Waterman C/F Desk set

April 13, 2021

I am trying to learn more about this particular Waterman C/F desk set. From the research I've done, it seems it would have been manufactured sometime between 1953 and 1958 (the pens are marked "Made in USA"). I'm wondering if it is at all possible to narrow it down any further based on other details? The stone in the one and only ad I was able to find is listed as white onyx, though the ad also appears to suggest that the set only came with gold sockets and the sockets on this set appear to be silver. The only markings I'm able to find on the sockets are "Watermans" and "Made In USA"; I do not see any proof marks or other direct indications of the material.

I'm also curious as to the nibs. They appear to be different sizes, but the only marking I can find is the "43" marked on the one nib (the one on the left of the nib photo). The other nib appears to be completely unmarked. Might anyone be able to shed a bit of light on the nibs? My "wild guess" is that the unmarked nib on the right is an F and the "43" stamped one is an M, but that is truly just a speculative guess. They could just as well be an EF and an F or EF and M.

For back story, these were my fathers and were inherited when he passed some years ago. I remember practicing writing with these when I tagged along to work with him as kid. As I recall (and based on the stains in the cartridges) the one with the finer nib was kept with blue ink, while the other was kept with black. I'm not sure if that was "how it came" from Waterman, or if that was simply my fathers personal preference.

It took a few days of soaking in water to get the 30+ year old dried up ink out of them (my father retired in the late 80's/early 90's and these pens have sat in a box ever since), but scuffs and scrapes aside they now appear to be in working condition. I have not attempted to ink them yet due to being busy with work and family obligations but will eventually get around to it (I ordered and have received a converter [not pictured] to try them out). I was also able to mostly disassemble them to verify the interiors were free of dried ink. I didn't try to get the nibs out as the mounts seemed fragile and all too easy to break, but I was able to remove and at least clean the feeds.

Any additional knowledge you all might be able to impart about these, I would love to learn!

Best,

-W

April 18, 2021

I can’t really help you narrow the dates as you would like, US production stopped in 57 or so, but if the feeds are plastic rather than rubber then would be later than mid 50’s. I just think it is really cool to have a set that came from your Dad. As far as I know Waterman made the less expensive steel nib version throughout so doesn’t help if that’s true. I would ink them up even with injection in the cartridge I would not be able to wait to try them ha.. and get to polishing.

April 22, 2021

Thank you for your reply -- that's precisely the sort of nugget of information I was hoping for! The feeds certainly appear to be some form of plastic vs. a rubber as they have no "give", so perhaps these are indeed from the end of the US production period. Thinking about it, I need to ask my siblings if they have any recollection as to when our dad got the desk set. There may have been some sort of "life event" that could help narrow the date range further.

In part I've avoided inking them up because I won't have a need to use them every day (it's hard enough to find enough to write to keep my 3 Metropolitans flowing), and I'm too lazy/busy to want to flush them out after playing (I don't want them to get plugged up again - disassembling is a pain in the rear and anything I manage to break won't be easy to replace).

Yes, the sockets could definitely use a full polish -- I did just enough to figure out that they were some sort of silver (or at least silver plated) and left it at that for now (the demands of having a 5-month old!)

April 25, 2021

Finally had a few minutes today while baby was napping. As it happened, I got a bottle of Private Reserve Spearmint in the mail today, and the only pens I had which weren't already inked were the two Watermans, so one of them was volunteered. The one which had black (the one who lost the draw of straws) clearly needs more cleaning to be done to it. Lots of hard starting, lots of inconsistency; at first it was D.R.Y. as a bone, but after letting it sit for a bit, I noticed quite a lot of black goo precipitating out around the nib and feed (presumably 30+ year old "ink" that the water soaks weren't able to remove). I wiped the black gunk off and put it back in the socket for a few hours, then came back and tried again; LOTS more ink flowing, but after a bit the hard-starting came back. Time to order a bottle of pen cleaner (and keep practicing my penmanship!) The paper is just generic writing pad paper from the local pharmacy; nothing special.