Le Sulitzer - Questions

[Paulagh]

Good morning! I have a Waterman Le Sulitzer that I bought in Paris in 1989 (study abroad). I havent used it in years but would like to, and I have a few questions:

 

Cartridges:

I think I used short cartridges before, but Im wondering if I could opt for the long ones - will they fit? Must they be Waterman brand (is that required, optimal, optional or other?). For some reason I have some Parker long cartridges, but they look awfully thin...I do not want to try anything that will damage the pen.

 

Second, I am thinking about trying a converter but from my quick review of that thread it seems that the current converter isnt considered to be very good - did I read that correctly? Are there alternatives I should be considering? How brand-specific do these need to be?

 

Thanks very much for your expertise if youre able to share!

[Tweel]

Parker cartridges won't fit, as they're proprietary and the opening is too large for Waterman pens.

 

Generally Waterman uses the international standard, but a couple of points of the outer profile are a little different from many other brands, so occasionally other brands of international cartridge or converter won't fit. But Le Sulitzer doesn't appear to have a very slim barrel, for example. And the barrel length looks like it would accommodate long cartridges. So, most brands will probably fit ( -- I'd never heard of that model before, I've just been looking at pictures of the pen), and if you're unsure of Waterman's converters, another brand such as a Schmidt K5 would probably fit. I've got the current generation of Waterman converter in some of my pens, and the only one where it's a little iffy is in a Laureat, where the converter doesn't grip quite as securely as I'd like -- but I think that's the pen's fault.

[Chrissy]

You can't use Parker cartridges for sure. You need Waterman cartridges for the correct fitting on the feed nipple or ink won't flow properly and the pen might leak or drip ink out of the nib.

 

I'm not sure which converter wasn't very good. If regular long Waterman cartridges fit then so will the regular Waterman piston type converter. Short International cartridges should also fit.

[Paulagh]

Tweel & Chrissy - thank you so much for your replies. Funnily enough, because I am super-impatient, I did try the Parker cartridges (long) in the pen today...so far, it seems to be working - smooth, no leaking. But I'll probably go with Waterman ink going forward....but at least the experiment showed me that a longer cartridge does appear to work.

 

Tweel - the Sulitzer barrel is not super-slim, but it is slimmer than some. It fits my hand (I was 19 (female) when I bought it, pretty average-sized hands for a woman). Sounds like it's worth a try with the standard converter or maybe the Schmidt K5.

 

FYI - Le Sulitzer was a special edition (120,000 produced) in 1988. It's black acrylic with a gold-plated nib & accents. The reference is to Paul-Loup Sulitzer, who was a financier and then novelist big in the 1980s. He was a friend of Francine Gomez, who headed Waterman at the time, and I believe his wife designed the pen. (Sadly/interestingly, I think he was convicted for misuse of corporate funds or something similar in 2008 and had a couple of honors taken back from him.) It has tremendous sentimental value for me, so I'm pretty excited pulling it out and using it instead of treating it like a museum piece & locked away & never used.

[Tweel]

Well, I'll have to be hornswoggled on that one! After I read your post, I pulled a Parker twist converter out of a "45" and tried it on a whole series of Waterman pens -- and it fit almost every one, including one with a C/F nipple. I was actually laughing because it shouldn't, the diameters are different! Interestingly, I then tried it with a Parker slide converter and it only fit a couple of Waterman pens, and didn't feel very secure. Neither one would even go into the section of an Exclusive.

 

So, good on you, enjoy your pen, and thanks for teaching me that! (A Parker twist converter fit a C/F nipple, securely... hmmmmm...)