Orthos eyedropper

[psycherelics]

I recently found this beautiful Orthos eyedropper with a completely transparent barrel, very clearly marked Orthos on both the barrel & the pocket clip.

Any ideas as to model name or number and as to when this beauty was made?? I've never seen or heard of an Orthos eyedropper before.

When I got it is was in about ten pieces, luckily my museum restoration lady was able to save it and return it to working order!

[Nethermark]

Josef Lamy started the Orthos fountain pen company in 1930, after he left a job at Parker Germany. Later on, the pens would change name to Artus and eventually Lamy. So you have yourself a forerunner of the Lamy fountain pens.

 

This pen would be from the 1930s. The transparent barrel is stunning. But I'm afraid it wasn't meant to be transparent, but has become so because of crazing of the celluloid, whereby the celluloid slowly degrades and cracks. This would also explain why the pen was in ten pieces. 

 

Can you say anything about, how the pen was restored?

[psycherelics]

It's celluloid strip that was spiraled into the barrel, it had been over heated and started to unwind, but my restorer was able to fix it!
She also put several good sized chips back on to the top of the barrel so perfectly so that the cap still screws on correctly and the finger grip assembly screws in perfectly as well

[Nethermark]

Sounds like a complicated repair. Great job!

[Kaweco]

Hello

I am pretty sure that your Orthos originally had been a push button filler. Lamy and other fountainpenmakers did not make eyedroppers any more in the 30th. The sac, the button and the mechanic inside had been removed and the blind cap had been glued upon the back side of the barrel. But all in all it looks like a very nice pen. It is not known that Lamy had any model names or numbers in the early time. The factory began as a garage plant with only one worker at the turnery.

Can you show a close up of the nib?

Kind Regards

Thomas

[psycherelics]

56 minutes ago, Kaweco said:

Hello

I am pretty sure that your Orthos originally had been a push button filler. Lamy and other fountainpenmakers did not make eyedroppers any more in the 30th. The sac, the button and the mechanic inside had been removed and the blind cap had been glued upon the back side of the barrel. But all in all it looks like a very nice pen. It is not known that Lamy had any model names or numbers in the early time. The factory began as a garage plant with only one worker at the turnery.

Can you show a close up of the nib?

Kind Regards

Thomas

There is/was never a blind cap, the barrel is a single piece. The nib was a replacement which I'm having replaced by my friend Rick Horne.

[Kaweco]

Interesting..... I have a few of these Orthos and early Artus but noone is an eyedropper

Kind Regards

Thomas

[psycherelics]

Beautiful set of pens, I'll have to post my German pen collection, I think my collection of Reform-Rekord 18 pens is pretty nice as I have 5 of them and each one is slightly different from each other, ie; one has a blind cap that goes over the hole for the detachable piston rod & three of them are different sizes.

I really like the colors of your pens!