Found A Vintage Pen. Now What?

[betweenthelens]

Maybe it's a Waterman Ideal in Red Ripple? This is not the exact same pen but it's sure similar.

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100908710/1926s-vintage-ladies-waterman-52-12v?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted&utm_campaign=vintage_mid&gclid=CJWr3bm4_7gCFY2e4AodGy8Ayw

[sumgaikid]

My guess on the MHR(mottled hard rubber) pen is that the nib may

be original to the pen. It being an 18 carat nib,it's possible that the

pen may be French,or certainly European. The pen was made in the

1920's(maybe early 1930's) when hard rubber was the main material

used in making fountain pens--celluloid(in its various names)didn't

become the next material to be used until the late 1920's. Also,the

removable clip came just before clips became permanent on pen caps.

 

 

John

Edited August 15, 2013 by sumgaikid

[corniche]

Hello Plume,

 

Sorry to hear about your grandmother passing away, (God bless her). I know it can be rough, my mom and I are still sorting through my dad's stuff and he died in 2011.

 

At any rate, since these pens are family heirlooms and you have no experience at all in restoring pens; my suggestion would be to send them to a pro for restoration. If you can't afford that right now, then put them aside until you can, or until you gain some useful experience working on OTHER pens.

 

All the best,

 

Sean

[Plume145]

Interesting nib curvature.

Yes, to whom does that logo belong???

A mystery for sure.

Loading the nib photo onto my photo software to see if I can make out what's below 18ct.

Actually I just managed it now, finally! Natural lighting is what did the trick I guess :-) It just says '1st QUALITY'. Informative, huh?

Maybe it's a Waterman Ideal in Red Ripple? This is not the exact same pen but it's sure similar.

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100908710/1926s-vintage-ladies-waterman-52-12v?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted&utm_campaign=vintage_mid&gclid=CJWr3bm4_7gCFY2e4AodGy8Ayw

Yes, it really is pretty close! Apart from the ring top vs clip thing, the metal parts on that one are gold-colored, where mine are dull grey in color, and the body is brighter and shinier, BUT there's a chance some of these color differences may be either natural wear, or (un)natural wear because I'm afraid I may have rinsed or soaked this or something *gulp* In my defense, this was years and years ago when I was still a punk kid who didn't even know a pen could be this old (I've had this for many years).

 

I also looked at the Waterman Ideal page on the Richard Binder website, and it looks a lot like the Ripple models shown about halfway down the page, right down to the nickel-plated metal bits. The only thing that remains a mystery is this weird clip. But I suppose it's possible mine started life with a different clip that was lost (or perhaps as a ring-top that came off, if I'm right about the marks on the top of the cap) and the owner just grabbed another clip to put on the pen so they could go on using it. It definitely looks like a well-loved pen, at least to my untrained eye

 

My guess on the MHR(mottled hard rubber) pen is that the nib may

be original to the pen. It being an 18 carat nib,it's possible that the

pen may be French,or certainly European. The pen was made in the

1920's(maybe early 1930's) when hard rubber was the main material

used in making fountain pens--celluloid(in its various names)didn't

become the next material to be used until the late 1920's. Also,the

removable clip came just before clips became permanent on pen caps.

 

 

John

Thanks for the estimate! I love that you set out all the justifications, that's almost more interesting than the actual date!

 

And it does seem in line with what I know of the pen's provenance. It would definitely have been bought in Europe because none of my antecedents ever lived in or even travelled to North America during the interwar period.

 

Hello Plume,

 

Sorry to hear about your grandmother passing away, (God bless her). I know it can be rough, my mom and I are still sorting through my dad's stuff and he died in 2011.

 

At any rate, since these pens are family heirlooms and you have no experience at all in restoring pens; my suggestion would be to send them to a pro for restoration. If you can't afford that right now, then put them aside until you can, or until you gain some useful experience working on OTHER pens.

