Dating Three Ring Tops (Gold Bond, Waterson, B&h)

[sodul]

I have 3 ring tops lever fillers in my collection and I'm trying to date them, and for two of them I'm also going to restore them.

 

 

The first one is a green Gold Bond Stonite that I got for just under $14. The pleasant surprise was that the pen is in very excellent fully restored condition. I mean it looks almost brand new with a fresh sac. It has a pristine Warranted 14K #4 flexible nib. I do believe it was probably manufactured in the 1930s.

 

 

The next one is a green Waterson that I acquired for $13. It has a very nice light green wood pattern but the catch in this pen is the Parker Duofold nib that was jammed in it. Unfortunately is was really *jammed* as the nib is too big for the feed and section and the back of it is now cracked all the way to the second 'O' of 'Duofold'. I know this is a relatively easy repair for but that might still be a bit pricey compared to what I paid. I'm considering getting gold solder and repair it myself, as I had success doing this exact repair on a small warranted 14k nib. At least I have a reason to get a nib-less Duofold now. I have some vintage steel nibs that I'll try to fit instead of the Parker nib. The pen is not restored and need a new sac and probably a new bar. I was able to pull the barrel from the section by 1mm but not much more than that. I'm guessing this is the Waterson company that was around in the late 1920 and late 1930s.

 

 

Finally a hard rubber ring top lever filler from Byers & Hayes that I acquired for $16. The nib is stamped "B&H CO 3" and is a nice soft and flexible nib, obviously gold even if not stamped as such. The pen is in almost pristine condition with only a very small dent at the bottom of the barrel. The sac is hard obviously and is shaking inside the barrel. I do not want to soak the pen in water to open it up so I'll need advices on how to open it safely. How old do you think this pen is. AFAIK B&H was still around in the 1930s so I'm guessing this example is from the 1920s.

 

[sodul]

I used an ultrasonic cleaner to get the ink out of the section (I only dipped the threads of the barrel) and was able to open the pen and even get the feed out by just pushing it from the back.

 

The pressure bar on this model is just that: a bar. It does have grooves for the lever and is rounded to embrace the barrel and sac better but other than that it has no spring. I guess the sac is suppose to do the 'spring' work. That's the first time I see that in one of my pens.

 

Since I got the feed out I was able to work a bit on the tines alignment and also set the nib and feed a little deeper so the nib is much more secure and I feel more comfortable flexing it. The ink channels are huge for such a small nib and unlike on some other vintage feeds there are no ink 'reserves' to be seen. The hard rubber is still a very nice dark considering the pen is almost, if not over, 100 years old.

 

[sidthecat]

You lucky thing: ringtops are under-appreciated little treasures. Wear them with pride.

[sodul]

The newest addition to my ring top is a Good Service transparent red ring top with a flexible 14k nib with a medium tip. The pen is the smallest pen in my entire collection and uncapped is small like an Ikea pencil. It is about 4.5" capped.

 

I got this beauty for $15 shipped.

 

It looks very small next to my Gold Bond Stonite ring top.

 

Since Sears sold Good Service pens form Chicago from around 1925 to around 1935, and from a catalog picture I've seen from 1927 where a very similar pen with a round 'tipped' lever, I'm guessing this pen to be made in 1925 or 1926. It was sold for $1.25 at the time.

 

I've cleaned the cap in my ultrasonic bath an it is coming out very nicely. The inner cap is black so that will never look clear, but I will definitely get a transparent sac for it, after I manage to pull the section out.