"p.s.f". Stamped On On The Lever, Not "ideal"

[macquid]

Hi,

 

I'm not very knowledgeable about Waterman pens; so sorry if this is a dumb...

 

I'd appreciate your help identifying a particular pen:

 

Lever Box: The lever box on this mottled hard rubber pen corresponds perfectly to a Waterman Ideal, except that instead of IDEAL it says P.S.F. over the globe.

 

Imprints: On the side of the pen that's opposite the lever, where the waterman imprint normally would be found, it says BLANZY-OUEST, which I'm guessing refers to aFrench industrial corporation which once bore that name... not the pen's manufacturer. There's also no number imprint visible at the end of the barrel, though there are vague marks there that could be the remnents of that.

 

Finally, the closed pen is 13,4 cm long; the barrel diameter is 11 mm while the cap diameter is 12.5 mm (each at their widest point), Cap length is 56 mm.

 

My questions:

 

- When and on which pens was the lever imprinted P.S.F.?

 

- Is there a Waterman pen whose dimensions correspond to the ones above? The pen itself looks a lot like a #52, but ever so slightly different... at least compared to the #0752 I have onhand...

 

Thank you.

[RMN]

Interesting and nice looking pen.

 

I am not able to help you, but I think the experts will also want to know what the nib looks like, inscriptions etc. And are there any numbers on the end of the barrel?

 

 

D.ick

 

 

Edit: I have been Googling. The French fountainpen forum has also several mentions of PSF. I did not see a good explanation, but it could be that PSF stands for Patent Self Filler.

 

D.ick

[Xof72000]

"Blanzy" is a french pen brand. They first made nibs for dip pens.

 

PSF (meaning "Pocket Self Filling") was used on many pens, early Waterman ones, but also on other "third tier" brands.

[macquid]

Thank you Dick, Thank you Xof72000.

 

That's very interesting! Blanzy was a pen manufacturer after all (I didn't find any mention of them on the web, in Lambrou nor the other pen books I have)... and employed a WATERMANN look-alike globe on the lever... essentially to "mislead".

 

Do you possibly know of a source where I can read more about Blanzy's history and what eventually became of them?

 

Again, thank you for identifying my pen for me.

 

Friendly regards,

Alan

[RMN]

We have found your brand, but not the type, as they made more pens and nibs and pencils...

 

 

Googling Blanzy will give some information.

 

There is mention of a company Gilbert & Blanzy-Poure here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Publicite-1959-CRITERIUM-Gilbert-Blanzy-Poure-Stylo-/360615371817?pt=FR_JG_Collections_Publicites&hash=item53f659e429

and here

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Publicite-1957-ECRIN-CRITERIUM-stylo-Gilbert-BLANZY-POURE-/360619489461

 

and another type of pen:

http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Stylo-Demi-Lune-Blanzy-17c359-/281163103981

 

I think with those names, and some knowledge of the French language you will find more....

 

 

D.ick

[Left FPN]

Nice pen and possibly a wood grain more than a ripple.

[macquid]

Thank you Dick. VERY interesting!

 

With the additional names associated with Blanzy in the adverts I'll try to dig further into the company's story... and, yes, I do also speak French; so no problem there

 

Friendly regards,

Alan

[terim]

I'm not sure if any more information was unearthed, but we also have one of these with PSF on the lever. Ours has a nice flexible warranted nib, but nothing to indicate any relation to Blanzy.

 

http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/misc%20brands/psf_4_psfglobe_5.jpg

http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/misc%20brands/psf_4_psfglobe_2.jpg

 

TERI