A Wee Waterman Nib

[sidthecat]

I got this little Unic ringtop from a French seller...it must have belonged to very elegant lady. It has the tiniest Waterman nib I've ever seen. I'm posting a picture of it next to a #2 nib. Might it be a #1?

[Bo Bo Olson]

If the 'big' one is a @2, then the other must be smaller than a #1.

That nibs could be smaller than #1 is new to me....not that means much.

[gregamckinney]

Could have come from a Waterman 51V.

greg

[PAKMAN]

Man that is a tiny nib!

[pen tom]

That is a great find. I remember seeing a pen with a #1 nib for sale but did not examine closely. I assume that the #1 nib would have a "1" stamped on it. Is a number visible?

[sidthecat]

It isn't, but there's a sort of horizontal indent below the text. I'll have to send it out to be restored...the fill button is frozen and it's filthy, so we'll see if it has a number when it's taken apart.

[mhphoto]

Looks like a #1 to me, but I've never seen them on a model other than the 51V. But my experience has been primarily with the US/Canadian market pens, not the French market ones.

 

I've got two 51Vs and those little nibs are sweet—very flexible and snappy.

[sidthecat]

I discover, somewhat to my horror, that I have a collection of tiny-nibbed pens...a side-effect of collecting ringtops. Here's three of them: a tiniest-of-all Warranted, a Wahl #0 and the ittle Waterman.

The best of the lot is with Ron Zorn: a brilliant William Hicks nib on a Cartier pen that I hope he can bring back to a functional state.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I didn't know they made a size 0.

How does your 'Wee' nib match up in size with a 0.

 

(Yes, I know each company had it's own nib size standard too....but they would have to be somewhat close.)

[sidthecat]

The "0" nib is about the same size as the Waterman, and the Warranted nib is appreciably smaller than both, but it has a delightful flexible stub nib that's a lot of fun to write with. I have it loaded with Rohrer & Klinger Sepia, which I like for its vintage quality.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a super tiny...shocked it was 4 inches long*** capped...skinny...Rainbow....It has a clear ink window and under the 1 1/2 "screw off cap is a small clear sac for filling.

That nib must be a 0.

 

I don't know when it was made, but I think after Vests were out....expectantly with the clear sac. Cap style, after mid '60s.

 

 

***just measured it again and thought it even smaller than 4". Well it's so skinny, I would never have dreamed it was the same length as a Kaweco Sport.

[sidthecat]

I did some looking around, and found a tiny Edward Todd BCHR with a nib about halfway between the Waterman and a regular #2 in size, and I have another small-nibbed ringtop with Mr. Zorn, as essentially a replacement pen if he can't fix the Cartier. It would accommodate the William Hicks nib if worse came to worst. I keep my fingers crossed and a candle burning for it, because it's one of the prettiest pens I own.