The Conway Stewart Dinkie fountain pen was made from the early 1920s until 1972. There were about 35 different model numbers and hundreds of colour combinations, it was a huge success.
This is a Dinkie 560, it replaced the Dinkie 550 in 1963 and was only made until 1964, a very short production run, the 550 ran for about ten years. The 560 is, consequently, the more difficult to find.
The colour is described as 'marbled blue /brown flecks and veins' by Jonathan Donahaye in his seminal Conway Stewart classification. I think it describes it vey well.
The pen is in mint condition throughout. The ink sac was replaced as the existing sac had hardened through age. The old sac was the original, stamped Conway Stewart, showing that the pen had not been previously restored and had not been used for many decades, if ever. Other than the ink sac, no restoration was needed, everything was checked and found to be in perfect order.
Although slighly larger than the Dinkie 550, the 560 is a small pen and most users find it much more comfortable to write with the cap 'posted' on the end of the barrel. The pen fills well and the 14Ct. Gold nib writes with a smooth medium line and a small but very pleasing amount of flex.
The original box is sound sound condition, as is the gurantee and instruction leaflet. The box is clearly marked 'the Dinkie Pen' on the top and 'Conway Stewart', 'London' on the side.
Mainly due to the short production run, the Conway Stewart dinkie 560 is not easy to find. A mint condition, boxed example such as this comes along very rarely.
Read a quick comparison of the Conway Stewart 560 and 550 here.