Please Help Id A Vintage Pilot Pen

[sanesan]

Recently got this vintage pilot fountain pen. Can you tell me anything about this pen? Celluloid eyedropper pen? Appears to be wartime based on the nib, but I'm not sure.

[liubrian]

There is a guide to Pilot pre-war and wartime clips here: https://ameblo.jp/kamisama-samasama/entry-12314111529.html

 

If I'm reading correctly (via Google translate), the change from the more elaborate ridged kikuza clip to your clip took place in 1940, and the change from your clip to the simpler spoon clip was in 1943. I have a pen with a clip just like yours that has a tax sticker dating it to 1941-1942, so this seems to match up.

 

Another handy way to date Pilot pens is to note the name of the Company - it was Namiki, not Pilot, before 1938. The letter in the lifebuoy also changed from N to P at some point but I'm not sure when.

 

And of course Pilot nibs normally (but not always) have date codes - on a pen like this, you'd probably need to pull the nib and look at the underside.