Were There Capless Waterman Safety Pens?

[sseskin]

I have been shown by mail a short (9 cm) vintage waterman safety pen, dated 1916, that has no cap threads, no sign of cap wear, nor any obvious design feature to support a cap, tapered or otherwise. Has anyone seen others like this? If it were to be used as a desk pen, would the nib have to remain extended at all times? Is this just a pen that has lost its cap and is therefore essentially unusable? The seller couldn't help me, and before I send for it I wish I could know what to expect...

 

 

[rhr2010]

Normally the Waterman safeties that I have seen are made of hard rubber and the cap screws on. A safety without a cap would not make sense since the ink would flow out when you retract the nib. The hallmarks that I can see make me think of a pen produced in England. I wouldn't know if the body of the pen is indeed made by Waterman, is it marked as such? I guess the nib is. It appears that that pen didn't have a screw on cap, maybe a slip on cap? That would be pretty unsafe, as if the cap slips out the ink flows out. Anyway, my best bet is that the cap was lost, but from the photo I am not sure how the cap would work.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I'd gues (or rather GUESS since it's without anything but instinct to base it on) that the threaded rubber portion once extended past the overlay, and broke off at some time in the past.

[sseskin]

well said, by both of the replies.

thank you

[Breandan]

The actual silver pen photographed above surfaced recently on E-Bay and I bought it mainly because of the year in its engraving "Peter to Wendy 20.8.16". (2016, one hundred years for the pen, will also be the Centenary of the Irish Easter Rising).

Anyway, I can verify that the cap of the pen must be lost and surprisingly it probably was a tapered tight slip-on variey since the slightly tapered pen barrel is complete and makes a seal when the nib is extended; therefore there is no part of the section missing. I replaced the seals using the method described by David Nishimura and the pen is writing nicely again. It is obviously a lady's pen, quite small (9cm) and with a rather small ink capacity.

 

Along with the London silver hallmark (curiously for 1920) there is also the mark FDW, so I assume it is a genuine Waterman pen. I shall be on the lookout for a Waterman barleycorn silver cap that I might be able to adapt to a slip-on fit; in the meantime it will have to make do with an adapted Waterman 52 BCHR cap. I don't suppose that I will ever know who Peter or Wendy were, but I hope they know that their pen writes again and is bing cared for.

[sseskin]

The actual silver pen photographed above surfaced recently on E-Bay and I bought it mainly because of the year in its engraving "Peter to Wendy 20.8.16". (2016, one hundred years for the pen, will also be the Centenary of the Irish Easter Rising).

Anyway, I can verify that the cap of the pen must be lost and surprisingly it probably was a tapered tight slip-on variey since the slightly tapered pen barrel is complete and makes a seal when the nib is extended; therefore there is no part of the section missing. I replaced the seals using the method described by David Nishimura and the pen is writing nicely again. It is obviously a lady's pen, quite small (9cm) and with a rather small ink capacity.

 

Along with the London silver hallmark (curiously for 1920) there is also the mark FDW, so I assume it is a genuine Waterman pen. I shall be on the lookout for a Waterman barleycorn silver cap that I might be able to adapt to a slip-on fit; in the meantime it will have to make do with an adapted Waterman 52 BCHR cap. I don't suppose that I will ever know who Peter or Wendy were, but I hope they know that their pen writes again and is bing cared for.

FAscinating.

Indeed, my post was related to my interest in buying that same eBay pen.

I was drawn to it for the same resason as you were, but with much less knowledge and less ability to repair or restore it.

I hope you enjoy it, for the reasons you have mentioned.

Peter's and Wendy's memory thus live on...

[Vintagepens]

On pens with overlays that run all the way to the very mouth of the barrel, the threads are usually part of a separately applied band. I believe that band has gone missing. It is exceedingly unlikely that the pen originally had a friction-fit, as opposed to screw-on, cap.

[sseskin]

Thank you, David. so much to learn...

[Inkysloth]

Not helpful, regarding the pen itself, but I wonder if Peter & Wendy is reference to Peter Pan, and not the actual names of the pen's sender / recipient, particularly as the play / book were reasonably current to the pen's manufacture date!

[sseskin]

Not helpful, regarding the pen itself, but I wonder if Peter & Wendy is reference to Peter Pan, and not the actual names of the pen's sender / recipient, particularly as the play / book were reasonably current to the pen's manufacture date!

Marvelous! It makes a great pen story (fiction or non-fiction?) and a valuable pen!