22 replies to this topic

[Procyon]

One of my favorite pens to use is the Waterman 94. It seems to be just about the size I like in a pen and the #4 nib is usually a good writer, with a bit of flex in most cases. I just took a couple of pictures of my collection, and thought I would share.




L to R: All Sets: Blue & Cream, Moss Agate, Persian, Olive Ripple in HR, Blue-Green Ripple in HR, Rose Ripple in HR.







L to R: 2 Blue & Creams, Blue-Green Ripple in HR, Olive Ripple in HR, 494 Silver Overlay in Bay Leaf Pattern, Black HR with 9K half overlay, Mahogany, Silver Pearl and Red set, 2 Silver Pearl and Reds.

[david i]

Hi,

That's a remarkable collection, showing again the power of focused collecting.

I don't own the following, and have the image of the full pen lying about somewhere else, but this black Waterman 94 became a nifty award pen.

regards

david

[david i]

Too, at home, I have Moss Agate Waterman 94 from Canada that is a most unusual tweak on the series. Will post that end of this week, if I can find the pen.

regards

david

[Dan in NYC]

Beautiful collection, it made me go and look at my 94s. You have two of the pen and pencil sets in silver pearl and red, I just realized that I have several such pens but only one of some of the other colors, was silver pearl and red the popular color then?

Dan

[John Jenkins]

Very nice collection. I've got three black plastic 94s. Two have the colored disk in the barrel butt end with matching nibs in red and pink. 94s are a fun model that isn't so big that you don't have to collect for a hundred years to assemble a relatively complete series.
JJ

[Procyon]

Beautiful collection, it made me go and look at my 94s. You have two of the pen and pencil sets in silver pearl and red, I just realized that I have several such pens but only one of some of the other colors, was silver pearl and red the popular color then?

Dan

That's a good question, Dan, and I don't know the answer. It does seem like I see more of these than most of the other colors. However, the fact that I have quite a few of them is not really an indicator of popularity or availability. For instance, I have quite a few blue and cream 94's, and those are actually sort of hard to find. But I usually try to buy every one of the blue and creams I come across.

By the way, I don't really know what Waterman called the silver pearl color. Fischler and Schneider gives it two names: "Red and Gray Marble" and "Steel Quartz". Davis and Lehrer call it "Silver Pearl". Since Davis and Lehrer is dedicated to Waterman pens, I decided to call it "Silver Pearl and Red", because I thought the red part is sort of striking. Sheaffer used a plastic that was pretty much the same, but I don't know what they called it, either.

Regards, Allan Goforth

Edited by Procyon, 08 October 2012 - 03:12 AM.

[david i]

Beautiful collection, it made me go and look at my 94s. You have two of the pen and pencil sets in silver pearl and red, I just realized that I have several such pens but only one of some of the other colors, was silver pearl and red the popular color then?

Dan

That's a good question, Dan, and I don't know the answer. It does seem like I see more of these than most of the other colors. However, the fact that I have quite a few of them is not really an indicator of popularity or availability. For instance, I have quite a few blue and cream 94's, and those are actually sort of hard to find. But I usually try to buy every one of the blue and creams I come across.

By the way, I don't really know what Waterman called the silver pearl color. Fischler and Schneider gives it two names: "Red and Gray Marble" and "Steel Quartz". Davis and Lehrer call it "Silver Pearl". Since Davis and Lehrer is dedicated to Waterman pens, I decided to call it "Silver Pearl and Red", because I thought the red part is sort of striking. Sheaffer used a plastic that was pretty much the same, but I don't know what they called it, either.

Regards, Allan Goforth

Hi,

Waterman called it Grey (might be "Gray". My catalogue is not with me). Couple-few catalogues and several ads.

Despite widespread claims for the following name, no one has offered me any period literature supporting "Steel Quartz" for this color, which is a documented Waterman name for a different color, the gray-pearl with caramel streaks, found with the Waterman #3 pen.

regards

david

[plmadding]

Thank you for the pictures!

I was just thinking about asking if someone had a picture to post showing many of the different colors the 94 came in. I recently bought a 94 set in Mahogany which is quite beautiful!! For what it's worth...they seems to be offered on Ebay...(at least lately) more in Mahogany than the other colors.

I just looked at the 1933 catalog, and the colors are listed as Grey, Brown, and Blue.

Preston

Edited by plmadding, 08 October 2012 - 04:24 AM.

[sloegin]

Nice collection!

A post on the variants of the 94 at Lion&Pen, link.

[david i]

Nice collection!

A post on the variants of the 94 at Lion&Pen, link.

A classic review. Still, I remain with the notion that our hobby has not supported the claimed "Steel Quartz" label for the gray Waterman 94.

regards

david

[Rocco P]

Thanks for the pictures.

David, may I ask you to please share the story of the 100% pen?

Rocco

[plmadding]

Nice collection!

A post on the variants of the 94 at Lion&Pen, link.

