Gold Waterman Ideal Vintage

[doctorinky]

Hi,

I joined this site in search of new pen advice, but while perusing a few vintage pen sites I remembered that my mum had kept my grandfather's old fountain pen. He was born around 1895ish and died in the early 1960s. He worked in Chancery Lane as a legal photographer. I only came along in 1978, so never met him.

Anyway, it's a gold Waterman Ideal - I think its a "gold barley' one. It's engraved with what looks like 9 375 and a hexagonal o? And something I can't make out. It's also engraved with his name.

I've added a couple of pictures - it has great sentimental value so unlikely to sell it unless I'm sitting on an absolute goldmine, but I'd love to use it and find out more about it. The rubber fill chamber is entirely perished, so I don't know whether changing this would be possible? Otherwise I guess I have a pretty dipping pen!

If anyone has any information on the pen, or on refurbishing it (if worth it from a nice writing perspective) I'd to hear!

Thank you all very much.

[doctorinky]

I've had a look at the hallmark and looks like 9 carat gold, 1929, London

[Left FPN]

Hi, It's an overlay pen.

 

Rather than go over a lot of info take a gander here,

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/165348-waterman-overlay-pattern-id/

 

I think your could well be the dot pattern (hence the small circular imprints).

 

Are there any numbers on the end of the barrel.

 

It is well worth having it overhauled because their values are rising quickly.

 

A slightly different pen but same pattern here,

 

https://picclick.com/Pristine-Line-Dot-9k-375-Waterman-Fountain-123232893035.html

[sidthecat]

Do the hallmarks indicate that it's solid gold? Not just gold-filled.

[praxim]

No. It is 9 carat (.375).

[Z-Tab]

9k solid gold overlay on an ebonite body. All the 9k overlays that I've seen have been English pens. The first bit of the hallmarks that is worn away would likely have read FDW at some point. Probably made in the 1930s.

 

The gold section is interesting and might be fairly uncommon, but it's not an exceptionally valuable pen. Getting it fixed up for use is a fairly routine task, basically requiring a thorough cleaning and a fresh rubber sac. It's easy enough to do if you have the right tools, but I would recommend getting a pro to do it for you.

 

DO NOT SOAK ANY OF IT IN WATER.

 

DO NOT USE WARM/HOT WATER TO CLEAN IT.

 

The pen is primarily built of a type of hard rubber that will discolor if it sits in water or gets hit with hot water. Which is partly why I recommend just getting a pro to deal with it. Then you can buy a $12 bottle of Waterman ink and happily write with your grandfather's pen for another 100 years.

[siamackz]

If you want to find the model and date of manufacture of your pen then you can look through official catalogues here https://archive.org/details/WatermanFountainPenCatalogs

[sidthecat]

Am I right in thinking the barleycorn pattern is relatively rare? I have one in silver and and I’ve only seen them a handful of times.

[truphae_inc]

That's a beautiful vintage piece! I'm sure there's a lot of great history attached to it.