Help Trying To Identify A Vintage Fountain Pen

[Zillaxila]

Hello Fountain Pen Community,

 

I recently bought a Vintage Fountain Pen on Ebay. It is a beautiful Ebonite in a Red Ripple pattern. The listing said:

 

The Eric Pen. Made in England circa 1925. Solid 18cts warranted gold nib imprinted Osmi-iridium Anglaterre.

 

As you can see it is a wonderful pen, bought it for 49$ which is a great find for me since I wanted a Red Ripple but the Watermans were too expensive for my budget.

 

Please see the images posted below and if someone can identify better the brand and history of this pen I would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks for the help!

[mallymal1]

It is indeed a wonderful pen!

 

I can't say that I've ever heard of 'The Eric Pen' though, and I hope that someone can come up with an ID. Is there an inscription you could photograph?

 

I think that the pattern would be more correctly termed Woodgrain, rather than Red Ripple as found on Watermans pens.

 

Thanks for showing us this excellent find.

[Zillaxila]

You are correct, woodgrain is a better word for the pattern, however was listed as a "red ripple"

It says Ideal on the lever which is a Watermans signature word, on the barrel it says " The Eric Pen made in England" this is what was listed on the description on Ebay.

I am waiting to receive the pen, the seller was from France so I'll have to be patient

 

Very hard to find information on this pen.

 

As soon as I receive it, I am going to clean it, remove all the rust on the clip, and polish the ebonite.

And then I will post better pictures of it.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I believe I read that the Bohler brothers bought up the Osmia(m) patent from a Heidelberg Professor in the early '20's. They I believe started their company Osmia in 1922. It was one of the better 'rare earth-iridium' compounds for tipping nibs..

It was common for Pen companies to make nibs for other companies.....in the '20s MB made nibs for Pelikan. Later Osmia made nibs for other companies.

 

So the nib could have been made by Osmia, or the tipping bought from them under that very up to the second great tipping patent....which would have been known at least in Europe as fantastic tipping. They would advertize that tipping.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[peterg]

As the nib was made in England I doubt if it was made by Osmium. It sounds like an English pen made for export like the Le Tigre Conway Stewarts. 18 carat and the wording sugest it was made for one of the Francophile countries.

 

Mentmore/ Platignum pens often said Osmi-iridium on their nibs, as did Unique (who had offices in Switzerland) but they generally had plain discs on the filler lever. A close up of the disc might help to identify its origin.

 

It would be interesting if it does say Ideal as it would mean they were exporting to a country that already had a Waterman importer/ manufacturer

[Orrell Post]

I have just looked through 'Waterman Past and Present the first six decades' book. There are woodgrain pens in there, one with same cap but no body bands and one with the body bands but no clip the Eye dropper-fill section. Although there are woodgrain pens in the Ripple and 7X series section none with the same body and cap as in the picture.

 

Could it have been made by Waterman for a shop? I have a Conway Stewart called 'The Abingdon' made for a shop at Balckpool.

 

In the UK Max Davis who co authered the book has a website www.vintage watermanpens.co.uk He might be able to assist you. If you are in the US the other author Gary Lehrer www.gopens.com might help

[Orrell Post]

It looks like it could be a Number 56 made in France but that does not account for Eric!

 

5 = lever fill, 6 = 2 gold bands i.e. 56

Edited August 28, 2014 by Orrell Post

[Zillaxila]

Well I cant say much of the origin of the brand. The pen is not in mu hands still waiting to arrive. As soon as I get it I will post better pictures and more details of the pen, I expect it to arrive in around 2 weeks.

Thanks for the help, hopefully someone knows more about this brand.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I'm no expert in this, but it sounds like the point was made in England specifically for trade to France ("Angleterre" and the French preference for 18K). The lever may have been taken out of a Waterman to replace a broken original, so don't put too much weight on it saying "Ideal".

 

There were such swarms of smaller pen makers in the first half of the century; The Eric Pen may well have fallen between the cracks of history. I found this one, which has the same shape of lever as a Waterman, but which actually says ERIC on the end; this bolsters my thought that the Waterman lever is a replacement, but does little else to help.

[Zillaxila]

Hmmmm interesting, the person on the forum also calls it "The Eric Pen".

Yes it seems the lever was replaced for a Watermans Ideal since it is a different trim than the bands and clip.

[Uncle Red]

It looks like it could be a Number 56 made in France but that does not account for Eric!

