This Waterman's Ideal Junior, or simply Waterman Junior was made in Canada in the 1930s. Due to export restrictions from America at the time, Waterman used the Canadian factories to produce and export pens to the European market, mainly U.K. This is almost certainly an import into U.K. as it still carries a 'Made in Canada' sticker and has an English made nib.
Fully restored and tested, the pen features a Gold plated 'box lever' filling system, ball end clip and cap band. The box lever system was superior to the 'standard' lever arrangement in that it provided a solid anchor for the lever and didn't cause distortion of the barrel around the lever slot, as seen in many vintage lever filling pens.
The colour of the pen is an unusual and most striking marbled copper, it is also very unusual to see a Waterman Junior with Gold filled trim, most are nickel plated. The surface is bright and vibrant, and the imprints are clear and sharp.
A chunky 12.2 cm. capped, the pen grows to an impressive 15.2 cm. when posted for use, it is an elegant and well balanced pen.
The 14 Ct Gold nib is a vey pleasant writer. It has a little flexibility and the horizontal strokes are thinner than the vertical ones, in the manner of a stub profile. This combines to allow line thickness variation to be produced with very little effort, adding character to the work.
The Waterman Junior is a high quality vintage pen with a sound pedigree. The Gold trim, unusual colour, and versatile nib are unusual features which elevate this pen a little above the norm.