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Thread: Help with Identification

  1. #1
    Senior Member Laurie's Avatar
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    Default Help with Identification

    Hi. I was just up at the local Op Shop and noticed a nice looking pen in the display case. It is in a Waterman case and it was about $30 USD. It is in perfect condition and I would like to confirm what model it is as it doesnt have anything other than Waterman France etc on it

    Here are some photos which I hope will help. My photography is pretty weak. I think it may be a Waterman Hemisphere. The nib is gold coloured but doesnt have a 14kt marking so I assume it is a steel nib. It writes beautifully smooth but little line variation
    Attached Images Attached Images
    “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Laurie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    I am sorry. I forgot to attach the picture of the pen body. Here it is
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Laurie; June 19th, 2015 at 12:15 AM.
    “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    That is a Waterman Hemisphere. It's watermans entry level offering. It's nice pen and you paid a fair price. If you want a gold nib for it I know dutch pen over at FPN sells 14k Preface nibs that fit the hemisphere for $35 a piece.

    The one thing I would also recommend is you remove the nib and check it for corrosion as I know these plated nib can be quite susceptible to it.
    Last edited by top pen; June 19th, 2015 at 03:07 AM.

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    Laurie (June 19th, 2015)

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    I think it's a Waterman Hemisphere too.

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    Laurie (June 19th, 2015)

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    Senior Member migo984's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    I have a Hemisphere with an OGF gold nib. Well worth seeking out.

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    Laurie (June 19th, 2015)

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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Should you decide to buy it and be interested in obtaining a gold nib for it, then the type of nib you would require is a Waterman Preface nib.

    The best person to buy these from sells them Here

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    Laurie (June 19th, 2015)

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    Senior Member migo984's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Quote Originally Posted by top pen View Post
    That is a Waterman Hemisphere. It's watermans entry level offering. It's nice pen and you paid a fair price. If you want a gold nib for it I know dutch pen over at FPN sells 14k Preface nibs that fit the hemisphere for $35 a piece.

    The one thing I would also recommend is you remove the nib and check it for corrosion as I know these plated nib can be quite susceptible to it.
    Yes, a good source, in the EU. I think he will ship to Aus.

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    Laurie (June 19th, 2015)

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    Senior Member Laurie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Should you decide to buy it and be interested in obtaining a gold nib for it, then the type of nib you would require is a Waterman Preface nib.

    The best person to buy these from sells them Here

    Hi Chrissy. Would the 18t Preface nib feel any different to the stock nib. Also does the nib unit screw out or pull out for replacing. What would be the benefit for this replacement. Value wise? Writing experience wise?
    “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

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    Senior Member Laurie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Quote Originally Posted by top pen View Post
    That is a Waterman Hemisphere. It's watermans entry level offering. It's nice pen and you paid a fair price. If you want a gold nib for it I know dutch pen over at FPN sells 14k Preface nibs that fit the hemisphere for $35 a piece.

    The one thing I would also recommend is you remove the nib and check it for corrosion as I know these plated nib can be quite susceptible to it.
    Hi Top pen. Unfortunately my pen didnt come with any instructions. How is the nib removed? Is it screw. Or is it pull and tilt.
    “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

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    Senior Member Laurie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Hi. Just inked this pen with some. Diamine Bilbery. It is such a fluent and smooth writer. If this is their entry level I would love to experience the other end. I think this is up there and maybe better than my Platinum 3776 Century or my Faber Castell E motion for smoothness. Beautiful writer
    “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Quote Originally Posted by Laurie View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by top pen View Post
    That is a Waterman Hemisphere. It's watermans entry level offering. It's nice pen and you paid a fair price. If you want a gold nib for it I know dutch pen over at FPN sells 14k Preface nibs that fit the hemisphere for $35 a piece.

    The one thing I would also recommend is you remove the nib and check it for corrosion as I know these plated nib can be quite susceptible to it.
    Hi Top pen. Unfortunately my pen didnt come with any instructions. How is the nib removed? Is it screw. Or is it pull and tilt.

    Sbrebrown did a disassembly video on it see here amd he shows how to remove the nib from the pen




    The reason why I said I might be an idea to check is that I've a fair few gold plated waterman nibs suffering from corrosion on FPN.

