Original Watermans Nib?

[Aborst]

I just recently bought a Watermans 512(h). The nib of this pen has the text:

 

14 ct

W

warranted

1B (or IB)

 

since it hasn't got the name "watermans", I doubt if this is an original nib. I can't find a watermans nib without the company name on the internet.

 

Can anyone tell me what nib this is.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Allard

[kernando]

I'm not sure what the W would stand for. Most people would just refer to it as a warranted nib. I'd guess that it's not American, because we spell it karat and abbreviate it kt.

 

So you really got a 512, not a 0512?

[Malcy]

The Watermans 512 should be fitted with a Watermans 2A nib.

 

I have never seen warranted on a genuine Watermans nib. Still if it is a user and writes well then it should not be a problem.

[Aborst]

Thanks for your replies.

@Kernando, no it really is a 512. It looks very much like the 502's I own, just slightly longer and with 2 gold bands around the cap instead of 1. It's most likely made in England even though I'm not sure about that.

@maicy, it's not in perfect writing condition yet, but after I'm done repairing it, it will be. But I'm always eager to know everything about the pens I own. I'm not just a user or a collector, I'm very curious as well.

 

Thanks again to the both of you. Further suggestions are still welcome of course.

[kernando]

Cap bands? Am I remembering the 5xx wrong? I thought that meant solid gold overlay.

[Malcy]

Cap bands? Am I remembering the 5xx wrong? I thought that meant solid gold overlay.

 

You are thinking of 1920/30s era US made Watermans pens. The 5XX series are 1940/50s British made with pens like the 512 and 515. The last numeral is the nib size.

Edited June 18, 2011 by Malcy

[Aborst]

That's right, Malcy. I didn't know the last digit was the nib size, so that's nice to learn. On the Barrel of this pen it says Waterman's 512 (h). Would you happen to know what the "h" between brackets stands for?

[Aborst]

But now take a look at this.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/judds-vintage-watermans-fountain-pen-2

That's exactly my pen apart from the colour. The nib looks exactly like that.

 

So is it original after all???

[AndreaDuni]

Why don't you write to Waterman directly? When I had written to Aurora for an old pen, they gave me all the possible details with compliments to have found a rare pen.

[Aborst]

Why don't you write to Waterman directly? When I had written to Aurora for an old pen, they gave me all the possible details with compliments to have found a rare pen.

 

eeeehm......

right......

well actually, because I didn't think about it.

 

I'll do that. Thanks.

[Malcy]

But now take a look at this.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/judds-vintage-watermans-fountain-pen-2

That's exactly my pen apart from the colour. The nib looks exactly like that.

 

So is it original after all???

 

I doubt it. Waterman always made their own nibs and as I said earlier the 512 should have a 2A nib fitted. If you look at the picture of the feed on the worthpoint photos, it looks too large for the nib.

 

However, strange and unusual things can happen and I could be completely wrong.

[Aborst]

But now take a look at this.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/judds-vintage-watermans-fountain-pen-2

That's exactly my pen apart from the colour. The nib looks exactly like that.

 

So is it original after all???

 

I doubt it. Waterman always made their own nibs and as I said earlier the 512 should have a 2A nib fitted. If you look at the picture of the feed on the worthpoint photos, it looks too large for the nib.

 

However, strange and unusual things can happen and I could be completely wrong.

 

Well, I've sent a mail to Waterman like Andrea suggested. I hope they'll be so kind as to answer my questions. I'll post their answer here of course. But Malcy, you could be right. Coincidence explains 99.9 percent of all miracles...

[Aborst]

Well, writing to Waterman directly didn't work out. I did receive an answer, but it was curious and dissapointing. They reffered me to some English penshops/repairers and advised me to ask them. I followed this advise, but if the firm itself doesn't know the ansewer, I doubt if they will.

 

So any help will still be appreciated.

 

Best regards!

[Aborst]

Since Waterman couldn't answer my question I turned to Peter Twiddle. Even though he couldn't give me a definite answer, his answer did help me further. There happens to be an article on the internet that gives a lot of information about history and use of warranted nibs. Interested? look here.

 

This article still doesn’t answer the question if the nib on my pen was original or a replacement, both possibilities could be true. After all, these waterman pens were made during or shortly after the second WW and I suppose there could have been a shortage of materials back then. The fact that my pen and the pen on the internet have exactly the same nib may be an indication that they were used by the waterman’s factory, but I guess I’ll never know for sure.

Still, my search resulted in just a little more knowledge about the history of my pens and that is one of the nice things about this hobby

 

Thank you all for your help.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Allard

[ticoun]

warranted nibs were the "iridium point germany" nibs of the time. many second and third tier brands who couldn't afford making their own nibs used these.

[Azuniga]

Aborst,

 

About your nib question, maybe you should ask Max http://www.vintagewatermanpen.co.uk he knows a lot about Watermans and I have read some posts from him here very helpful.

Regards, Ariel

[Aborst]

Thank you, I will.

[meowmda]

I think it's http://www.vintagewatermanpens.co.uk

 

eta live link instead of text

Edited August 27, 2011 by meowmda

[Ernst Bitterman]

Just to add to the fun-- the cap of the pen in this thread seems to have the same sort of stylized W on it as on the point under consideration here, and that pen is pretty clearly a Waterman of French manufacture.

[brettttt]

Ernst,

 

That's interesting. I hadn't made the connection at all. After I read your post and visited the link to the French pen thread, I immediately recognized *that* W (or I think I did). I'm pretty sure it's a version of the one used on the "Leader" (a low-end pen from c. 1950):

 

http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae246/brettttt/Leader_detail.jpg

 

Anyway, now that you point it out I can see a kind of general resemblance between the Ws but some obvious differences, too. I don't have any idea really about the date for the French pen, but 1950 would seem about right for a W2, right? Would that Waterman's had produced better documentation in consideration of future fetishists!

 

Brett