Product Description
Type Vintage fountain pen
Product Name Model 552 1/2. This is a version of the model 52 in a solid gold overlay and slender barrel.
Manufacturer and Year Waterman, USA - circa 1920s. The overlay may have been done outside the US, based on the hallmarks.
Length 5-1/8"
Filling System Lever filler (We've replaced the bladder and it's working very well.)
Color 9k solid gold overlay. Smooth, no patterning. The section is black hard rubber. The pen is personalized on the barrel, "C.G. Brignell. Cambridge".
Nib FLEXIBLE FINE. The nib is marked Waterman's Ideal Reg US Pat Off . Flexible nib writes from fine to a double broad. Very close to what we would call full flex, but everyone has their own ideas of terms for flex, so please refer to this pen's writing sample below.
Condition Very nice condition. This is a very shiny, glowing pen this is slim and trim in appearance. The section is a nice, dark black hard rubber with no fading and only light marks. The barrel has two cracks on the edge, where it meets the black hard rubber. (We think perhaps the hard rubber piece with the threads was replaced, and in doing so they cracked the solid gold overlay which was soft.) It has light to some moderate scratching. The cap has light scratching. There are some chips along the cap lip and one short crack near the "Ideal" logo. There are a few small dents and some small, deep scratch marks. The top piece of the cap has moderate scratching. The lever has some pitting and brassing on the front. The clip has a few little scratches and some pitting around the top pin and along the top edge. The barrel has an imprint, "C.G. Brignell. Cambridge." The imprints and hallmarks are clear.