Sterling Silver Laureat?

[Ian the Jock]

Being a bit of a Laureat fan now, I took a punt on this pen as I had never seen this stripey, corduroy type design before.

I duly won the pen (unexpectedly) and it arrived today.

It does need a bit of a clean and polish and the section and converter need a soak, as there is a fair bit of dried ink about the place, but apart from that I'm more than pleased with my purchase.

In the listing pic, I could see a mark on the barrel which could possibly have been a hallmark of some description, but I hadn't seen or heard of silver Laureats so I wasn't holding my breath.

However

On arrival, I found that it is a hallmark of some kind, stamped on both cap and barrel.

On closer inspection with a loupe it appears to be a square, with WAT over a broken line, and SA underneath.

I had a bit of a rake about and couldn't find much about this design of Laureat or the hallmark, other than a US website selling a similar pen for quite a bit of money, and a few pics of rollerballs.

 

 

So what does this "mark" mean?

Is it Sterling silver?

Was there a sterling Laureat?

What is the pattern?

 

As far as I'm concerned the pen was a bargain, as after all, it is a Laureat, and it has added to my slowly increasing Waterman collection, which I love.

But, I'd just like to know a bit more about it.

 

Over to you Force et al, what's the deal with my latest addition?

 

Ian

Edited May 11, 2016 by Ian the Jock

[Inky.Fingers]

What type of ink is on ypur nail beds?

[Ian the Jock]

What type of ink is on ypur nail beds?

Hahaha I believe it to be diamine onyx from when I was trying to get the dregs out of the bottle this morning.

[Inky.Fingers]

Ive always wanted to try out acid test. I think ill get a set. A little scraping and polish afterward....

[Left FPN]

WAT over SA is the Waterman France hall mark. Normally found on gold or silver pens and pen parts. If you look very close, under magnification, the line is in fact a pen with nib and 2 bands.

 

Yes a rare Laureat indeed.

 

Although a little blurred here is a similar marking on a sterling silver L'Etalon

 

 

[Ian the Jock]

Good stuff.

My hunch was correct then. Happy days

Does the stripey pattern have a name?

 

Ian

[Cyber6]

Good stuff.

My hunch was correct then. Happy days

Does the stripey pattern have a name?

 

Ian

 

 

The technical name is "Stripey"... but I am sure someone will know the common name..

 

 

C.

[Inky.Fingers]

Ian, I really like your Waterman. I hope you don't mind me inserting my question too....

 

I have a lacquered version. I have not been able to use this pen because of lack of a CC or cartridge.

Looks to be a wonderful pen, but I don't have a converter or CC. What type does it accept?

 

 

[Left FPN]

A catalogue refers to this as 'guilloche' which basically means machine cut.

 

inkyfingers...look here, you require a converter from post #2, item 11 onwards.

[Inky.Fingers]

Force, thanks. Ian, how does your pen write?

[Ian the Jock]

I've only dip tested it but it is supremely smooth.

It has a fine nib, which I wouldn't normally go for, but on this pen I can put up with it.

 

This pen is quite possibly my biggest ever bargain......ebay certainly has it's merits.

 

Ian

[Ian the Jock]

I soaked the bits and gave it a thorough clean, before inking it up with majestic blue, and it is indeed...... Majestic.

Lovely and wet, even though it's a fine nib, and very, very smooth.

 

£10.52 well spent, methinks.

 

Ian

[pajaro]

I have a Laureat like this silver one with the L broad nib. I was told by the ebay seller that the pen is silver plate. The pen is pretty, but I don't care much for it. I paid $60 for it a few years ago, and I think sterling would be pricier.

[Left FPN]

I think it's termed pouring water on ones fireworks.

 

I am doing a little more homework on this stamp. First I must ask if there are any other stamps on the silver parts.

