Odd Vacumatic Nib

[Mister5]

Hi,

 

I recently got a lockdown Silver Pearl Vacumatic at a reasonable price. I can't pin down the date as the imprint is off - the barrel is perfectly smooth. Its going into repairs since its an anemic writer - it's like an XXXF nib that has to be flexed in order to write. It fills ok but there's a small gap between the section and barrel which I find discomforting.

 

Anyhow, it has an odd dual tone nib with the gold tone in a V shape that I haven't seen elsewhere on a Vac. I'm a sucker for two tone nibs so I don't mind. I've hunted the net of this nib to figure it out and haven't had any luck. To be honest, I'm not even sure it belongs on a Vacumatic.

 

Any ideas about the nib's provenance?

 

Thanks!

[mitto]

I havent seen such a nib on a vacumatic. Others, with more knowledge on the subject, may chime in.

[jinzo1988]

I may be corrected by others, but I think that nib is found on the Parker Striped Duofold of the 1940s. I have several of those pens in the senior size with the blue diamond on the clip and black cap jewel. Nibs like yours can be found in single or two tone. Two of my striped Duofolds actually have vacumatic nibs - likely due to pen repair at some point.

 

The V pattern on the Parker Pen nib is (I think) often referred to as a "Victory" nib. The typical vac nib and nibs like yours must be sized such that they are sometimes swapped.

Edited December 2, 2016 by jinzo1988

[Mister5]

I may be corrected by others, but I think that nib is found on the Parker Striped Duofold of the 1940s. I have several of those pens in the senior size with the blue diamond on the clip and black cap jewel. Nibs like yours can be found in single or two tone. Two of my striped Duofolds actually have vacumatic nibs.

 

That's pretty interesting! Last week I got a dusty rose striped Duofold AKA "Duovac" and mine just has a plain old gold tone to the nib. I could see the Duovac nib/feed working on the Vac since they're both in the same era and if I remember correctly they were made around the same time, they just resurrected the Duofold name.

 

In terms of aesthetics I think the rhodium or palladium (or whatever they used) being the main tone works well with the Silver Pearl Cac.

 

The feed on my other Vac (a Demi) and the Duovac has the "A" on the bottom while this Silver Pearl is just blank.

[ThomasB]

That is the correct nib for for the Striped Duofold Vacs of the 40s...It should not be on a Vacumatic...With that said, the sections are the same sizes and one can be unscrewed from the Duofold and screwed in to the barrel of the Vacumatic, although I would worry about nib clearance in the inner cap as these nibs are set somewhat longer.

[Florida Blue]

 

In terms of aesthetics I think the rhodium or palladium (or whatever they used) being the main tone works well with the Silver Pearl Cac.

 

The feed on my other Vac (a Demi) and the Duovac has the "A" on the bottom while this Silver Pearl is just blank.

 

 

I think those nibs were plated with platinum, which seems to be pretty thinly plated. I wouldn't polish a nib like that as the plating comes off easily. They are quite lovely when left in their original state. The V nibs were only uses on the largest Senior-sized striped Duofolds.

 

I believe the feeds marked with an A were used on pens that had fine, extra fine, or accountant nibs and those feeds had thinner ink channels.

Edited December 6, 2016 by Florida Blue

[Tom Heath]

^{I just looked at a Senior Green and Bronze Striped Duofold with a Vac filler it has the similar wide " V" but the White Gold wash is gone}

^{I wonder if it was aimed at " V" for victory in the WWII theaters.... Appropriately today is the 75 Anniversary of Dec 7 at Pearl}

[mitto]

Here is a green striped dufold with the same V nib.

 

 

http://m.g.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-PARKER-GREEN-Striped-Duofold-Fountain-pen-OVERSIZED-V-nib-Blue-Diamond-/112125426618?nav=SEARCH