It's A " Watermans "--But What Is It?

[Joane]

Yesterday at a garage sale I found the following "Watermans" (spelling on the clip) penlike object. No imprint or country of orign and--no pen! It has a domelike end with an indentation at the tip, no means of filling or any way to open the object. The cap has four airholes. I bought it for research and identification purposes; no clue, nor could I find anything like it, even on sites featuring objects that look like fountain pens but are something else.

 

Who can shed some light on this Watermans?

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2016 by Joane

[Left FPN]

If there is no lever box my thoughts are that Waterman might have offered a Roller Ball option.

 

And it looks Stalwart or Dauntless model.

[RMN]

Or a later Franken conversion? I'm not sure when the first Rollerballs came around... But I think that model was before the RB period.

 

D.ick

[Joane]

Thanks for the replies. The thing is there is no opening for filling with anything whatsoever and no place for a lead or a refill to go through. Yet there are four airholes in the cap. Is it possible it is a dummy pen for display purposes only?

[RMN]

Thanks for the replies. The thing is there is no opening for filling with anything whatsoever and no place for a lead or a refill to go through. Yet there are four airholes in the cap. Is it possible it is a dummy pen for display purposes only?

 

PROBABLY that black thing in the second and last picture can be unscrewed, and you would then be able to insert a BP/RB refill.

 

 

D.ick

[Joane]

PROBABLY that black thing in the second and last picture can be unscrewed, and you would then be able to insert a BP/RB refill.

 

 

D.ick

There are no threads. The black insert would have to be pulled or rocked out. I did not want to attempt that for fear of cracking the barrel.

[Left FPN]

What is that 'thing' on the very tip.

 

I suspect when it is pulled out it will or may have a thermometer or something attached to it.

 

Something akin to this

[RMN]

Part of a doctors set? Possible...

 

 

D.ick

[Joane]

Thanks very much for the replies. With the various suggestions in mind, today I took the object down to a local pen store. The pen gurus there will have a look at it in the next few days and I'm very curious to hear what they say.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Joane

[Joane]

Reporting back to say the two experts at the pen store were unable to identify the Watermans object. The most info gleaned is there may have been something broken off the tip, where looking under a loupe reveals two fibers that may have been attached to something. However the indentation is filled with solid material and no opening has been found to insert anything like ink, a refill or a pencil lead, or to house any non-writing object. it remains a mystery. Hopefully someday more info will be available. In the meantime, thanks for all the suggestions so far and any new ones are most welcome!

[Left FPN]

Did they remove the black part.

[Joane]

Did they remove the black part.

I don't know. They may have tried but possibly not because it's very tight and removing it could crack the celluloid.

[Left FPN]

Then it must be removed using gentle heat. They could not have been pen experts...sorry.

[Azuniga]

Joane,

 

I agree completely with Force, those guys were not experts at all and I also believe with gentle heat the black section should be moved and retired to find out answers.

 

You can also write to Max Davis (http://vintagewatermanpens.com/) sending him your images, he will know or advise who to contact... or contact David Nishimura (http://vintagepens.com/) with the images...

 

Hope this helps...

[Joane]

Thanks for the references. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression of the people in the pen store. it is not a repair place and I did not ask them to do anything to the item. I just wanted to know if they had ever seen anything like that in the course of their experience and neither person had. I am aware that the object can be dismantled by a repair person and that could be the next step if I decide to go further with it. But at the moment I'm not sure I want to incur any expense to find out what it is.

[Left FPN]

Thanks for the references. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression of the people in the pen store. it is not a repair place and I did not ask them to do anything to the item. I just wanted to know if they had ever seen anything like that in the course of their experience and neither person had. I am aware that the object can be dismantled by a repair person and that could be the next step if I decide to go further with it. But at the moment I'm not sure I want to incur any expense to find out what it is.

It should cost nothing. All that is required is a hair dryer and a pair of kitchen rubber gloves. Set the hair dryer to a low heat that does not burn to the touch. Roll the pen with the thread in the air flow then using gloves for grip hold and twist the parts in opposite directions.

[RMN]

If that black thingy is really stuck... it's not likely it was for a thermometer.

 

Possibly a window exhibit only?

 

 

D.ick

[Joane]

It should cost nothing. All that is required is a hair dryer and a pair of kitchen rubber gloves. Set the hair dryer to a low heat that does not burn to the touch. Roll the pen with the thread in the air flow then using gloves for grip hold and twist the parts in opposite directions.

Thank you. It sounds quite doable.

[Joane]

If that black thingy is really stuck... it's not likely it was for a thermometer.

 

Possibly a window exhibit only?

 

 

D.ick

Maybe so. I've been looking up dummy pens and apparently Waterman did use them a lot in window or store displays. Still looking for a similar model and a photo of the inside, in models where the cap can be unscrewed.