 

5 = lever fill, 6 = 2 gold bands i.e. 56

5 is lever fill and 6 would be the nib size and that is not a #6 nib. A 656 would be a 56 with 2 solid gold barrel rings. That looks like a copy cat.

[mallymal1]

I'm no expert in this, but it sounds like the point was made in England specifically for trade to France ("Angleterre" and the French preference for 18K). The lever may have been taken out of a Waterman to replace a broken original, so don't put too much weight on it saying "Ideal".

 

There were such swarms of smaller pen makers in the first half of the century; The Eric Pen may well have fallen between the cracks of history. I found this one, which has the same shape of lever as a Waterman, but which actually says ERIC on the end; this bolsters my thought that the Waterman lever is a replacement, but does little else to help.

 

Nice find, Ernst.

 

I wonder if the lever will turn out to be marked ERIC rather than IDEAL?

[Uncial]

Are you sure it says 'Eric'? The reason I ask is because I have seen a vintage pen by a UK maker called 'Epic' and wondered if maybe the 'p' has rubbed off so much that it looks like an 'r'.

[Ernst Bitterman]

The one I linked to is a little fuzzy in the close-up of the lever, but I'd put a small amount of money on it being an R rather than a P; the second leg is pretty obvious. On the OP pen, though... worth a good close look, certainly.

[Zillaxila]

Hello everyone.

 

As I promised here are pictures of the pen. I received it yesterday, and today I restored it to a mint condition. The pen is more beautiful than i expected, as said before, it is an red and black ebonite woodgrain style. The barrell is imprinted "The Eric Pen" made in England, and on the botton says 6B. The lever is silver plated and it resembles the ideal style lever from Waterman's. It has two gold band rings. The cap is simple and has a stopper type clip that is imprinted "Ideal" on the center. This clip can be removed, and I guess comes from the Waterman's factory. The pen works perfectly, it has an ebonite feed also woodgrained that matches the section and the barrell. The nib is 18cts Warranted "Osmi-Iridium" Anglaterre. It is sooooo flexible that is scary, very soft gold, it goes from hairline to easily 1.9 mm line. It pours a lot of ink to the paper, very nice!

 

For what I paid for the pen, i think it has much more value for what it is. Very happy with the buy and excited to add it to my collection!

[Crazyorange]

Wow.....just beautiful. How does it write? Any flex?

 

Oops...reread your post. Got the nib info. Can you post a writing sample?

Edited September 13, 2014 by Crazyorange

[Zillaxila]

Here is a writing sample. Ink is Visconti black, paper Clairefontaine creme color. This by far is the flexiest nib that i own in a pen, a little bit toothy but the hairline is wonderful and flexes up to 2.00mm aprox.

[balson]

Wow.....just beautiful. How does it write? Any flex?

 

Oops...reread your post. Got the nib info. Can you post a writing sample?

 

Hello everyone.

 

As I promised here are pictures of the pen. I received it yesterday, and today I restored it to a mint condition. The pen is more beautiful than i expected, as said before, it is an red and black ebonite woodgrain style. The barrell is imprinted "The Eric Pen" made in England, and on the botton says 6B. The lever is silver plated and it resembles the ideal style lever from Waterman's. It has two gold band rings. The cap is simple and has a stopper type clip that is imprinted "Ideal" on the center. This clip can be removed, and I guess comes from the Waterman's factory. The pen works perfectly, it has an ebonite feed also woodgrained that matches the section and the barrell. The nib is 18cts Warranted "Osmi-Iridium" Anglaterre. It is sooooo flexible that is scary, very soft gold, it goes from hairline to easily 1.9 mm line. It pours a lot of ink to the paper, very nice!

 

For what I paid for the pen, i think it has much more value for what it is. Very happy with the buy and excited to add it to my collection!

 

i have definitely seen that lever box on a french pen called "the 'swell' pen". i belive its a job lot lever box because i have two pens of the same brand and they have different lever boxes

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zP0_ZAUgYAk/VBUieL4GjqI/AAAAAAAABUs/bk0hQVtFPgo/s1600/the%2Bswell%2Bpen%2Bleverbox.jpg

[mallymal1]

Good to see it in its fully restored glory. Nice one!

[Crazyorange]

Here is a writing sample. Ink is Visconti black, paper Clairefontaine creme color. This by far is the flexiest nib that i own in a pen, a little bit toothy but the hairline is wonderful and flexes up to 2.00mm aprox.

Ssswwweeetttt. You got yourself one amazing pen. Congrats!!!