Waterman 52 – Super Flex  (On Ebay)

This Waterman 52 is in BCHR. The hard rubber has faded some to a dark brown. The chasing is worn but still has some texture. The imprints are also readable but worn. The cap chasing is either worn smooth or this is a cap from a 52 without chasing and not original to the pen. The also has no clip.  There is some plate loss to the edges of the nickel plated lever. The 14kt. Waterman #2 nib is a smooth writing XF (0.3mm), though a bit dry with normal writing. It has some good flex going up to 1.8mm with pretty good responsiveness. However, the ease of flex could be better. I grade this as a lower tier super flex nib.

SIZE:  5 3/8″ Capped

NIB: Waterman #2, F to BBB (0.3mm-1.9mm),  Super Flex  (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Lever

CONDITION: Good

Restration Work:

• Pen (barrel, section, nib, feed, & cap) thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib and trim polished
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned
• Nib and feed tuned to write smoothly and with optimal flow
• Test driven for at least a week to insure quality

Unbranded Vintage Eyedropper with Gold Filled Filigree – Wet Noodle  (On Ebay)

Here is an unbranded eye dropper most likely made during the first twenty years of the 1900s. It’s a well made pen with just a few flaws that use and time have added. Overall, the pen looks very nice. The gold-filled filigree overlay has little to no brassing. The black hard rubber under the overlay is pretty black on the barrel, but has faded some to a dark brown under the filigree on the cap. There is a a beautiful engraving that reads “MJM” in a lovely script. The pen appeared to have had a clip at one point where there is now just a small hole in the cap and a small crack coming from the hole. The filigree overlay protects the cap from the crack spreading any further. There are some scratches on the hard rubber parts of the barrel between the filigree, and marks at the end of the barrel where the cap has been posted. The 14kt. Conklin #3 nib is not original to the pen, but it is a lovely wet noodle. It has an almost paintbrush ease of flesh and is extremely responsive. It allows for tremendous control of your flexing. It writes normal as a soft, smooth XF. The only downside to the nib is that it requires really wet ink for the feed to keep up. The pictures are of Sailor Souten and Iroshizuku inks also work great. But my Diamine Turquoise, for example, did railroad too much for my taste.

SIZE:  5 3/8″ Capped

NIB: Conklin Toledo #3., XF to BBB (0.3mm-1.8mm),  WET NOODLE (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Eye-Dropper

CONDITION: Excellent

Restration Work:

• Pen (barrel, section, nib, feed, & cap) thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib polished and tuned to write smoothly
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned and adjusted for optimal flow
• GF overlay buffed and polished
• Test driven for a week to insure quality

Mabie Todd Swan 1500 – Wet Noodle  (See Price Here)

Here is a made in England Mabie Todd Swan 1500 with a soft wet noodle nib with huge flex. This pen has pretty common wear for a BCHR pen. It has faded some to a dark brown. The chasing has worn some as well but does still have some texture. The imprints still look pretty good with just a bit of wear. The accommodation clip has significant wear as the photos show. The Mabie Todd 14kt. nib is a special nib. The flex is almost paintbrush soft and goes all the way to 2.5mm! It writes normally as XF/F. It writes smoothly normally but takes a light hand otherwise it will write more like a wet Fine. The feed is plenty wet to keep up with the monster flex. Great pen with a wet noodle nib of a quality that is hard to find.  (See Price Here)

SIZE:  5 3/8″ Capped

NIB: Mabie Todd Swan, XF to BBB (0.35mm-2.5mm),  WET NOODLE (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Eyedropper

CONDITION: Good

Restration Work:

• Pen thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib polished and tuned to write smoothly
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned and adjusted for optimal flow
• Test driven for a week to insure quality

Onoto Self Filling Ring Top – Super Flex (On Ebay)

Onoto is a UK manufacturer of high quality pens. They are known for their early adoption of the plunger/ vac filling system. A system which is still very popular today in high end pens. This is a beautiful example of an Onoto. Hard rubber is still very black with little to no fading. The chasing is still very crisp, as are the imprints. The pen has a slip cap, and it is crack free. The gold filled ring top has little to no brassing on it. I have completely restored the old plunger filling system replacing the old parts with new parts tailored made for Onoto vintage pens, so it works like new. The 14kt. Onoto nib is nice a writing, but very wet, F. It has a hint of feedback. The flex is great going up to 2.0mm with a very nice springy responsiveness. And if you ever start railroading, just open the plunger a little and the flow will be more than sufficient. A great pen with a great filling system for the collector or the user alike.

