Sometimes it happens that you come across something you did not keep in mind. Something seldom seen -- being, thus, rare -- and attractive enough to make you depart from your own way and succumb to the temptation. This time the temptation took the form of a sober, yet handsome mid-sixties French-made fountain pen: the Waterman Man.
Waterman Man -- below -- (1965)
Waterman Man (uncapped)
Close-up of the pen
Called mistakenly "Strong" by some of the scarce on-line sources of information, this pen is unanimously considered to be the "ancestor" of the world-renowned Man 100 series, Waterman's top-of-the-line product for many years and, in the opinion of several collectors, one of the best lines of modern writing instruments ever made. It was introduced into the market during the mid sixties.
"The Man's Ancestors" according to Waterman
From top to bottom:
vintage safety pen, "old style" Gentleman, Man and Man 100
(picture from internet)
The Waterman Man is a quite large (5.55 in long, 0.43 in wide), totally black, golden trimmed pen. Injection moulded plastic abounds in its construction. Cap and barrel are entirely made of it, while the pen section shows sturdy metal -- probably brass -- innards. This pen has a tappered, cylindrical shape with an appealing bevel at the cap top. It was offered, as it seems, in smooth and -- faintly -- grooved surface versions [1].
The pen clip, which gently penetrates the cap bevel, looks, because of this, an articulated clip, but instead it turns out to be of the conventional, fixed type. There exist, at least, two different versions: one exhibiting an enamelled, v-shaped black groove at the center that runs along the clip to the top and the other with the plain groove -- without enamel -- running up to the second third of the clip's lenght only, the Waterman logo-- a W letter surrounded by a circle -- engraved on the upper part of it [2]. This later design obviously comes from that patented by the American Waterman Pen Company (inventor John Bruce) on May 26, 1959 and found in US patent No. D185,263 -- filed on April 9, 1958. And it was also used in other Waterman's writing instruments, such as the Flash and Concord lines -- US patent D212,866, filed on January 23, 1967 and granted on December 3, 1968 (inventor Roger Perraud; assignor Société le Foyer et Cie).
Cap
Detail of the top
Clip design presented in US patent No. D185,263
The second version of the Man's clip was similar to this one
The cap band is made of gold-plated metal, very thin, and exhibits two distinct parts, the lower one, closer to the cap lip, being smooth whereas the upper one has short, narrow vertical grooves. As with the pen clip, there exist at least two different versions: one shorter, leaving a gap in between it and the cap lip and the other larger but with shorter grooves, which extends to the end of the cap [3].
Cap band
The pen bottom wears a jewel-like gold-plated ring with an enamelled black circle at the center. The middle part of the barrel exhibits the imprint "Waterman's".
Between cap and barrel there exists a gold-plated, metal ring which is in fact a coupling bearing element, i.e. the main part of the pen's close mechanism. It shows two faces with an edge or ridge therebetween. The lower, shortest one deforms the restricted end portion of the -- presumably plastic made -- cap and subsequently, when this portion passes over the ridge the end of the cap resumes its initial shape and thus remains clipped over the ring and therefore attached to the pen. This close mechanism was patented by Waterman on March 2, 1965 -- US patent No. 3,171,196, filed on May 23, 1961 (inventor Robert Helitas; assignor A. J. Fagard & Cie).
Close mechanism
Locking ring
Uncapping the pen reveals the best, with no doubt, of it: a large two-tone gold, very like to -- if not the same as -- the Man 100 first edition one, as well as to the feed. This nib has a certain amount of flexibility. On its visible part one can read "WATERMAN SUPER 6 18 Carats". The nib/pen size ratio is very generous. Indeed, we are just dealing with a truly impressive, powerful man's pen when uncapped. According to some advertisements [4], it was offered with fifteen different point types! Most Man's nibs were made of 18K gold, but there exist, interestingly, a few exemplars with lower gold content -- 14K [5]. An export version?
Nib
Feed
SUPER 6 nib (1970)
The advertising reads:
<"I love you" If you can say this aloud, give him a Waterman Man.
If not, replace your man by another.>
The Waterman Man was provided with a cartridge/converter filling mechanism, the cartridges having a large ink capacity Waterman claimed. In this regard I must say that such cartridges were similar to those of the American C/F model, except for the pearcing hole, being a little bit larger. Converters were of the squeeze type -- probably similar to the C/F converters too.
This is a high-quality pen with an attractive design and, above all, a terrific writer! However, the massive use of thermoplastics results in a striking -- or not -- low weight (only 13 g empty) and, in short, the feeling of a cheap product. Although one should consider the Waterman Man in its own age and context, in which small, light fountain pens with smallish nibs made of injection moulded plastic were all the rage. In such conditions the Waterman Man should be one of the best pens of its time.
Waterman advertising dates the production of this model between the mid sixties and the early seventies. As a matter of fact, the new [6] Alain Carré's [7] "old-style" Waterman Gentleman [8], presumable Man's successor, was introduced into the market in 1974. Both facts suggest for a short-lived pen.
The model's price was 99 francs in 1966.
Waterman Man -- left -- being sold at 99.00 francs (1966)
All in all, this is a pen of its time and niche, conveniently made of thermoplastic and provided with a practical filling system, that shows a relatively bold, yet still conservative, classy look. A showy modern design especially aimed at wealthy men. And doubtlessly a high-quality pen with superb balance -- in spite of its low heft and regardless it is used uncapped or posted -- as well as writing performance.
My exemplar is equipped with a wonderful wet EF -- extra fine -- nib with a tad of flex.
Technical specifications:
- Manufacturer: WATERMAN (France)
- Model's name: Man
- Period of production: mid sixties-early seventies (personal estimation)
- Target public: men, flagship model
- Main construction material: injection moulded plastic
- Filling-system: cartridge/converter; large ink capacity cartridges
- Trim: gold-plated
- Lenght: 5.55 in (14,1 cm) capped; 4.92 in (12,5 cm) uncapped; 6.26 in (15,9 cm) posted
- Girth: 0.43 in (1,1 cm)
- Weight: 13 g (empty, i.e. without cartridge/converter)
- Nib: two-tone 18K solid gold; offered with fifteen different point types
[1] For the faintly grooved version take a look, for instance, on the following link.
[2] For the second type of clip take a look, for instance, on the following link.
[3] For a comparison between the two kinds of cap bands take a look, for instance, on this link.
[4] For instance, the first one shown in this article.
[5] For the 14K nib take a look, for instance, on the following link.
[6] Not entirely, for this fointain pen exhibited, at first, a section-nib unit very similar to that
of the Waterman Man.
[7] Alain Carré was a relatively famed French industrial designer who worked by Waterman.
He was responsible for, among others, the "old style" Gentleman, Directeur Général (DG)
and Goutte models.
[8] Waterman advertisement showing the "old style" Gentleman (seventies).
