Please help ID a mystery eyedropper

[hermesrouge]

Hello! I’ve just gotten an eyedropper in need of some love. It’s a snail pattern half overlay missing its cap. My hope is to identify it to figure out whether it would have had a taper or straight cap, so I can eventually replace it. It has no markings I can find, except a mysterious Waterman “717” nib. I saw that was mentioned in an old thread hereas being quite dubious… Any idea what this pen is, and what type of cap would properly make it whole again? I love it.

 

Thank you for any thoughts!

 

[hermesrouge]

Would anyone please take a guess whether this pen should have a taper or straight cap?

I’m not very familiar with eyedropper styles, and would really like to try to cap it with a good fit so it’s possible to use it. Thank you!

[I-am-not-really-here]

I do not see a step from the barrel to the section, what a taper cap or straight cap typically sits flush against when properly seated.  So it looks like a cone cap pen to me. 

[Paul-in-SF]

This looks very much like the Crocker Boston pen that I recently bought, also without a cap. I had to replace the nib, which was damaged, and I also replaced the feed to what seems to be a more effective, more modern feed. The decor is different, but your gold barrel appears to be related to my gold bands. 

 

I found a photo of an apparently-exact copy of this pen in the sales archives of gopens.com, here: 

 

https://gopens.com/crocker-hatchet-filler/

 

The third pen from the left, #259, and you can see the cap immediately to its left. It is cylindrical, not tapered. 

 

Also, on the photo of my pen, you can see on the barrel about 4 mm below the lower gold band a change in coloration or reflectivity that I believe represents how far up the barrel the cap went. What I don't know is what kept the cap on the pen. If you get any further information about these caps, I would love to read about it. I have put out a couple of requests for anyone who makes things if they would like to re-create this cap, but have had no takers so far. 

[Paul-in-SF]

Some measurements of my pen so you can check how closely it matches yours:

 

Length, end of section to end of barrel, 108 mm.

Diameter of barrel, at outer edges of gold rings: 9.9 mm

 

By the way, I am using an empty Pilot ink cartridge, with the top plastic piece poked out, as a temporary cap. It fits snugly over the nib, which snugness then holds it in place. It works okay for home use, the nib does not seem to dry out. 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

That's a nib from a 1940's Waterman Taperite, definite not original. Can you take some more clear pictures? The quality of the engraving is key to figuring out what brand that is. A bunch of companies made pens like this, ranging from really high quality ones to third-tier makers. I have one of the latter ones, let me see if I can find it to take a picture of it.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I took some pics:

 

 

This looks like it may be a similar brand. Or at least a copy of your pen (or maybe both our pens are copies of another), companies were not above copying each other even back then. The engraving is very similar. Unfortunately my pen is pretty low quality, you can see the seam in one of the pics.

 

Mine is definitely a 3rd tier product of dubious origin, kind of looks like a massive golden gherkin with the cap on. Either way, I think the cap you need will look like mine, a cone cap. The nib on mine is a "Warranted #4" 14kt nib and is likely the original.