Not Quite Right

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Here’s a throwback from two cameras ago: I found this Waterman pencil at a show several years ago, and never got around to writing about it:

The clip gives this one away as a Waterman:

I’ve got a number of these in different colors, but at the time I didn’t recall having an example in plain ol’ black and pearl (or nacre, in Watermanese).  The 1933 catalog refers to these as the “Short Ninety Two,” but the pencils were Model 91v (the “v,” in Watermanese, was for vest pocket model, even though these had clips).

But there’s something that didn’t look quite right about this pencil, and the point is best illustrated by showing it alongside other 91v pencils:

The ones on the left have a two-part nose section with a hard rubber portion, reminiscent of other Waterman models such as the Patrician, introduced in 1929.  Since the 1933 catalog shows the 91v with a plain nose drive mechanism, I’m betting that the mechanism was simplified in the interests of cost-cutting as the Depression wore on.   Note that there’s three different styles: a thin long rubber section, a thin short one, and a stubby short one. 

And notice one other thing:

The 1933 catalog doesn’t show a nose with those ribs around the ferrule.