 

The same square stamp appears on Man 100 and Gentleman (possibly others) pen cap clips, which we know are not solid gold. So I am beginning to think this is a manufacturers mark only. If you take the gold parts of an Edson, primarily the nib, and the silver parts of the L'etalon, the barrel and cap bodies, they have an additional stamp...the Eagle's Head (Gold) and possibly (yet to see a clear one) a Boar's Head or Minerva head (sterling silver). Both are French Hallmarks

 

More on this later. I am waiting on photographs of the hallmarks from a MINT sterling silver roller ball that I once owned.

 

In the mean time, the silver plated model.

 

 

 

My wife's L'Etalon BP using a Coolpix 950 on Macro through a x 5 loupe,

 

clearer on the WAT and it is Minerva,

 

 

[pajaro]

My pen is marked identically to the original poster's pen. In the box, WAT and S A, presumably for Waterman, Silver and Argent. This is like the silver plated pen in the Waterman brochure picture. It's a nice pen, and I suppose I didn't want to mar it, so I left it in the box. The broad nib was too wide for me.

 

I saw the ebay listing for the pen I bought, and it was for a buy it now of $100.00 or make an offer. Knowing nothing about this model of Laureat, I offered $60.00, and it was accepted. I don't know if I paid too little or too much, but I liked it at the time. I could, of course, have swapped a section with a fine nib into the silver plated Laureat, but I have so many pens I want to use all at once that I just never got around to it. This is the curse of hoarding too many pens.

[Left FPN]

My pen is marked identically to the original poster's pen. In the box, WAT and S A, presumably for Waterman, Silver and Argent. This is like the silver plated pen in the Waterman brochure picture. It's a nice pen, and I suppose I didn't want to mar it, so I left it in the box. The broad nib was too wide for me.

 

I saw the ebay listing for the pen I bought, and it was for a buy it now of $100.00 or make an offer. Knowing nothing about this model of Laureat, I offered $60.00, and it was accepted. I don't know if I paid too little or too much, but I liked it at the time. I could, of course, have swapped a section with a fine nib into the silver plated Laureat, but I have so many pens I want to use all at once that I just never got around to it. This is the curse of hoarding too many pens.

No sorry while that would be nice, S A does not stand for Silver Argent but Societe Anonyme the equiv of PLC Public Limited Company.

 

I have just received this picture taken from another L'Etalon....P over W which has thrown me. The other stamp is clearly Minerva.

 

My early thoughts are Parker or Papermate Waterman because they joined forces in 2000

 

 

 

well would you look at that...taken just this morning for another topic.

 

 

 

I think this is becoming another topic rather than hog Ian's topic.

[pajaro]

So Parker and Waterman have become homogenized? Is there just one pen making entity between the two brands.?

 

It doesn't matter what WAT and S A mean, because the pen is silver plated and not sterling. Well, sixty bucks, easy come, easy go. Another worthless pen expenditure.

[Left FPN]

So Parker and Waterman have become homogenized? Is there just one pen making entity between the two brands.?

 

It doesn't matter what WAT and S A mean, because the pen is silver plated and not sterling. Well, sixty bucks, easy come, easy go. Another worthless pen expenditure.

It's nice to know these things and I think we now know it is purely a makers mark.

[Ian the Jock]

No, hog away Force.

This is all interesting and "good to know" stuff for going forward.

I'd imagine anyone looking for this type of information will find this thread easily.

I wonder why some metal pens have the makers mark and others don't.

Pajaro

I don't think $60 for a good boxed Laureat is worthless expendature.

That's still a pretty impressive pen for $60.

 

I'll be honest, the fact that the pen is only silver plate doesn't really matter to me.

I didn't buy mine expecting any more than a Waterman Laureat, and that's what I got, so it's a winner for me regardless.

It's still a pretty uncommon pen from what I can make out, as I've never seen one on ebay before, and I rake about on ebay.....a lot.

 

I do find this hallmarking/maker marking very interesting though.

 

Every fountain pen day, is another educational day.

 

Ian

Edited May 14, 2016 by Ian the Jock

[bobje]

Ian, that pen shows integrity. Handsome indeed. Really like the wide center band and the contrast between silver, gold, and black.