Help! Is This Really An Astoria?

[Sarrelangue]

Hi!

 

I bought this safety years ago, as a rare Astoria.

 

Have never seen any similar piece. However I just found this info where an almost identical piece is identified as a

 

Waterman 42.

 

Difference is my safety has a 01 on the blind cap, Nib is a heart hole "Warranted 01"imprinted and a little bit more adorned.

 

Of course, no brand imprint on the pen.

 

Could it really be an Astoria?

 

Any help identifying it will be greatly appreciated.

 

Eda

 

 

http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o625/IncurableCollectors/DSC08257.jpg

 

 

 

/http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o625/IncurableCollectors/Book%20reference%20waterman%20monkeys.jpg

 

 

 

http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o625/IncurableCollectors/collage.jpg

[penparadise]

Looks like an Astoria but to be sure I like to see the spindle inside of the barrel.

The overlay is Italian and it was quite common to see similar overlays on pens of different brands in Italy.

[Sarrelangue]

Will take a picture ! By the way, what does SENR above the 18 ct stands for ?

[Sarrelangue]

Axel,

 

I didn´t dare to open it. (Not sure how to).

 

Any other way?

 

[niksch]

Will take a picture ! By the way, what does SENR above the 18 ct stands for ?

 

Would SENR be the artist's initials or mark?

[penparadise]

Axel,

 

I didn´t dare to open it. (Not sure how to).

 

Any other way?

 

 

Make an inquiry at maxpens.de

Her is the new owner of the brand Astoria and knows most about the vintage Astoria pens.

[penparadise]

 

Would SENR be the artist's initials or mark?

+1

This also is my guess.

[Tom Kellie]

~ I've only used Montblanc fountain pens of a recent vintage, therefore know almost nothing about their earlier models, aside from the 3-42 G.

Is Astoria a vintage sub-brand of Montblanc?

I've never heard of Astoria before. Unfortunately, where I work and live all international search engines are continuously blocked by the authorities, otherwise I'd have looked it up online.

The screenshot of the page above seems to say Waterman, yet it's here in the Montblanc forum rather than in the Waterman forum.

I hesitated asking this, as it may be that everyone else already knows this. After searching on a local search engine, nothing came up about an Astoria pen.

It's interesting, as I've never seen any pen like it.

The name Astoria holds special meaning for me because as a kid I fell from a tree and broke my right shoulder bones in Astoria, Oregon, near the mouth of the Columbia River.

Please forgive me if this question is naive or underinformed.

Tom K.

[Sarrelangue]

Thank you all !!!

 

[niksch]

Tom K.

 

The short answer is yes, Astoria is part of the old MB brand.

[zaddick]

Tom - Astoria was a related brand, and had many offerings similar to MB before becoming part of MB. About 7 years ago, the brand came back into the pen world and is owned by renowned MB repair maestro Horst Max Schrage. He makes thr pens by hand now. Here is an excerpt from his site astoriapen.net:

 

The Astoria company was founded in 1921 by a former Montblanc company director Georg Ilger and his colleagues Herman Dietzel, Siegmund Popper and Wilhelm Frings. The Astoria fountain pens bear a strong resemblance to those of Montblanc. The Astoria logo is also reminiscent of the black and white of Montblanc.

 

Many of the Astoria writing instruments originally produced were exported. The collection included Safety Fountain Pens and the Lever-Action pen which were often embellished with an overlay of gold or silver. Later also pushbutton pens followed.

 

In the 1930's Astoria encountered financial difficulties and was taken over by Montblanc in 1932. Montblanc continued to manage Astoria until 1936.

 

The Astoria company was resurrected again in 2009, in 2010 I acquired the trademark rights.

 

The uniqueness of Astoria is a combination of the special use of Ebonite as a material and the intense and individual hand craftmanship that goes into every pen. Each and every pen of Astoria is designed and constructed by hand in order to create a unique and individual high product. Even the ink feeders are made from Ebonite in exact detail so that the highest standards of Astoria are fulfilled.

[Tom Kellie]

[Ghost Plane]

Learned a bunch. Thanks!

[Sarrelangue]

Just confirmed it is an Astoria !!!

 

A local Astoria collector expert opened it and confirmed it.