I Think I Have A Waterman Ideal 12!

[Sonnet]

So I hadn't planned to buy too much at the Philadelphia Pen Show last weekend but then I wound up at Susan Wirth's table. One thing led to another and two hours later, I was now the owner of what I believe is a Waterman Ideal No. 12 PSF pen. I thought it was a 52 at first but that's definitely a "12" on the endcap and I just barely make out the "PSF" which are faded. The barrel imprint is crisp and clear though-- it lists a patent number of 1834 and patent dates for May 23, 1899 and August 4, 1903. The nib is labeled with a "2" and is somewhat flexible. I haven't pushed it too far because I don't want to risk springing it. It's a lever fill but most of the literature I've found for No. 12 pens focuses on the eyedropper models. The cap is a ringtop cap, although the pen itself seems a bit long for that. One of the Philly Pen Club members suggested it might not be the original cap then.

The pen is black hard rubber, with chasing, but it's oxidized to dark brown.

I love the pen so far, though. I'm not experienced in anything like Spencerian penmanship so I'm probably not using the flex nib to its full advantage but it's still a lot of fun to write with. I even finally put Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses in it so I could get the full effect of the ink's shading. It's so cool that I now have a pen that may date back to 1915ish. It could have been used my grandparents (all born in 1909 or 1920) or even my great-grandparents! Below are some photos of the pen and a writing sample. I also took a picture of my poor attempts at writing with a flex nib. Enjoy!

(Note: I added the ribbon. The pen came with a Mermaid clip that Susan had fitted onto the cap but I removed that for now).

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[CRB]

Nice pen and pictures. Thanks for sharing your pleasure with a new find.

 

Isn't 'Black Swan' a fun ink!

[Uncle Red]

Oh, a 12 PSF, cool! I've got the 1900 cataloge on my laptop at home. I'll look the model up tonight. Now you'll need the matching pencil. :roflmho:

[Uncle Red]

Well, the 1900 brochure doesn't list the PSF models and the 1919 catalog uses the new code. The 1919 cat doesn't have a list of sizes because it had life size drawings. I'm not much help.

[ticoun]

it won't be in the 1900 catalogue, as the lever filler was invented in 1913 by Walter A. Sheaffer. the codes changed in 1917. so it was made between 1913 and 1917.

[rhosygell]

My everyday user is its big brother - a 15PSF helpfully dated on its gold band to 1917. I believe this would be pretty near the end of the old numbering system.

[Sonnet]

it won't be in the 1900 catalogue, as the lever filler was invented in 1913 by Walter A. Sheaffer. the codes changed in 1917. so it was made between 1913 and 1917.

 

Ticoun, thanks for that info! I've been trying to pin down the date. The closest I'd gotten was me thinking, "well, the Waterman 52 came out blah blah, and the eyedropper versions of the No. 12 were blah blah blah, so this must pen must be from blah blah to blah blah blah, which is 1915 to 1920ish."

 

Yours is more precise :-)