A few years ago, when I started to get re-acquainted with fountain pens, I stupidly bought a pen I knew nothing about on eBay. Of course I had no idea what to look for in a vintage pen, and of course I over-paid and ended up with what I always saw as a pretty, pricey piece of junk. It cost me $120US back then. When it arrived, I was deeply disappointed. All I know about the Waterman, is what it tells me.



It is a ringtop Waterman 452 ½ V Sterling Silver over Black Hard Rubber fountain pen. I guess it is HR, as it has faded to a grey-brown-black colour under the overlay. In one place on the cap, I can see a hairline crack in the HR. It is a lever-filler, and the lever opens, but wants to stay open. I think the lever is a bit warped and for that reason it won't stay closed, and just keeps hanging out. A globe and IDEAL appear on the lever. When I easily opened the lever (and I knew enough to do it darn gently!) I managed to shake out bits of dried ink. Would this pen have had some type of bladder? Maybe I shook out bits of an old bladder as well. I have never even attempted to fill it with ink.

From browsing the web, I see this is a very small 452 ½ V 'half-size' pen, as it is only just over 3.5" capped. What does the V designation mean? It has a few dents (teeth marks?!) around the silver base of the pen, and while the dents are unsightly, the silver overlay has not split anywhere. I haven't quite found a picture of an identical pen, and read somewhere that perhaps the silver overlay has also been hand-engraved.

I have taken out the nib and feed, and they are in fine condition. The nib is great - one of the reasons I want to keep the pen. It is a Fine, semi-flexible, 14K Aikin Lambert No 2 nib. I have dipped the pen, and have found the nib writes very smoothly.

I know I could probably have the overlay dents fixed and the HR restored to glossy black – at great cost - but all I want is to use it in the present condition - so the lever box is my only concern. From my description, does it sound like the lever box is repairable?

Given the pen's overall poor condition, and the money it has already cost me, how much would a worst-case scenario lever repair cost, and is it even worth it?

Thanks.

The lever may not be broken at all. Waterman did not use a spring on the pressure bar; instead these pens rely on two small "pimples", at the sides of the lever adjacent to the Ideal emblem, to hold the lever closed by fitting into mating holes in the sides of the lever box. If the pimples are too worn to hold the lever in, there isn't much that can be done; in that case, it's best to use a sac that is slightly oversize to act as a weak spring.

My guess is that all you need is to replace the sac.

Thanks Richard - it doesn't sound too bad at all then. It's a pretty shabby little pen, but the nib sure feels nice. I might send you a e-mail in a couple of weeks about this one.

How did I go on the price? What would you have paid for it? Should I just save my money and get another Pelikan instead?