Sheaffer Lifetime 2000: 1963-1966

One of the most overlooked 14-karat gold trim pens is the Sheaffer Lifetime 2000. Sheaffer’s Lifetime line, introduced in 1963 to mark the company’s 50th anniversary, essentially rebranded the previous year’s cartridge-only Imperials giving them simple numeric model names that also indicated their price. Thus, the Lifetime 2000 was a $20 pen. These were strictly cartridge pens and the 1963 Sheaffer catalog specifically noted that Touchdown versions were not part of the Lifetime line. I think Sheaffer was betting on a cartridge-only system needing few repairs, making it a safe, low-maintenance offering and put the Lifetime name on it, literally on the clip and nib, as a marketing ploy.

Read the story about these interesting pens here:

https://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferLifetime2000.htm

PenHero.com is your online pen collecting magazine, with a new article posted every week.