SIZE:  5″ Capped

NIB: 14kt. Onoto, F to BBB (0.4mm-2.0mm)  SUPER FLEX (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Plunger Filler

CONDITION: Near Mint

Restration Work:

• Pen thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib polished and tuned to write smoothly
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned and adjusted for optimal flow
• Pen filling system fully restored (new plunger and cork seal).
• Test driven for a week to insure quality

Waterman 3 – Super Flex  (On Ebay)

Here is a Waterman 3 in black celluloid. The pen is in decent condition. It does have a few lights scratches, but noting major. As you can see, I’ve buffed it to a nice shine. The chrome plated clip and lever do haves some wear most of the plating is still there. The thin band on the cap is missing. The imprints are still very good. The 14kt. Waterman #2 is a nice writing XF/F nib. It is smooth with just a little feedback and not overly wet. It has very good range flex going up to 1.8mm. It isn’t the softest super flex nib, but you get good line variation pretty easily. No worries about railroading here. It keeps up like a champ. And it has a nice snappy responsiveness to go with that flow.

SIZE:  5″ Capped

NIB: Waterman #2, XF/F to BBB (0.35mm-1.8mm),  Super Flex  (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Lever

CONDITION: Excellent

Restration Work:

• Pen (barrel, section, nib, feed, & cap) thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib and trim polished
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned
• Nib and feed tuned to write smoothly and with optimal flow
• Body buffed and polished
• New Sac Installed
• Test driven for at least a week to insure quality

Conklin BCHR Ring Top- Good Flex – (On Ebay)

Here is a very nice Conklin Ring Top in BCHR in near mint condition. The hard rubber is still very black with almost no fading. The chasing and imprints are very crisp.  The gold filled ring top and lever have no brassing. The pen has an inscription on the side that reads “MRS. N. M. RUSSELL.” The pen looks to have hardly been used. The 14kt. #2 Conklin Toledo nib is an ultra, buttery smooth F. It is wet but not overly so, and really it kind of feels more like a M. Great writer. The flex is good, but this feed really needs a wet ink. The R&K Solferino did very good, but some of my Diamine inks were railroading. If the feed were better, I’d grade this a Super Flex. Line variation is excellent going up to 1.9mm! It’s hard to find a vintage BCHR pen that looks this nice, and this one is a great writer with good flex.

SIZE:  4 3/8″ Capped

NIB:  Conklin Toledo #2, F to BBB (0.4mm-1.9mm) GOOD FLEX (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Lever

CONDITION: Near Mint

Restoration Work:

• Pen thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned
• Body and trim cleaned and trim polished
• New sac installed
• Nib tuned to write smoothly
• Nib and feed aligned for optimal flow
• Test driven for a week to insure quality

The Salz Pen – Wet Noodle (On Ebay)

Here is a Salz Brothers Inc. BCHR pen. Salz was a pen company in New York that made pens of various quality. I believe they changed their name in the 30s, so this would predate that (but be after the founding in 1918). This pen appears to be of decent quality. The black hard rubber has virtually no fading and has maintained the striped chasing very well. The imprint looks almost new. There is some wear on the gold filled lever, but the nickel plated clip is in very good condition. There is a small crack (see pic) going through the threads and a little into the barrel of the pen. I bonded the crack and shellacked the barrel to the section for stability. It will not a be a problem, but will require heat to remove the section in the future. The 14kt. nib is an ultra smooth writing Medium that has near paint brush ease of flex. It definitely qualifies as a wet noodle. The nib, however, does have a tiny crack from the back of the air hole to the top of the “A” in “Warranted.” The crack is quite stable, but it is there. Still this nib writes beautifully and flexes with ease up to 2.4mm. A pure pleasure to use.

