Any other "Laureat" lovers out there?

[watvolk]

Only 4 Laureat pens left in my collection, 1 FP, 1 RB, 2 BP

Edited June 30, 2016 by watvolk

[Left FPN]

I have four: a) two have square clips with a letter W logo, flattops, and a Waterman emblem on the bottom and two have rounded clips with the W in a hexagon(?) logo and a more slightly crowned top with nothing on the bottom. What's the difference? I'm thinking of collecting them by color unless one is more costly than another.

What you describe and colour range. The rounded tops are V2 the flat tops V1. AS far as I am aware there is no V3.

 

V1 and V2 sections are interchangeable to a certain extent. The embellishing gold plated ring is incorporated on the section of the V2 but on the barrel of the V1. Hence a V1 section will fit a V2 barrel using the ring from the V2 section. Are you still with me.

[drjmb]

Yes, thanks, Force. Any difference in future collectability or value between them?

[Left FPN]

Yes, thanks, Force. Any difference in future collectability or value between them?

IMHO the standard model of both versions will not be highly collectible Waterman pens*. The Rising Star version which is the translucent red and blue sections are rarer and possible worth owning.

 

*But that may well have been said at one time about the Phileas.

[pajaro]

I think the Laureats have been around longer than the Phileas, haven't they? Maybe not, I thought I had seen Laureats in the early 1980s in the Farney's catalog, around 1983 when I bought a Montblanc from them by mail. Hard to believe that's thirty-three years ago. I missed getting any of the Watermans due to an obsession with Parker 51. .

[drjmb]

I've since increased my Laureat holdings to the point where I'm collecting the different colors. I have nine (9) different MKIs and eleven (11) different MKIIs. I'm still looking for my missing models/colors/patterns. The problem is that there are no more bargains to be had as I'm only looking for a specific color so when I find one it's always NOS and costs over $100. There's one on E-bay that I need but it's listed for $199! Outrageous, it is! I can get a Seas Connaisseaur for that money. Where are the Laureat owners who want to sell used pens at a decent price??

[pajaro]

My favorite Laureats are two MK IIs in a green pattern and in a red pattern. Bought the barrel and cap, then the sections the nibs and the converters. These would have been my Christmas writers if I hadn't bought a Sheaffer Christmas pen. There is a silverplate one I got on ebay for $60, broad nib. They are all so-so writers. They dry up easily. Don't know about the broad nib. I have a hard time writing with broad nibs, and haven't tried it.

[Laureat75]

I have recently become a pen addict, in a very minor way, and if you hold an advanced degree in code-breaking you might, after much cogitation, be able to deduce from my user name which two pens I am particularly attracted to.

 

It all started when I decided to revive an old gold Parker 75 which had been presented to me with matching ballpoint and pencil some forty years ago. Over the years the nib on the pen was broken, and some good person in the wealth redistribution game had re-homed the ballpoint.

 

Ebay to the rescue. Unable to find a new italic nib I bought a couple of 75s with a broad and a fine nib to try them out, and then I spotted a very pretty Laureat set. Mark II in green, and unused. It became mine for not too much money, and then another followed. And along the way I bought some cheap and cheerful pens to try them out. And a 51 of course.

 

The 75 ballpoint was replaced by a totally unused one which looks a bit shiny and strange against its two well-worn siblings. Perhaps I should get one which has had a bit of use.

 

I love my 75s, but I am bowled over by the Laureats. I've now seen quite a lot of pens of one make or another, either in the flesh or in pictures, and for my money nobody makes a prettier pen. Currently I have green and grey Laureats, with red on the way. I suspect the red won't be the last, although I have decided that I need to curtail this enthusiasm before it gets totally out of hand. After all, you can only write with one pen at a time.

 

So instead of buying more and more Laureats and 75s I am going to concentrate on making my existing ones write better. I have been reading up on the art and science of nib-grinding, and have assembled a number of cheap pens to practice on. Amazon is about to deliver some suitable fine abrasive.

 

I have learnt a lot in a short time (with much still to learn, no doubt) but one important thing I have found is that expensive pens don't necessarily write better than cheap ones. Indeed, the pen in my modest collection that writes best of all is a Piano, and it cost me less than £3.00. It has a lovely wide italic nib, is smooth as butter, and puts down plenty of ink, but not too much. It's well-nigh perfect as a writing implement, but of course is encased in some particularly offensive and cheap-looking plastic.

 

So the quest is on to make all my pens write like the Piano. I have acquired a Broad Reverse Oblique nib from the Battersea Pen Home for my original 75, and once I feel confident I can do a good job I will transform it I hope into an italic nib with a slight oblique slant in the other direction. One reason the Piano writes so well in my hands is that the nib is slightly oblique.

