CHILTON WINGFLOW

The wingflow was introduced as a revolutionary new pen in 1935. It was unlike any pen of the day. It featured deco styling, metal inlays, and a revolutionary wrap around pen point, advertised as insurance to the user that the pen would maintain its nib alignment for life. Unfortunately for Chilton, the pen point proved prone to breakage, because the real reason the company decided to manufacture pen points in this manner, was to save on precious gold for pen points. Keep in mind, this is a major factor when looking for wingflows, many are found without original points, with broken points or no nib at all.

The wingflow line introduced many revolutionary firsts other than the wrap around point. One of the most striking features of the wingflows was the metal inlay offered on most of the models. Various patterns were offered from simple to complex, and the buyer could even get his or her initials inlaid into the pen barrel. The inlay was mostly produced in gold filled metal, but it is sometimes found in white gold, which is uncommon, and was even produced in solid 14K gold, which is ultra rare. Several things to look out for with inlaid Chiltons are cracks around the inlay, loose inlay, and pitting to the inlay.

Another industry first introduced by Chilton was offering the entire pen line in 4 basic colors. The entire wingflow line was only available in 4 colors (but varieties exist, and are rare). Some of the basic colors are more common than other, the order being, Black (most common) Burgundy (less common) Midnight Blue, which is somewhat difficult to tell whether it is Black or Blue without the aid of natural light, and Cherry Red. It is a toss up at best, to really determine which color, Cherry Red or Midnight Blue is more difficult to locate, but I personally spent 8 years to locate a cherry red for purchase, and was able to buy a Midnight blue real early in my Chilton collecting career.

The other non standard colors for the wingflow line include, Peacock, (also nicknamed Starry Night by me) Black and Pearl, Marine Pearl (green and black marble in a swirl pattern), Carnelian (Chartreuse and red veined), and Grey Pearl (silver pear with red flecks white gold trim)