Any Gentlemen Fanciers Out There?

[wspohn]

I'd never paid much attention to the Gentleman until I snagged one on a fit of enthusiasm on the Bay recently.

 

I usually save my Waterman interest for CF models and much older models (well, OK, and the odd Carene and Edson), and had pretty much overlooked the 1970s Gentleman, but it does seem to fit the same thinner elegant styling school as the CF.

 

What should one pay for a full sterling version comme ca:

 

http://imagehost.auctionwatch.com/bin/imageserver.x/00000000/vintagepimp/watpen1.jpg

 

(in other words, tell me how silly I was)

[solaris]

I have a Gentleman in blue and is fantastic. Your is VERY nice. Here on ebay.fr you can score a nice Gentleman for 30-50 euros, but I did never see one in sterling like this one... Consider the Le Man in sterling at Lewertowski for 199 pounds, more or less 390 US dollars... If you think that the Gentleman is a thinner, slender, smaller pen... well, I have no clue...

 

Just enjoy your superb pen...

[marklavar]

I wonder why there are still so many Man 100 Sterling pens out there? It seems like M. Lewertowsky has bought all the remaining stock. Did they not originally sell well?

[solaris]

I'm not sure if there are 'so many' Le Man in sterling. I am NOT a Waterman specialist (of any brand, actually), but remember that the Le Man 100 came basically in black plastic/resin, and one very nice edition in wood, wich I think is more rare than the sterling one. Here in Paris I saw only ONE Le Man 100 in sterling, looking for those pens in shops... If there is any modern Waterman especialist, please give us some light...

In MHO, the Gentleman and the Le Man 100 are among the finest modern pens by Waterman, with the Edson. (I still need to try a Le Man 200...)

In any case, the Gentleman in the picture above is delicious.

[marklavar]

Any opinions on the new Exception?

 

By the way, my favourite Man 100 is the Patrician version, especially the red lacquer - gorgeous pen!

[lewertowski]

Hi,

 

I have not bought the remaining stock, don't worry. The man 100 is always available for some countries in Asia for example and not actually dicontinued by the WATERMAN manufactory.

[lewertowski]

I speak about the STERLING SILVER model, of course the others are discontinued.

[James P]

Keeping the obvious jokes and sniggers to myself, I will chime in and say that I have a sterling silver Gentleman similar to yours, Bill. Rather than being a cisele pattern, however, mine is a guilloche (thin vertical stripes).

 

Interestingly, my wife received this pen as a gift from her father when she graduated college. She knew bupkus about fountain pens then, only that Waterman was a high-quality brand and that the pen was beautiful.

 

Unfortunately, the pen fell into disuse shortly after she got it and it sat in her desk drawer for years. When she bought me the fountain pen that resurrected my interest in the hobby, she showed me the Gentleman her father had given her all those years ago. It was in immaculate condition cosmetically, and with a little flushing and TLC, it now writes magnificently. Unlike most modern pens, especially Watermans with their stiff-as-a-nail nib, the 18K gold nib has almost vintage-style flex.

 

It's really a beautiful writing instrument on all fronts and one of the centerpieces in my collection.

 

James P.

[wspohn]

Thanks James - I will look forward to its arrival with even less patience than heretofor! Picked it up on Ebay recently and it should arrive in a week or so (I'm in Canada - everything is slower getting here).

 

I hope mine has some flex as well, as I enjoy that. I'm using a Carene today, which has the absolute opposite of flex....

[marklavar]

I speak about the STERLING SILVER model, of course the others are discontinued.

Nice to see you here, Jean-Michel. Shame that 'La Poste' has still not delivered the sterling Man 100 that I sent you one month ago!

[lewertowski]

Hi Mark,

 

No, I expect it will return to you, I expect you have received the exception in good condition, your post is better than the French post, J.M.L.

[WilliamK]

My best friend in high school gave me a Gentleman when we graduated back in 1993. It's been a good pen. I swapped the fine nib for a medium, and have had the clip repaired once. Sadly, I've got to do it again, and Sanfod told me to make sure I put a note in the box to instruct them to send me back the same pen. Who knows what might come back if I didn't.

 

As far as the clip goes, it seems that carrying them clipped to your jeans pocket might not be a good idea . I carried that pen everywhere for a long time.

[marklavar]

Hi Mark,

 

No, I expect it will return to you, I expect you have received the exception in good condition, your post is better than the French post, J.M.L.

I hope it will be returned. According to international postal regulations they cannot hold items for longer than one month - and now the month has expired.

[DocNib]

Bill,

The Gentleman's last production year was around 1996/97 (at least for US distribution). I used to sell them and the Sterling was List Priced at $290 in 1996. Waterman continued to sell what they had left in stock for a few more years and I believe the Sterling Gentleman's final price was $320 (the std. lacquer versions were up to $250 at the end).

That being said, this was a wonderful pen...not too big, not too heavy, excellent pocket clip and great 18K nib. If I remember correctly, the L'Etalon was it's replacement and was a nice pen, but (IMHO) not as good as the Gentleman series.

I've got a NOS Gentleman Bordeaux Lacquer FP in Broad on the Marketplace Board if anybody needs to see a pic of a lacquer version. Waterman Gentleman 18K broad nibs are/were some of the smoothest nibs on the market...like butter on glass, as the saying goes!

DOC

[wspohn]

Bill,

The Gentleman's last production year was around 1996/97 (at least for US distribution). I used to sell them and the Sterling was List Priced at $290 in 1996. Waterman continued to sell what they had left in stock for a few more years and I believe the Sterling Gentleman's final price was $320

That makes me feel better - so $170 for a new in the box sterling Gentleman isn't bad?

 

Think I'll go check the mail.......