 

All the best,

 

Sean

Yeah, she'd better hope God blesses her - with the way she acted on this earth, she needs all the help she can get *eyebrow raise*. I'm very sorry about your dad! But two years sorting through his stuff does not seem odd to me at all - when the person who died was well-loved, it's too emotionally draining to do it all in one go while also trying to adjust to life without them, so unless there is some externally imposed deadline forcing your hand, there's absolutely no reason to pressure yourself to go faster. It'll just take however long it takes!

 

I'll definitely be shipping off the little rubber pen to a pro - especially since it now turns out even the nib might be original! And it would have belonged to either of my other set of grandparents, who were both lovely people and prolific writers, so this is definitely heirloom material!

 

But the celluloid one, I think I'll just have a go myself; the connection to anyone I have any affection for is pretty tenuous, and it sounds like it's not such a rarity or anything, so both sentimental and monetary value are pretty low

[Uncle Red]

Sorry, the red and black hard rubber pen is not a Waterman but a look-a-like. A real Waterman lever says "IDEAL" like this one on my Waterman 58

 

 

Also, that is not ripple pattern, I show the wood grain and Ripple patterns in this thread

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/236351-waterman-52-12-v-woodgrain/

 

Also, Waterman did not use Warranted nibs but it could be a replacement. That nib could be a wonderful writer if it got some professional TLC. I just watched Richard binder work on 2 of my nibs and I wont try it myself again.

[Plume145]

Sorry, the red and black hard rubber pen is not a Waterman but a look-a-like. A real Waterman lever says "IDEAL" like this one on my Waterman 58

 

 

Also, that is not ripple pattern, I show the wood grain and Ripple patterns in this thread

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/236351-waterman-52-12-v-woodgrain/

 

Also, Waterman did not use Warranted nibs but it could be a replacement. That nib could be a wonderful writer if it got some professional TLC. I just watched Richard binder work on 2 of my nibs and I wont try it myself again.

Yeah, this one's definitely going to a pro. I just don't know who to use, but when I figure it out that's where it goes

 

It makes sense it would be a fake - that explains a lot of little discrepancies between the two, including that clip. I don't mind that much though, only in so far as it makes it much harder to find out more about it since it looks like it's kind of a no-name brand.

[betweenthelens]

Can't wait to hear how it writes. If you love it, that's all that matters.

[Plume145]

Can't wait to hear how it writes. If you love it, that's all that matters.

yep, I'm kind of psyched now as well!

 

Okay, so for the celluloid, I'm ordering the caboodle to fix it myself. Should be fun!

 

For the hard rubber one, I need to find where to send it to for a god pen repair person. I know there are a couple locally (meaning Athens, Greece) but I have NO recommendations for them. They could be total butchers for all I know, because all I have is like a business card! I'd probably risk it for something more modern especially if I wasn't crazy into it, but not this. Any ideas on how to go about shopping around for pen repairs?

[betweenthelens]

Well, do you want to send it out of the country? Is there a local fountain pen club in Athens where you could attend a meeting and maybe meet people who might be able to direct you to a decent repair/restoration person?

[Plume145]

To be honest, if you gathered all the FP users in Athens in one place, I reckon you'd barely have enough people for a football match! And one team would be those snooty 'collector' types who keep buying expensive pens they barely ever use and are into the whole thing because they think it makes them look sophisticated - around here, FPs are above all a luxury or prestige item (case in point: almost impossible to find a pen in the under-$100 category, and even the ones in the $100-$300 price range are rare).

 

There is a very slight chance I can get a local recommendation if I show it to the local Montblanc repair person, because when I had some work done there we got to chatting and he struck me as the kind of repair person who doesn't just go through the motions, but as someone who actually likes pens and uses them himself. Unfortunately, that's no guarantee he will actually know anyone who works on old pens. I mean, it's actually a pretty long shot, all in all, so I'm not going to hold out for that, I'm just gonna focus on finding someone who comes recommended even if it means an overseas trip for the pen, except before I actually ship it out I'll make sure to ask locally as well, just to know I gave it a shot, you know?

 

If by some weird fluke the MB guy knows someone who does old pens, I'll pay the someone a visit and if I like what I see, then ok, I don't send the pen out. But TBH, that is a lot of 'ifs'

[betweenthelens]

Good luck, Plume. Please keep me posted!