The Waverley Cameron Pen Eyedropper filling pen was introduced, by MacNiven and Cameron, in the 1930s, a new range of lever fillers was added around 1940..
This example is constructed in hard rubber, the barrel has an engine turned pattern with a blank cartouche and a very crisp and clear imprint. The blue cap stud is a noticeable feature of Cameron pens.
At 13.6 cm. capped, the pen grows to a most impressive and an impressive 16.3 cm. with the cap posted for, it is a very long and distinguished looking pen when in use.
The distinctive Waverley 'spear' nib was first produced in 1864 as a steel dip pen nib and persisted as such until 1964, long after fountain pen production had ceased. Although this nib is 14Ct. Gold the basic design has changed very little from the dip pen version. The characteristic upturned tip, an idea copied by Sheaffer, is much less pronounced on the Gold nib than the steel version. The nib writes with a fine line and has a 'soft' feel. A little pressure on the downward stroke does give some flex and line width variation.
By the time this pen was made the eyedropper filling system had largely been superseded by lever or button filling arrangements and hard rubber was becoming much less common as a range of plastic materials became available. Although there would have been some demand in Britain for the older system it is likely that this pen was intended mainly for sale ineastern counties, predominantly India, where the climate rapidly degraded rubber ink sacs. Before Indian independnce in 1957 large numbers of government officials would have been potential customers.
The eyedropper arrangement has made a comeback of late, and despite the less convenient filling process, has found favour because ink capacity is four or five times greater than an ink cartridge. I used a full pen for testing and producing the writing sample and measured the capacity at about 4.8 ml.
The Waverley pens are much sought after and this example fulfills the criteria for collectability: age, quality, condition, and rarity, exceptionally well.