MC003: McNiven & Cameron Waverley Cameron Eyedropper.

Date: c1940s

Size: Length - 5 5/16 inches capped; 6 3/16 inches posted.

A most unusual pen manufactured by McNiven and Cameron, the famous Scottish steel pen makers.  I knew this company made a few fountain pens in the 1920s, but I can find no mention of any later forays into the pen making business.  I can only speculate that perhaps this pen was meant for export to India, where McNiven and Cameron had a good market, and where eyedropper pens were very popular due to the warm and humid climate.  This pen, judging by its styling, would be from the mid 1940s to the early 1950s.  It is in excellent condition with just a couple of very fine and wispy surface scratches.  When I examined the insides of the pen during restoration, there was no evidence at all that it had ever been inked.

The pen is made from black hard rubber; the cap is smooth and the barrel chased in panels if the barleycorn pattern.  The cap top has a grey-blue, slightly pearly jewel, that holds on the gold filled pocket clip.  This has an Art Deco stepped design.  The barrel has a smoothly rounded end, and in profile, the pen does not look unlike a Parker 51.  The barrel imprint is quite large and very deep and crisp, and the chasing on the barrel also crisp with no apparent wear.  The nib is imprinted "Waverley / 14ct " and is unmistakably of the Waverley style - leaf shaped with a teardrop vent hole.  Just like the Waverley steel pens.

I have fully serviced this pen.   The nib feels very smooth and produces a medium width line with a good free ink flow.  It is quite a soft nib and easily achieves some very attractive and understated line width variation.  I apologise for the rather poor writing sample below - I just dipped the nib to get it and that is why the ink flow appears to be a bit irregular.