable with Sheaffer Skrip ink cartridges. The ballpoint pen has a press clip action Sheaffer patented and trademarked as “Safeguard.” The mechanical pencil is a twist type. The following applies to the fountain pen.

• Brushed chrome plated brass cap and barrel
• Cap stamped at the lip SHEAFFER – MADE IN U.S.A.
• Spring loaded clip stamped with Sheaffer ‘S’ logo at the top
• Gold electroplated clip
• Pull off cap
• Gold tone (probably plated) two way nib unit with gold color arrowhead or chevron mark on top side and nib grade molded on reverse
• Nib grades offered: shorthand, accountant, extra fine, fine, medium, broad, and stub
• Cartridge filler with optional push-button converter
• About 5 ½ inches long capped
• Retail price of the fountain pen was $5.00, Glideriter (added in 1967) felt tip marker pen was $3.95, Safeguard ballpoint pen was $5.00, and the mechanical pencil was $5.00. The foursome set was $18.95. The converter sold separately for $0.95.
• Presented in a leatherette metal clamshell gift bo

There’s no performance section as this pen was left uninked.

Sheaffer Stylist 404C fountain pen open showing push button converter

The Stylist is an interesting side road in Sheaffer's history. I personally think they are more cheaply made and less attractive than the Sheaffer Lifetime pens they replaced. I find the Stylist more bland than stylish, and other than the "S" logo on the clip, these could be generic pens made by any manufacturer. The only distinctive feature is the nib unit, and they look cheap next to the inlaid nibs of the Imperials or even the conical nibs of the Lady Sheaffer pens. It’s no wonder that by 1968 Sheaffer returned the White Dot to the clip and replaced the dual point nib unit with the short Triumph nib. By 1969, Sheaffer reintroduced the Imperial line and the Stylist was quickly retired.

There are quite a few Stylist models, from the low end models with a chrome plated cap and plastic barrel to the high end models including one with a chased 22 karat gold electroplated cap and barrel with a cartouche for engraving. Stylist pens write well, they are often available in unused condition, and as they are not highly valued, a nice collection can be made without a large investment.

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References

News from Sheaffer, June, 1966, W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company, Fort Madison, IA, USA

Sheaffer brochure, undated, England, July 1967

Sheaffer Catalog 1967, W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company, Fort Madison, IA, USA

Sheaffer Catalog, May 1966, W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company, Fort Madison, IA, USA

Sheaffer Review, March, 1966, W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company, Fort Madison, IA, USA

Sheaffer UK price list, England, 1967