A classic review. Still, I remain with the notion that our hobby has not supported the claimed "Steel Quartz" label for the gray Waterman 94.

regards

david

Just to add some specifics from the 1933 and 1936 catalog...

In 1933:

The 94 was listed as "Grey" in reference to the silver with red spots, as you earlier mentioned.

The No. 3V is listed as "Steel Quartz" which appears to be a primarily grey pen with orange streaks.


In 1936:

The 94 is listed as "Grey" again.

The No. 3S, 3V-S, 92-S, and 92V-S are all listed as being available in "Steel Quartz." The illustration shows again grey with orange streaks.



Preston

[david i]

Thanks for the pictures.

David, may I ask you to please share the story of the 100% pen?

Rocco

Hi Rocco,

Not much story I'm afraid. It belongs/belonged to a friend of one of our FPB Advisors. Black pen with numerous "100%" stamps and an IBM 1936 award marking on smooth cap-band. Presumably, this was an award pen for someone who did very well at some task for IBM. It thus lacks the cachet that would be assigned to a pen that was an award pen within Waterman's structure and is more of a logo/corporate item, but still has charm, given how significant a company IBM has been.

regards

david

[david i]

Here is a Waterman #3 in the color documented by Waterman as Steel Quartz.

Gray pearlescent with caramel streaks. Not the gray pearlescent with red spots as shown for "Gray" for the 94

regards

david

[wekiva98]

I have three 94s from the 1930s: moss agate, grey and black. The moss agate is the only one I've restored, and I find it a pleasure to use. The black is the oddball, since it is a Number 5 in everything (as near as I can tell) but the red "94" disc on the barrel end. The black one is engraved for the 1937 semi-centennial celebration in Lake County, Fla., west of Orlando. Since this was not a cheap pen, I suspect these were presented to people involved in the celebration or its planning. Frank Waterman (president of Waterman) was a prominent resident of the county at the time, but I don't know if there is any direct link to him. Won't be able to get the real story without some digging.

Edited by wekiva98, 08 October 2012 - 09:45 AM.

[david i]

And, speaking of Waterman's "Gray", the gray-with-red-specks...

I added couple interesting items to my collection during the last year.

The first is a Gold Bond oversized flat-top. Gold Bond was a Montgomery Ward house brand (equivalent to Diamond Medal for Sears), with pens made by different makers for them over the years. Rebadged pens, we call them. This one possibly was made by National Pen Company, though in the case of National "rebadged" becomes an odd term since it is not clear to me that National made anything but pens for other house brands. If all one's output is other-branded...

Anyway, Gold Bond has nothing for which to apologize. The best of them are top quality pens, on par with the best of Parker, Sheaffer, etc. Big pens. Well made, Appropriate sized nibs (no mini nibs seen on some cheap big pens).

The pen below is the only Gold Bond oversized pen i"ve ever seen in the Waterman Gray plastic. Here it the pen, dwarfing the not-so-small Waterman 94

And then I found something else done in this plastic

regards

david

[plmadding]

Here is the only Gold Bond I have. It happens to be in this same celluloid. I think it is a really neat looking pen with the triple cap bands and faceted cap and barrel.

It is just slightly shorter than a 94.









Preston

[Procyon]

I thought that Sheaffer had a grey pen in the same pattern, but it appears to be slightly different. Instead of red "flecks" it seems to have red "veins".

[Pensee]

Thought I'd posted reply/question earlier, but must've hit "preview" instead of post. If shows double apologies. Delete it.

David i: Pen & matching *knife* ? Sheesh! Might as well hang it up & go home! ; )

Procyon: Wonderful pictures & proof positive for me about good doctor's suggesting *focused* pen collecting.

So if you're willing to field question the greenhorn peanut gallery-- how long did it take you to obtain such a complete & handsome looking collection?

thx

--Bruce

[Procyon]

Thought I'd posted reply/question earlier, but must've hit "preview" instead of post. If shows double apologies. Delete it.

David i: Pen & matching *knife* ? Sheesh! Might as well hang it up & go home! ; )

Procyon: Wonderful pictures & proof positive for me about good doctor's suggesting *focused* pen collecting.

So if you're willing to field question the greenhorn peanut gallery-- how long did it take you to obtain such a complete & handsome looking collection?

thx

--Bruce

Hi Bruce,

I am not sure I deserve David's praise for "focused" collecting. I do like the 94's in particular, and have tried to acquire those. I guess I have been collecting pens for about 20 years, starting first with Parker Duofolds. I have probably been looking for 94's for about 15 years. I have a large collection of Parker Duofolds, Waterman Overlays, Waterman ripples, Wahl Flat Tops, Waterman Patricians, Wahl Deco Bands, Conklin Enduras, and a bunch of other ones. All in all, I think about 500 pens, although it's been a long time since I counted them. Lately, I have been acquiring Parker 51s - a pen I never cared for until I started using one. Then I appreciated the genius of the design (although I still think it's ugly).

Regards and Happy Searching,

Allan Goforth