Jump to content

Help Identifying An Early Waterman


flows69

Recommended Posts

Good evening from France,

I just received this pen which was included in a lot of pen I bought online. It says Pat'd May 24 1898 on the cap and the Waterman #2 nib seems to have some reasonable flex. Any one able to help me identify the model?

 

When it comes to vintage pens I am mostly focused on Mabie Todds and am rather out of my depth here ;-)

 

Have a very good day guys,

 

 

post-138926-0-08070900-1528841307_thumb.jpg

post-138926-0-95860800-1528841311_thumb.jpg

post-138926-0-21226800-1528841322_thumb.jpg

post-138926-0-23740900-1528841327_thumb.jpg

post-138926-0-01698000-1528841335_thumb.jpg

post-138926-0-62416900-1528841341_thumb.jpg

post-138926-0-20423600-1528841346_thumb.jpg

post-138926-0-99514100-1528841349_thumb.jpg

post-138926-0-28322400-1528841354_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 3
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Tom Heath

    1

  • Left FPN

    1

  • IlyaKovic

    1

  • flows69

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Waterman used 4 digits (XXXX) for their pen designations. Yours is a XX12. The first two digits indicate any kind of metal overlay work (e.g. 0512 would have a gold-filled overlay, 512 would be solid gold overlay). The third digit is the model. A 1X is an eyedropper. Eyedroppers were early models, and there was some lag in the designation when Waterman switched to lever fillers, so some leverfillers are also #1s. Eventually that was changed to XX5X. The last digit is the nib size. In your case #2. There may be some different designation because of the gold plated bands, I'm not sure how they designated early eyedropper trims. Other markings could include a "1/2," meaning the pen is thinner than usual, or a "v," meaning the pen is shorter than usual (for vest pocket).

 

Check the butt of the pen. There should be stamping indicating the model number. It may be highly worn though.

 

I used "X" as a placeholder to show how the numbering system worked, that's just to explain it. There was actually a later pen called a "52X" that was a model 50 with a #2 nib but with a larger than normal body.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's one thing I know...it's a lovely pen.

 

My 1914 cataloge has this pen listed as a #12 to #16 Cone Cap.

 

post-42786-0-78338700-1528875531_thumb.jpg

 

post-42786-0-42772600-1528875539_thumb.jpg

 

post-42786-0-20862500-1528875548_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...