This Waterman's 52 in hard rubber was made in the U.S.A. but assembled with an English nib, in England by the Waterman agents, 'L.G. Sloan Ltd.' The Sloan company was not amalgamated with the American 'L.E. Waterman Co.' to become the English 'Waterman Pen Co. Ltd.' until 1946.
The 'box lever' system featured on this pen was introduced 1915 on a pen which was to be named the '52' in 1917. The clipless, version appears in the Waterman catalogues from 1917 to the erly 1920s. The Waterman Ideal accommodation clip was available as an optional extra with the clipless pens.
This pen is a full size version, a much smaller '52 1/2 V' model was also produced. The '52' refers to a lever filler, '5', and a No. 2. nib.
The pen has been conservatively restored and is in extremely good vintage condition. It has acquired a very slight, even, brownish patina which was left alone, in the spirit of conservative restoration. It is very subtle, only really noticeable when compared to a 'true' black. It is quite attractive and adds to the authenticity of the pen. The filling system works well and takes up a good volume of ink. The 14Ct. Gold 'Ideal' nib writes with a fine line and has a good, responsive flex to give line variation. Someone with a decent 'hand' would enjoy producing impressive results.
The box, it has to be said, has seen better days, as one would expect at 100 years old. It is, however, the correct and original L. G. Sloan box and should be kept with the pen.
At 16.8 cm. in length when posted it is an enormously long pen with a very good balance and feel. The hard rubber construction gives the pen a very solid and warm quality, it is a most tactile pen.
The Waterman's 52 is a much sought after pen, it is often said that no vintage pen collection should be without one.