1908-09 Waterman 0512 1/2 POC Overlay Fountain Pen - SUPERFLEX

Vintage: 1908-09

Make: Waterman

Model: 0512 1/2 POC

Color/Pattern: Trefoil Vine

Materials: 18k gold-filled over smooth BHR

Filling System: This pen is an eyedropper filler. The section unscrews for the barrel to be filled directly using an eyedropper/pipette. Holds far more ink than a lever filler of the same size. 

Length: This full-length, slender (‘1/2’) model measures 5 3/16” capped.

Nib: Super-Flexible 14k Ideal NY #2 nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.4mm) under light pressure.

Condition: As was custom at the time for heirloom overlays like this one, the barrel indicia has been professionally engraved with a monogram. But the font is so stylized it’s hard to make out the letters – ‘IQ’ perhaps? Hard rubber retains its dark black color with little discernible fading. HR surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable flaws. Overlay has shallow pin-sized marks here and there typical of an overlay of this vintage but no notable dents or dings. And no brassing aside from a thin sliver around the cap’s crown and the typical sliver on the clip ball. Manufacturer imprints and model number on barrel-end are deep and fully legible. 

Details: 'POC' (short for ‘pocket’) was Waterman's earliest designation for eyedropper fillers with threaded caps. Unlike pens with friction-fit caps, these models could be carried in a pocket without risk of the pen coming loose from the cap and staining your clothes with ink. Having lower production numbers, these POC models are much scarcer than pens that fall under Waterman’s new numbering system in 1917. ‘05xx’ designated a gold-filled overlay. Having several of them myself, I've always been enamored of Waterman's early overlays. Ornately wrought in exquisite detail, they exhibit a craftsmanship that's rare if not impossible to come by today. This pen has an 18k gold-filled overlay (as stamped on the clip) in the classic Art Nouveau filigree motif known as Trefoil Vine: an intricate pattern of delicately engraved leaves and cutouts with an indicia on the barrel intended for engraving. Both barrel and cap overlays are stamped: “Waterman’s Ideal Fountain Pen.”