1940\'s Waterman Commando Fountain Pen; Black; 14K Flex 1.5mm Stub Nib Restored
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
1940\'s Waterman Commando Fountain Pen; Black; 14K Flex 1.5mm Stub Nib Restored:
$217.50
1940\'s Waterman Commando Fountain Pen; Black; 14K Flex 1.5mm Stub Nib! Restored 1940\'s Waterman Commando Fountain Pen; Black; 14K Flex 1.5mm Stub Nib! Restored
Click images to enlarge
DescriptionThis Waterman Commando Fountain Pen model was introduced in 1941 soon after the USA entered WWII. Initially, it was made out of Lucite like some of the Hundred Year pens, but Waterman soon changed the material to Celluloid, a very popular material at the time. The official name for the Black Celluloid material was called \'Jet\'. The Commando was initially offered in only 4 colors and some models had the colored ends like on the Hundred Year pens, but like the Hundred Year pens, the colored barrel ends are almost always crystallized and have literally crumbled and are usually missing. Modern day material replacements are available. The Commando line was discontinued in about 1946 after the war ended. Many fountain pen companies had taken advantage of the war, and introduced pens with names, like Saratoga, Defender, Admiral, Commandant, Valiant and Vigilant. As the war was winding down, it was time to introduce new models with new names. The Commando met military regulations in that hardly any of the pen stuck out of the uniform pocket. Sheaffer made a pen with a military clip as did several other manufacturers.
The Commando was actually a very well constructed pen. The clip is riveted to the cap and the Celluloid cap and barrel were very sturdy. Despite its non-fancy design, Waterman still used a very nice sized No. 5, 14K Solid Gold nib of exceptional quality, although I think the nib in the pen is much larger and might be a factory custom nib. On this pen, the clip and cap bands are brass free as is the filling lever. One of the cap bands has a patina on it and it just doesn\'t seem to want to come off completely. I didn\'t want to rub off the gold plating on the adjacent cap band so I stopped. The clip and cap bands are nice and tight on the cap as they should be. The imprint on the clip is: \'WATERMANS\'. The barrel imprint is nice and crisp as well. This pen was disassembled, ultrasonically cleaned, hand polished and reassembled with a new large long ink sac.
The 14K Solid Gold nib is exquisite! It has a very crisp imprint; \'WATERMANS IDEAL U.S. PAT. OFF MADE IN U.S.A.\' I\'m looking at this nib with a 10X loupe, and I\'m only seeing those typical micro scratches. Tine alignment is spot on. I\'m wondering if this is a Waterman\'s custom made nib. It is a flexible Stub and measures about 1.5mm in width at the tip! Yet it doesn\'t look like it was re-tipped as the gold tines are about as wide as the tipping material as if it was made wide, not just a wide amount of tipping material added. This is the first one like this that I have ever seen on a vintage pen - ever, on any brand of high end pens. The nib is about an \'EF\' with a light touch and about about a \'BBBB\' or maybe wider with a heavier hand. I dipped it in ink to create the writing sample and it wrote very wet. Despite that, the entire writing sample was done with one dip of the pen, so the feed holds a lot of ink. No skipping either. It has been my experience that when filled with ink, the pen will not write quite as wet. The nib also looks longer than what I am used to seeing on a Waterman pen. From a flex stand point I would classify it as almost butter soft.
The cap and barrel look excellent - just minor scratches from normal use - nothing really noticeable. There are no cap edge cracks or teeth marks on the cap or end of the barrel and black shows everything! Overall length capped is right at 5 1/16 inches, and just over 6 inches with the cap posted, so a full length pen of medium-thick girth - it seems just a tiny bit thinner than a Parker Vacumatic Major, but not much.
Waterman was one of the \'Big Three\' and survived the Great Depression along with Sheaffer and Parker. They were all rivals and were always trying to get a step ahead. All three had a worldwide presence, and each had patented numerous innovative components. Sheaffer owned the patent on pinning the filling lever to the barrel. To get around it, Waterman designed and patented a filling lever that sits in a box of sorts and is dropped into a rectangular slot cut into the barrel. It is actually an extremely robust design. The pinning of the lever can sometimes cause the barrel to swell/warp in that area and they are very difficult to service. The Waterman box lever is rather easy to remove and install. The lever also \'locks\' down and won\'t pop up like many do during use.
This is an extremely nice and quite rare Waterman Commando. It would easily make a solid signature pen - pull this out at a signing and you will own the table! It might also make a very nice calligraphy pen. Add it to your fountain pen collection, but please, put in the front row. It looks like a common black fountain pen until you take the cap off the cap and then, wow! I really hesitated selling it, but my everyday pens are a Waterman Emblem pen, a Taperite Stateleigh and a Taperite Stars and Stripes. All have nice flexy nibs - my favorite. A nib this wide, despite its beauty, just wouldn\'t work for every day use for me.
Shipping is $4.80 for Domestic First Class Mail. International shipping is via calculated First Class Mail. Insurance is included on both Domestic and International shipments.
.
Pictures sell!
Auctiva offers Free Image Hosting and Editing.250+ Listing Templates!
Auctiva gets you noticed!
The complete Selling Solution.
Track Page Views With
Auctiva\'s FREE Counter
1940\'s Waterman Commando Fountain Pen; Black; 14K Flex 1.5mm Stub Nib Restored:
$217.50