W2 colours?

[orangezorki]

Hello all,

 

I'm very new here, so please be gentle with me!

 

I recently bought a reconditioned Waterman W2, English made, which I understand is about 50 years old. I absolutely love writing with something relatively inexpensive (£17), which has such a wonderfully smooth 14K nib. However, my example is a maroon/burgundy, which isn't really a colour I like. So, I'm wondering what colours were made. I know that black and grey were available, but anything a bit more daring?

 

Thanks for any replies,

 

David.

[PAKMAN]

David, I don't know the answer but someone will! Welcome to FPN in the meantime!

[Oxonian]

Hi David, Welcome to FPN

 

The W2 is one of a series of fairly similar pens by Waterman marketed under various names and numbers through the 40s and into the early 50s, the W series, W2, W3, W5 etc, the 5xx series, the 512, 513, 515 etc.etc. there really are a whole bunch of them in various sizes, using assorted nibs and trims but essentially similar, rounded profile, stepped clip all plastic lever fillers. There were others but that lot will do for now

 

The W2 comes in the burgundy that you have, black, grey, dark green, dark blue, dark brown, deep red, for sure and possibly several other colours, the 512 which was broadly similar in appearance but a little earlier in date came in stripes and in multi tones of blue stripe dark/ mid/very pale blues, a similar thing in greens, black/grey/silver, brown/bronze/gold and burgundy/red/silver as well as in blue, green, grey etc marbling plus the pretty standard solid colours; these are the colours that you can expect to find, there are likely to be several more that I have not come across or just plain forgotten to mention.

 

Most of the Waterman run of the mill pens in plain solid colours from this sort of period can be had for very sensible money and like most Watermans over the years had very good nibs in all sorts of widths and styles from bookkeeper/ account EF, Shorthand (some of these had different coloured buttons on the top of the cap red for Shorthand, white for Accounts and sometime were marked on the barrel as well) through to B Italic and L/obliques in F,M and B calling at all the usual stations in between including some very nice flexible nibs, perhaps the last Watermans to offer such flex.

 

Be careful, pens are addictive, you will end up with hundreds of them and that is just the Watermans.... there are 2000 plus other brands

 

Cheers, John

Edited July 16, 2008 by Oxonian

[orangezorki]

Thank you both of you for the kind replies - and, yes, ouch, this might turn into an addiction...

 

David.