Product Description

Vintage Porcelain Tiptops are wonderful for adding a touch of authentic angling history to the next rod you make.  And they’re even better if you’re restoring a rod and can put one of these NOS (New, Old Stock) components to proper use fulfilling a role for which they were originally intended.  In some cases they’re collectible in their own right.

These Pre-WWII, German-made tiptops are crafted with white Porcelain rings and have what appear to be chrome plated nickel silver frames.  These tips are crafted in the once popular prong frame style – absolutely gorgeous on a heavier cane rod if you shape the prongs as needed, then wrap them down with one or two layers of #30 silk.  The tip ring has an O.D. of about 18.5mm and an I.D. of about 7mm, with a width of about 10.5mm.  These tips are about 2.160″ long.  You’ll get used to this notation on the vintage parts pages.  We use the term “about” because we’re measuring one sample out of a bin of comparable parts.  They’re all close enough to be in the same bin, but in some cases they were produced over a period of years and they are not identical.

This particular group of tips stands out.  A scrap of paper in the bag calls them “Spezial” and several (not all) come with a small “Gottlieb Made In Germany” hangtag, some of which are hand inked with the model number and size on the back: 827B/5.  Compared to other tiptops in this style, these “Spezial” tips feature rather clumsy rings…the porcelain surface is bumpy and the rings are heavy structurally.  In short, I believe these were prototypes for what later became the far more refined porcelain tips that we have in larger numbers.  Early buyers get the tiptops with hangtags.

Product number VPT-185-PF-WP-BC-CP.  This stands for Vintage Porcelain Tiptop – 18.5mm OD – Prong Frame –White Porcelain-Bright Chrome-Collectible Prototype.  Sort of makes sense, and it helps us to begin wrapping our heads around all these parts.

Sold Individually.  Extremely Limited Supply.  Extremely Limited Supply indicates that there were fewer than 10 specimens in the bin when we posted the product and once they’re sold out, they’re gone forever unless we can locate another collection.

Be sure to read our rambling post on the Vintage Guide Collection!