An old Kaweco

[rocl444]

I would like to share this lovely pen I acquired a few years ago. The seller on ebay said it is from the 1930's. I bought it because I was after flex at the time and this can do that. As can be seen it has the number 36 on the body - I'm not sure why that has been turned upside down. It is a pump filler.

 

If anyone knows any more then I would love to hear from them.

[Nethermark]

I have two Kaweco's that look rather similar. The black one is a Kaweco Extra, while the red marbled one only has 56 stamped on the barrel. Could you say what size your pen has. These two are about 13.7 cm capped. The black one has a very flexible nib. Unfortunately, it has a small crack and the tipping material is almost gone.

[rocl444]

Mine also is about 13.7cm capped and is 13.2 uncapped. Not very much room for the nib. In fact, when it arrived the cap would not screw in properly and it was only after I put the nib and feed back after cleaning that the nib was sitting in the correct position the cap screws down properly. No wonder the nib needed some adjustment! I think the collar, which is threaded was put on upside down by the previous owner.

 

You have two very lovely pens. The engraving on the clip is quite different to mine. 

[Nethermark]

Hadn't thought about the difference in clips. I'm no Kaweco expert, so I don't know, which of the clip designs is the older one. I guess these are from the 1930s, looking at the design. They really are lovely pens. I would really like to get the nib on the black one working, so I guess I should send it to someone who can do nib repair.

 

5 hours ago, rocl444 said:

hen it arrived the cap would not screw in properly and it was only after I put the nib and feed back after cleaning that the nib was sitting in the correct position the cap screws down properly

It looks like you did a fine job on straightening the nib. It's surprising how often this happens.

[OMASsimo]

Lovely pen, congratulations! And the model number 36 isn‘t upside down, only the picture is. These button fillers were made in the 1930s probably mostly for export. The models for the German market were mostly piston fillers. Some stock that couldn‘t be sold due to the war was finished and sold in the early 50s.

[Christopher Godfrey]

I also have a small Kaweco Colleg model in the same black and blue celluloid as the OP's pen and it, too, is a button-filler.  I was told it is a product of the 1930s and mine has a rigid palladium nib, whereas my all-black Dia 85 has a wonderfully flexible fine nib installed (similar production period, I think). 

 

@OMASsimo: re this <...the model number 36 isn‘t upside down, only the picture is>.  Forgive the OP -- he or she is from the land of Oz: they're all upside-down, down there!  😉 

 

@roc1444: the clip on my Dia is exactly the same as yours, by the way!  

[rocl444]

20 hours ago, Christopher Godfrey said:

I also have a small Kaweco Colleg model in the same black and blue celluloid as the OP's pen and it, too, is a button-filler.  I was told it is a product of the 1930s and mine has a rigid palladium nib, whereas my all-black Dia 85 has a wonderfully flexible fine nib installed (similar production period, I think). 

 

@OMASsimo: re this <...the model number 36 isn‘t upside down, only the picture is>.  Forgive the OP -- he or she is from the land of Oz: they're all upside-down, down there!  😉 

 

@roc1444: the clip on my Dia is exactly the same as yours, by the way!  

Actually you need to take a closer look at the flag. 

 

And for some reason the FPN software turns the occassional photo up the other way and I have yet to find a way to reverse that.

[Christopher Godfrey]

Oh, hell: you're a Kiwi, not an Aussie: apologies.  You understand, of course, that to a Pommie, the flags look almost the same...  (I have just checked it out and now understand the difference!  🤭 )  (North island...or south?)

[rocl444]

6 hours ago, Christopher Godfrey said:

Oh, hell: you're a Kiwi, not an Aussie: apologies.  You understand, of course, that to a Pommie, the flags look almost the same...  (I have just checked it out and now understand the difference!  🤭 )  (North island...or south?)

And now you have managed to offend both the country of my birth and the country of my choice - in fact, I'm an Aussie who has lived in NZ since '88. 

 

My apologies - I shouldn't have done that to you. I blame the Aussie side of my nature.

 

I lived in Christchurch for almost 30yrs and now am living 90mins north of Auckland.

[rocl444]

An update to this post. Via some pages devoted to Kaweco pens and by looking more closely I have found the very faint remains of the words - Kaweco Special, on the body of my pen. This model was released in 1932 and were button fillers. The Dia was released in 1934 as a piston filler and I think probably replaced the Special. The name Special re-emerged in 1937 for a more tapered pen to accompany the Elite which replaced the Dia.

 

A link to the page I found - https://www.fountainpen.it/Kaweco/en