Hi Vasco,
The first site you mention was set up by Jonathan Donahaye, who is unfortunately no longer with us. The site has therefore not been updated for about 7 years, and our knowledge has moved on a lot since then. There are a plenty of known errors and omissions, but it is still the best online reference to Conway Stewart. The other site belongs to David Wells, another well known CS collector, but again, I don't think he maintains his site these days, his collecting interests are moving on from general CS to more specific areas, such as Le Tigre.
If you look at Jonathan's site, you'll see he actually describes two different versions of the 372, one marked 'The Conway Stewart Pen' (as yours), and another one marked 'The Universal Pen'. The picture he posts of the second one indicates that this is a later pen (after 1925), and that one is certainly manufactured by CS. The information and picture he posts for the first pen was supplied in any case by David Wells, the information is the same on each of the websites.
Irrespective of the marking, there is no doubt that these pens originated in America. You need to remember that they were wartime pens, and for patriotic reasons it was important to tell people that the pens were made in England, even if that meant stretching the truth. For example, the basic parts could have been supplied from America and just assembled over here, or even putting on the barrel imprint in this country could have been enough to justify the claim.
I would suggest that the differences you see between the 372 & 372A are just down to the pens being supplied by two different American manufacturers, for example we know definitely that CS had contacts with both Diamond Point and Eclipse, and almost certainly others as well. If a later manufacturer could not supply precisely the same pen as the original 372, CS would very likely have numbered it 372A, simply a later version of the 372 (and maybe they date to after the war, so the 'Made in England' imprint might have been less important).
So the pens you have are very interesting, and rare, as you say - the model number 372A is a new number to add to the list of CS pen numbers that we know about. Unfortunately, rare does not necessarily mean that they are worth a lot of money, especially because of the condition of the pens. But the knowledge you have given us by reporting your find is very valuable indeed!
Andy
Edited by AndyR, 16 October 2014 - 09:17 AM.
and my sample is of 6 CS pens....
