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Hello everyone, I have recently bought a vintage Waterman 42. I have bought it through some youngster from apparently an original owner (a man in his 80's) and instantly fell in love with the pen. Outside, the pen seemed in decent shape. I bought it cheap, knowing that there will be some work on it. My first problem was - and still is - this pen was probably never serviced, the cork was dry, but - with some soaking, I have managed to start using it (today). However, immediately I have noticed that someone was obviously tried to straighten the tines, probably that "know it all" youngster. And to my horror - I've noticed that one tine has a crack. Please see below (I tried to take as best photo as I could). Does anyone here knows - who or where can I send this pen - to have this crack repaired??? And more than anything - is it possible to repair this crack? Please help!

Hello, i'm trying to remove the back part of a Waterman 42 1/2v with a gold overlay and i'm having some trouble. I know this part is screwed in in the barrel and sealed with shellac and i know that i must use heat in order to soften the shellac, his is not the first Waterman 42 that i take apart. The problem is that, even if i use enough heat to make the overlay scorching, i'm still not able to unscrew the part. Any advice?

Yesterday i've found this little Waterman's Ideal 42 1/2v at a flea market. The only imprint it has - except from the date and the initials which i think were made from the original owner - is "Waterman's Ideal 18 K.R." on the cap and "42 1/2V" on the twisting knob. The nib is a #2 made in USA, so i can suppose the rest of the pen is made in USA too. Can someone tell me more about the kind of gold overlay of the pen? There are no hallmarks of any kind, can i assume it is rolled gold?

Yesterday i've attempted to repair a waterman 42 safety pen for the first time . everything has gone fine until i reached the cork seal. Of course it was old, full of dirty and almost in pieces. I managed to make a well-fitting one from a nice piece of cork but i've read somewhere that i'll need to boil it in paraffine or wax to make it works properly, but i can't find a complete description of the whole process. I've also read that someone use o-rings instead of a cork seal. Can someone link me a source where i can find/buy them? (possibly in Europe ) Thank you for the help!

Hello everybody, today i bought a pen from flea market which is old and dirty but working, i will clean it soon. I am a Pelikan guy and a total noob about Watermans but it writes Waterman's ideal 18k on the cap and 42 on the bottom and i think it's a safety pen. It would be perfect if you can confirm the model and give me some info about it's history, i don't know maybe the the dates of the production. And also can you give me an average value cause if my guess about the model is true i've seen it's price range between 250 dollars to 2500 dollars . Thanks for your help and an apology for the very low quality of the photos already.

Here are some KWZI green inks I was graciously sent to allay my confusion between #26 IG Green #1 and #25 IG #2. I must say that after trying them both out, they appear to be just about the same ink. Though an error in the labelling of sample of #2 and the bottle of #1 I used is a possibility. In my written example the two seem a bit different. #25 IG green #2 is more green and is a slightly lighter and less saturated colour. #26 IG Green #1 is a bit richer and has a tiny bit more blue in the darker parts. But the line separating the two written examples was done at the end of writing with IG Green #1, yet looks exactly like IG Green #2. And both have some blue as seen from the wet drops. Apparently #2 Green should not have any blue. #26 IG Green #1 had more blue throughout initially and was less obviously green, but then upon drying the inverse became true. But they are very, very close. I have to say, it almost seems that if #26 were diluted slightly it would be exactly like #25. On a further wet drop test I can hardly tell the difference between the two. And in a q-tip swab test there was absolutely no difference between the two inks. I am convinced that any differences on paper were due solely to differences in the pen's nib/feed wetness at the moment of writing. #36 Menthol Green is a vibrant but messy colour!! I got splashes on the table that usually if cleaned within seconds comes right off. But Menthol Green was hard to clean and stains remain. The demonstrator was also difficult to clean out after only a few minutes of exposure to the ink. It's a beautiful colour, but be careful with it. #42 Rotten Green is a unique colour. I'm not sure where it would come into use, but it was certainly interesting to try out. #27 IG Turqoise goes on sky blue and darkens dramatically to a colour that could almost be used for business correspondence. The more I look at it the more I like it. #75 IG Green Gold went on so light and lime coloured with the Nemosine Singularity medium nib that I flushed the pen and tried again. With a wetter TWSBI 580 it went on darker, but still pale, yet darkened quickly and dramatically. It has a minor amount of sparkles and is much more toward green than gold. Shading is spectacular. Drops: Top left - #42 Rotten Green Below that - #27 IG Turquoise - Note there is no green in it. The green you see is transfer of another ink. Below that - #75 IG Green Gold Top right - #36 Menthol Green Below that two drops on rightmost side #26 IG Green #1 Left of that 2 smaller drops #25 IG Green #2 http://i62.tinypic.com/2ce2c92.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/jpx91w.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/29lmpp5.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/2mo2og0.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/29orabt.jpg http://i60.tinypic.com/zkmxsh.jpg http://i60.tinypic.com/29gkgnc.jpg