Caps
Sterling Silver cap with a gold-filled clip, lined pattern with chevron band. These caps all had a rhodium plating to prevent tarnish. The finish did not stand up to usage very well, causing inconsistent wear producing a very unattractive appearance. In addition, the soft metal is very prone to dents and dings, and it is hard to find caps in perfect condition. These caps are the ones most often seen in vacumatic “51s” print ads.
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Lustralloy (stainless steel) cap with gold filled clip. These caps had a matte finish with a shiny cap lip when new. The finish was more “brushed” than the later aerometric series caps. This finish did not stand up to wear very well and quickly wore off. These caps are most often found on Vacumatic “51s” and are probably the most common.
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Lustralloy (stainless steel) cap with “Jeweller’s” band and nickel plated clips. These caps had a matte finish with a shiny raised cap band when new. The finish was more “brushed” than the later aerometric series caps. The finish did not stand up to wear very well and quickly wore off. These caps were also produced with gold filled clips.
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Lustralloy (stainless steel) cap with two “Jeweller’s” bands and wide polished band with a gold filled clip. A wide polished band These caps had a matte finish with a shiny raised cap band when new. The finish was more “brushed” than the later aerometric series caps. The finish did not stand up to wear very well and quickly wore off.
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Coin Silver cap with rhodium plating and gold filled clip. Line pattern of seven lines, space, one line, space, and then seven lines ( IIIIIII I IIIIIII ) repeating all around the caps, and plain cap bands. These caps are not marked as to silver content (.900). The plating did not wear well, and age unevenly. Produce soft metal dents easily. Very hard to find clean caps with original finish and no damage to plating.
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Lustralloy (Stainless steel ) cap with chrome plated clip. The body of the cap had a matte finish with a shiny cap band. The finish had a more brushed appearance than the later aerometric caps. The finish did not stand up too well to wear. This was a transition cap after the Blue Diamond guarantee was discontinued. The caps are usually found on Vacumatic 51 pens dated 1947-8 and the early aerometric series pens dated 1948-9.
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A rare variation of the early 1941 lustralloy “Wedding Band”cap with a raised polished Stainless steel band and a nickel plated clip. These caps often had a rhodium plating to prevent tarnish. When the plating began to wear the finish became shiny when polished.
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Lustralloy (stainless steel) cap with “Jeweller’s” band and gold filled clip. These caps had a matte finish with a shiny raised cap band when new. The finish was more “brushed” than the later aerometric series caps. The finish did not stand up to wear very well and quickly wore off. These caps were also produced with nickel plated clips.
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Early 1941 lustralloy “Wedding Band” cap. Lustralloy (Stainless Steel) cap with a raised Gold Filled band and gold filled clip. These caps often had a rhodium plating to prevent tarnish. When the plating began to wear the finish became shiny when polished.
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