C: VINTAGE PENS: You dont have to spend a lot of money to have fun with FPs.

From my post on Pentrace c. 2007.
Many fountain pen aficionados get discouraged when they face the price of expensive modern or vintage pens. But the "secret" of this hobby is that one can have fun with a handful of dollars
I got this pen on ebay for less than 3 cups of Venti Lattes. Let's see what we got.

The box says REMEX FOUNTAIN PEN, N. Y. Remex is a Waterman sub-brands. Large companies like Waterman had their regular models at relatively high prices. There were, however, many people that could not afford them.

To address this lower end market, they offered "similar" products with a different name (so as not to damage the good name of the brand). These products were in many cases identical to the lower end of the "regular" products but priced lower. Of course, there were no warranties etc.

The box has filling and cleaning instructions on the bottom, which refer to an eyedropper pen.

A slip cap (no threads) eyedropper indeed, with the typical chip on the lip of the cap.
Oh, and take note of the brand which is written on the box as L. E. Remex Co. as in L. E. ...Waterman

Opening the barrel was relatively easy and the ink dust from the last fill are now on the paper. How many years ago was the pen inked for the last time?

The nib is marked REMEX NY USA. It is definitely gold but it is unmarked (i.e., no 14K mark).
Can someone remind me when the law changed to require marking of the gold content?

The barrel bears an imprint that is worn but still there and reads REMEX, New York, NY.

The pen is marked ALLEN and Pat. Apr. 19-1910.
There are 7 patents on 04/19/1910, two of which are on pen clips. This one is clearly the US patent #955430 "Pen and Pencil Clip" by Joseph H. Pilkington. But if this is a Pilkington clip, who is Allen?

The feed is interesting because it is a Waterman pre-spoon feed. Could this be a 19th century pen? Possibly. Maybe a Waterman expert can give us more information. (edt. actually more knowledgeable people at Pentrace mentioned that this is most probably 190x's rather than 18xx's pen).

Anyway time to ink. My favorite ink for eyedroppers is Pelikan Brilliant Brown. Let's get the ink and the eyedropper.

A little bit of silicon grease on the threads and we are good to go.
What do I see here? Flex?
I guess it is rather common to see flex in pens of that era. Let's see a quick and dirty sample (sorry for the typos).

This was fun. Let's do it again some time..