 

My final observation, before I bore the pants off you, is that I prefer the feel of a chunky pen, but the look of a slim one. I find that Parker 51s are slightly nicer to write with than 61s for this reason (though my 61 writes better than my 51), and I love the feel of my Mont Blanc clone (can't afford a real one), but none of these excellent pens are as lovely to LOOK AT as the 75s, and more so, the Laureats.

 

In my view, of course.

 

I will let you know in due course how my grinding goes. Meanwhile, I don't really care whether my pens go up in value or not, I just like owning them..

[Ian the Jock]

Wait until the red one arrives.

Imo the red and blue mk2s are the prettiest of them all.

 

I love the Laureat, and the Maestro, and the......

 

Ian

[ThreadorYarn]

I have a med nib in my Laureat fp - are there any F or MF nibs that fit the pen? and, maybe a silly questiom, but does the nib separate from the plastic 'casing' that screws into the pen? (I realize that it wasn't made in one piece, just not sure how much it comes apart to replace a nib)

 

the fp is new to me, but I've had the same one as a roller for years - I usually now use G2 refills - more colors than watermanrefills

[senzen]

I have a med nib in my Laureat fp - are there any F or MF nibs that fit the pen? and, maybe a silly questiom, but does the nib separate from the plastic 'casing' that screws into the pen? (I realize that it wasn't made in one piece, just not sure how much it comes apart to replace a nib)

 

the fp is new to me, but I've had the same one as a roller for years - I usually now use G2 refills - more colors than watermanrefills

 

I have an F nib on my Laureat; by casing you probably mean the feed? The nib is separate, it just sits on top of the feed, you can pull both out of the section.

[pajaro]

I have put fine or extra fine nibs from older Watermans in a couple of Laureats (I burned the older pens trying to pull the section). These nibs appear to flex, but I am not testing it.

 

I have found with Laureat, as with Parker Sonnet and 45, and as with Phileas, Kultur and Carene, that drying up issues can be solved by replacing the converter with a cartridge. You can syringe-fill the cartridge and it still stays moist longer than with a converter. I was disgusted to discover this after spending a lot of time trying to get the pens to not dry out fast with converters.

[ThreadorYarn]

 

I have an F nib on my Laureat; by casing you probably mean the feed? The nib is separate, it just sits on top of the feed, you can pull both out of the section.

 

the section I mean. I never tried to pull out the nib & feed, I didn't know if it separated from the section or not.

 

what nib is compatible? I've seen replacement nibs that say they're compatible with any pen that takes a #6 or other size

[Barkingpig]

I could maybe be a Laureat lover, if either of the two I was given by a Friend, after her Husband's death, had nibs that were not corroded! And I have read about a dozen threads here, searching for an available nib choice for replacement, but the ones offered from old posts seem to be from other Waterman pens that have become extinct, as well. The suggestions to buy a donor pen from Ebay seem equally useless when most of them seem to be near to the $100.00 mark, with their "fine or medium nibs!

 

(I was pretty proud to be able to remove the nibs from the feeds; all it seemed to accomplish was to confirm, "yes, they are indeed corroded.")

[Tweel]

I replaced the corroded nib on my Laureat with one from a Reflex, which I bought on Ebay for somewhere in the $20 range. (Just make sure it's the Reflex version that has an open, rather than "fingernail", nib).

[ThreadorYarn]

Waterman has a nib exchange service - couldn't hurt to contact them and ask if they can change the nib

 

 

I could maybe be a Laureat lover, if either of the two I was given by a Friend, after her Husband's death, had nibs that were not corroded! And I have read about a dozen threads here, searching for an available nib choice for replacement, but the ones offered from old posts seem to be from other Waterman pens that have become extinct, as well. The suggestions to buy a donor pen from Ebay seem equally useless when most of them seem to be near to the $100.00 mark, with their "fine or medium nibs!

 

(I was pretty proud to be able to remove the nibs from the feeds; all it seemed to accomplish was to confirm, "yes, they are indeed corroded."

 

[pajaro]

I have used a number two (2) Waterman nib in Laureats. The nibs came from pens than met with accidents. The nibs were good. Since the nibs were Waterman I felt OK about using them in a Laureat. These nibs are 14K, and they appeared to be the right size, but I can't be certain of that.

[J English Smith]

Wow! Look at the life of this thread I started! Glad to see there are many other Laureat fanciers out there. I don't use my FPs as much at the moment, but I do often reach for the BP and the rollerball (filled with a Pilot G2 purple refill) as a pocket combo. I do think the red color is especially nice, that's what my ballpoint is.

[Barkingpig]

Thank you Mr. Smith!

 

Besides the two green Laureat fountain pens, with their corroded nibs, my Friend's Husband also had a matching rollerball, which I have just swapped a fresh Pilot G 2 into, after reading your post. "One outa three is better than NONE!" I used to like the G 2 before I began using fountain pens again & after using it, can remember why.