Man Or Le Man?

[Left FPN]

Le fuel,

 

 

[Xof72000]

It's a Gentleman, Force, not a Man 100 ... (but I guess you allready know that )

[Sinistral1]

So, not just Jordan in that part of the world made custom Gentlemen, and of course, Force would have one in his collection!

[ENewton]

But it's interesting that the Man and the Gentleman seem to appeal to different people, given that several people have several of one or t'other, but few people have both.

 

 

I have both in my small collection--two Gentleman pens and a Man 100 (Opera). I sought out the Man 100 because although I really liked the Gentleman pens, I thought the ideal pen for me would be less slender and a bit heavier.

[amk]

Oui xof tu as raison! So 'Man' it is.

 

It is always odd when the definite article becomes part of a product name - we actually have an example in East Anglia where Adnams Brewery labelled its beer "The Bitter". And then of course there is The The.

 

"Oh Man! it's a mystery to me!"

[wspohn]

All are excellent pens. The Gentleman was the top Waterman pen from the mid 1970s for about 10 years after that. It was considered a tad odd that a thinner elegant pen would hold that status as flagship models do tend to be weighty. I have quite a few of them and they have excellent nibs and came in several sterling patterns (my main focus) as well as ome very nice enamel colours.

 

The Man 100 became the flagship in 1983 and was discontinued in 1999, and I also have several patterns in sterling of that model - they tend to be scarce and expensive compared to Gentleman pens which for a long time were a stand out bargain on ebay. I have avoided the wood versions as they can be unstable over the long term, with possible warping or cracking.

 

Rarest Man 100 I have is a 'Specimen' which was made in small but unknown numbers, one for each major dealer, in order tos allow them to show off the $15,000 solid 18K version without having to put out that much money. The Specimen version is stamped as such and is vermeil - sterling silver with gold plating.

 

Info at http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Waterman/WatermanSpecimen.htm

 

I also have an Etoile, another sterling pattern that is very hard to track down despite the issue of 1,000 in total.

 

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Waterman/WatermanEtoile.htm

 

The nibs are large and have some flex, which while nothing at all near a vintage flex nib, do prevent their being labelled as 'nails' as has often been said of the Edson model.

 

The Man 200 is smaller in length and diameter and has some interesting patterns, as well as some metal versions. One of my favourites is the 'Night and Day' with a silver overlay showing the black plastic through slots beneath.

 

You won't go wrong owning any of the three models.

[Tweel]

One of my favourites is the 'Night and Day' with a silver overlay showing the black plastic through slots beneath.

 

Do you happen to know when those were produced?

[wspohn]

1990s but not sure what year..

 

I prefer the gold to the silver version (unlike me, who collects sterling).

 

http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/waterman/waterman_nightday_med_1.jpg

[aggoo]

I have examples of all 3 pens, although not in every finish of course.

 

First up, the Gentleman is all metal. This can be lacquer, gold plated brass or sterling silver. There is even a gold flake Maki-e style (which I am fortunate to have recently acquired). It is a full size pen in terms of length, coming in at about 141mm. The Le Man 100 is a bit longer at 144, and the Le Man 200 is probably slightly shorter than the Gentleman, but I don't have mine on hand to measure.

 

The Le Man 100 is 10mm across the barrel and about 9mm at the section. The Gentleman is maybe 8.5mm across the barrel and 8mm in the section. It sounds like a very small difference, but the feel is like night and day. In weight, a gold plated Gentleman comes in at 30 grams and a Man 100 Opera at 35.

 

Most Le Man pens have a plastic section which feels very different to the metal section on every Gentleman.

 

The basic Le Man models such as black, opera, harlequin, Man 200s etc, are all plastic over brass, whereas all the Gentleman pens are metal again, with sections done in exactly the same finish, be it lacquer or plated metal. Some of the Le Man pens are wood, sterling silver, solid gold or lacquer like the Patrician models, so weight will vary between them.

 

In terms of nibs, the Gentleman and Le Man 200 share the same nib and feed, being roughly a size 5. The latter's nib is 2-tone as opposed to the single tone in the Gentleman. The Le Man 100 has a large size 6 nib as found in various earlier pens in the Waterman line up and in the Exception full size today.

 

In terms of fit and finish, I would rate the Gentleman higher than my Le Man pens (I don't have any crazy finishes - just opera, night and day and sterling silver). They are seriously well made and feel very luxurious. They also write exceedingly well, but you will find all of these pens write perfectly.

 

For daily use, I'd prefer a Le Man 100 to all of them, but that's because I like big, chunk pens. Next in line would be the Gentleman, just because it has such a nice feel in the hand, and then the 200 which is a bit like a Parker Duofold International, only longer.

[OngL]

I came across my first Waterman pen last year. That was a Le Man 100 in black resin - Fine nib. Despite looking very simple and modest, it wrote very smoothly and I was impressed. The experience was very pleasant and matches more expensive pens that I have.

 

It was so good that I wanted to get an Opera and sterling version. Alas, many listing in eBay are overpriced. I managed to get another Man 100 in Gordon sterling silver in Medium. It also write beautifully smooth. I believe the proportion of the nib (big but not too big) is great. It is one of my EDC and daily writer.

 

At one point, I almost bought a used wooden version but gotten over the fever now . Now, I have Edson on my list, but can’t find one that is mint... It seems prone to microscratches more so because of its shiny finish. Anyone can direct me to a good channel is much appreciated.

[Left FPN]

I came across my first Waterman pen last year. That was a Le Man 100 in black resin - Fine nib. Despite looking very simple and modest, it wrote very smoothly and I was impressed. The experience was very pleasant and matches more expensive pens that I have.

 

It was so good that I wanted to get an Opera and sterling version. Alas, many listing in eBay are overpriced. I managed to get another Man 100 in Gordon sterling silver in Medium. It also write beautifully smooth. I believe the proportion of the nib (big but not too big) is great. It is one of my EDC and daily writer.

 

At one point, I almost bought a used wooden version but gotten over the fever now . Now, I have Edson on my list, but can’t find one that is mint... It seems prone to microscratches more so because of its shiny finish. Anyone can direct me to a good channel is much appreciated.

Edsons will start to increase in value now that they are out of production. I doubt you will find a new one at a dealership when most high street dealers did not stock them anyway. The last one I purchased, which was from a dealer in Europe, arrived with scratches to the barrel and grip. It was returned, after photographs taken, the very next day. I had a right old game with the dealer and while I got the pen money back I did not get shipping costs back....whinge over.

 

FPN or other forum Classifieds and the bay are pretty much your only option. Pay via Paypal whatever you do.

[Chrissy]

I've made a start with an Edson. I've bought a coloured Edson converter.

 

If I find a nice Man 100 I will use it in there.

[OngL]

I've made a start with an Edson. I've bought a coloured Edson converter.

 

If I find a nice Man 100 I will use it in there.

 

Is that a standard converter? What colour is the Edson converter?

[Left FPN]

 

Is that a standard converter? What colour is the Edson converter?

They are identical to the standard except the acrylic is the colour of the barrel, Sapphire = blue, Ruby = red and Emerald = green. The hardware is gold plated....well gold something.

 

Ohhh here, https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/301582-waterman-cartridges-and-converters/

 

Listed together under item 13.