Friday, November 30, 2018

A Mate for Lady Patricia

It's lovely when the stars align.  Jet Lady Patricia has found her counterpart at last.



The Waterman Patrician was introduced in time for Christmas of 1929, and was sold as a man's pencil (matching the man's Patrician fountain pen, naturally) at the cost of $5.  Turquoise, Emerald, Nacre and Jet were the colors offered.  As you can see, Jet pencils have silver (chromium) trim.


The Patrician pencil is 5 & 1/2 inches, with a longer than usual cap hiding an eraser. Instead of the flat polished disk Lady Patricia has on top, the Patrician has a 4-stepped bullseye.


The nose-drive mechanism is operated by a twist of the tip, feeding out the 1.1 mm lead.  In the Jet color, the tip is also Jet; marble Patricians have color-coordinated top and tip sections.


Have a happy honeymoon, you two!












Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Early Patented-Clip Eclipse Flat-Top

This black and gold "marble" Eclipse doesn't fit the mold--it is a tapered flat-top shape but with the earlier, script-marked, patented 2-piece clip.  It was the design of Marx Finstone, the founder of the Eclipse Fountain Pen and Pencil Company.




 It is a 5 inch celluloid pencil with a nose-drive mechanism, using 1.1 mm lead.  The cap pulls off--there might have been an eraser inside at one time.  There is room for extra lead.  It is a little bit thick at 3/8 inch in diameter.  It has a single gold band above the clip.  My other flat-top model has two bands, a contrasting cap, and capital-letter marking on the clip.  (See it here:  Pleased To Meet You.)



Just when you think a celluloid marble design (like this one, for example) is too over-the-top, you discover that black and gold marble really does occur in nature.  How striking!


And so my love affair with Eclipse continues.