Waterman’s Stalwart
late 1940s
About This Model
After WWII, Waterman's new American production was thinning down; cash was tight and competition extremely tough. Waterman's did produce two new lines starting as early as 1945, which are often confused: the Taperites and the Crusaders. The Taperites were first, with submodels Stateleigh and the Citation. The Stateleighs were frank Parker 51 copies, with hooded nibs but without Parker's sturdy construction and internal workings. Citations carried hooded nibs but a celluloid cap with a very broad plated cap ring. Open nibbed pens were also produced, but these were Crusaders, also in Stateleigh and Citation. Some of the Taperites were very attractive and wonderful writers, but the quality diminished in the later 1940s. Crusaders appeared with gold metal caps with silver stripes, until at least late 1953. Even with the lower production quality, and their propensity to be extremely difficult to disassemble, these pens were often superior writers, with flex nibs and rigid nibs. Generally speaking, these were inexpensive pens of decent quality, good writers. Stalwarts are partially differentiated from Dauntless(es) by origin: Stalwart was Canadian, with gold trim and two cap bands; Dauntless was American, had chrome trim and a single cap band. The Waterman arcana here is endless. Finally, the 1950s brought the final US Waterman output, and the last of three versions of the Skywriter, from 1950-53. These were entry-level pens, built to compete with Esterbrook J's and lower level Sheaffers. They had plastic bodies and metallic caps, inexpensive construction, classic Waterman's box levers, and Waterman's nibs. Like all Waterman's, even their minor pens, these are very nice writers. The 1940s were far from Waterman's best years, in fact they were the endgame for the American company. Quality diminished as cash grew thin, and competition with Parker and Sheaffer was no longer possible. However, continuing Waterman's long tradition of producing excellent nibs, these last models were good examples. The one seen most often, and the one not given a military name, was the Junior. To my knowledge, there wasn't a corresponding Senior, but this is actually a smaller pen, 4 3/4" long, of black plastic and steel trim. Good pens, not great pens, but worth owning and using.
About This Pen
This pen is a Canadian Stalwart, with an unusual conical gripping section, sloping to an edge at the nib, rather than “ski-jump”, with a slope and a rise at the edge. This style, in my experience, is seen only with French pens. Of course, since the 1930s there were many more French Watermans’ than American, but there is no correlative French model like the Stalwart. So, it is unknown whether this section was fit to this pen at some point or it came from the Canadian factory with it. At any rate, this pen is very nice, in light brown/gold celluloid with some iridescence in the marbling; it resembles an Esterbrook. There are no major nicks or scratches; the gold trim is in very good condition. The imprint is thin but complete. It is a lever-filler, and fills well. The nib, which writes a wet medium, is 14k gold, marked Ideal, and Canada. An interesting pen and a good writer.
Price: $75 Sold