SIZE:  5 3/8″ Capped

NIB: Warranted 14kt., M to BBB (0.6mm-2.4mm),  WET NOODLE (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Lever

CONDITION: Fair

Restration Work:

• Pen (barrel, section, nib, feed, & cap) thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib polished and tuned to write smoothly
• New Ink sac installed
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned and adjusted for optimal flow
• GF overlay buffed and polished
• New pressure bar installed
• Test driven for a week to insure quality

Waterman 0552 – Super Flex  (On Ebay)

Here is a Waterman 52 likely from a European market as the overlay appears to not have been done in a U.S. or Canadian factory and it is stamped as a 52 rather than a 0552. Gold filled overlays were a common addition to Watermans sold in Europe. The overlay overall looks very nice. There are a few extra holes in the cap (you can see some of them), but I’m not sure what there function is. The clip is in very nice condition, but it did loose it’s ball. There is the inscription “F. M.” in script, and there is some brassing around the inscription. There is a little more brassing on a small portion of the bottom of the cap. It blends well into the pen and is hard to capture in a picture. Imprints at the end of the barrel are all readable. The 14kt. Waterman #2 is a stubish F that writes with some nice character. It has flexes very nicely up to 2.1mm and has some pretty nice responsiveness. This is a high quality, solid 52 with a great nib.

SIZE:  5 3/8″ Capped

NIB: Waterman #2, F to BBB (0.5mm-2.1mm),  Super Flex  (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Lever

CONDITION: Excellent

Restration Work:

• Pen (barrel, section, nib, feed, & cap) thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib and trim polished
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned
• Nib and feed tuned to write smoothly and with optimal flow
• Overlay cleaned and polished
• Test driven for at least a week to insure quality

Wahl-Eversharp Skyline – Super Flex – (On Ebay)

Here is a standard size Skyline in black with a gold trim cap. The pen is in good condition. There are some lights scratches on the barrel as is typical of these pens, but nothing deep and I have buffed a good deal of it out. The gold filled cap and trim has no dings or brassing, which is somewhat hard to find in a Skyline. The barrel does have the inscription “E L FRIEND.” The 14kt. Eversharp nib is a very wet M/F (0.5mm) with some nice flex. I would consider this a lower tier super flex nib as it is on the stiffer side of super flex. Still, it is a great, smooth writer and flex writing is pretty easy to accomplish.

SIZE:  5 1/4″ Capped

NIB: Eversharp 14kt., F/M to BBB (0.5mm-1.9mm) SUPER FLEX (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Lever

CONDITION: Excellent

Restoration Work:

• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned
• Nib and feed adjusted for optimal flow
• New sac installed
• Pen thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Body buffed for scratches
• Body and trim cleaned and polished
• Test driven for a week to insure quality

Waterma 52 1/2 – Good Flex   (On Ebay)

This Waterman 52 1/2 is in good condition with a few caveats. It is faded to a dark brown. The chasing still has quite a bit of texture to it. Imprints have a bit of wear but are still readable. There is not brassing on the gold filled trim. There is, however, a crack in the cap. It goes up from the lip of the cap and turns horizontal for a few millimeters a little below the breather hole (see pic). At some point a band was added to the bottom of the cap to keep the crack stable. I have also bonded the crack together. It isn’t very noticeable if you aren’t looking for it, and it’s not going to grow anymore. The added band has a few dings and scuffs on it (see pic). The 14kt. Waterman #2 nib is a nice writing XF with some good flex. Some would call this a semi-flex as it only flexes to 1.6mm. However, the flex comes quite easy and has a very nice responsiveness to it making it easy to do some nice flex work.

SIZE:  5 1/4″ Capped

NIB: Waterman #2, XF to BB (0.3mm-1.6mm)  GOOD FLEX (See “Grading Flex Nibs” for How I Grade)

FILLING: Lever

CONDITION: Good

Restration Work:

• Pen thoroughly cleaned & flushed
• Nib polished and tuned to write smoothly
• Nib and feed ultrasonically cleaned and adjusted for optimal flow
• New sac installed
• Reattached lever
• Test driven for a week to insure quality