    Anyway if you are interested in perhaps adding a few more Waterman's dutch pen and another member dboulonnais on FPN has some very fair prices and some often less common NOS items that maybe worth checking out.

    http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...5-dboulonnais/

    If you click on the classifieds tab down the left of the page under profile feed you will see what he has to offer
    Last edited by top pen; June 19th, 2015 at 08:53 AM.

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    Laurie (June 19th, 2015)

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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Quote Originally Posted by Laurie View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Should you decide to buy it and be interested in obtaining a gold nib for it, then the type of nib you would require is a Waterman Preface nib.

    The best person to buy these from sells them Here

    Hi Chrissy. Would the 18t Preface nib feel any different to the stock nib. Also does the nib unit screw out or pull out for replacing. What would be the benefit for this replacement. Value wise? Writing experience wise?
    Dear Laurie

    So far, I have only replaced Phileas nibs with 18ct L'Etalon nibs. With the Phileas, you have to pull out the nib and feed. It can be a slightly tricky thing to do but it gets easier if you can put the pen in an ultrasonic bath a few times before you try to do it. I have never replaced a Hemi nib, but the seller is very knowledgeable and very helpful and he will advise you the best way.

    For me personally, my gold Phileas nibs are much smoother and softer to write with than the hard steel nibs. It depends on what you prefer as a writing experience. I would have thought it can only increase the resale price, but I have never tried to sell one of my Phileas pens with it's gold nib. I like them too much.

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    Laurie (June 19th, 2015)

  20. #13
    Senior Member Laurie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Should you decide to buy it and be interested in obtaining a gold nib for it, then the type of nib you would require is a Waterman Preface nib.

    The best person to buy these from sells them Here
    Hi Chrissy, I just had a look and he has two Preface 18 kt nibs. One is a L (broad) and the other is a left footed Oblique. I am a bit interested in the oblique. I am a right handed writer and I think a left foot oblique would suit. I understand you have to learn to rotate the nib to the left. Are obliques hard to handle?
    “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Quote Originally Posted by Laurie View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Should you decide to buy it and be interested in obtaining a gold nib for it, then the type of nib you would require is a Waterman Preface nib.

    The best person to buy these from sells them Here
    Hi Chrissy, I just had a look and he has two Preface 18 kt nibs. One is a L (broad) and the other is a left footed Oblique. I am a bit interested in the oblique. I am a right handed writer and I think a left foot oblique would suit. I understand you have to learn to rotate the nib to the left. Are obliques hard to handle?
    Using an oblique nib is something you need to get used to. If it is a left footed oblique, then that suggests it would be for a right handed person. Yes you would need to rotate it up to 90 degrees for comfortable writing.

    On the other hand the L nib (broad) could be ground to a stub, which is still straight, but gives you good line variation while writing at a normal angle. One of my Phileas pens (that I regularly use for ink reviews) had a L gold nib which I ground myself to a stub. All I did was to follow the instructions on this forum. I write with this pen quite frequently now.

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    Laurie (June 20th, 2015)

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    Senior Member Laurie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Well I took the advice of Top pen and Chrissy and ordered an 18ct (Broad) gold nib from Dutchpen. It arrived today and I fitted it without issue. You can see the pictures below that the top of the nib appears to have been ground. Would you just call this a broad or a stub. It writes very broad (which i like) and is very wet. But it is oh so smooth.

    Waterman (3) resized.jpgWaterman (2) resized.jpgWaterman (1) resized.jpg
    “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

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    Senior Member pajaro's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    Laurie,

    If I read you correctly, the Hemisphere was nice with the stock steel nib. Is that right? I have thought about getting a Hemisphere fountain pen to go with my Hemisphere ballpoint.

    I have replaced Phileas nibs with gold L'etalon nibs, and the major difference is that the gold L'etalon nib was more of a true extra fine than the Phileas steel nib. Both steel and gold wrote smoothly, because the tipping was smooth. I have put older Waterman gold nibs in pens like Laureat, and the purpose was to replace corroded steel nibs. The gold nibs from the older Watermans were also finer. European nibs do tend to run broader than USA nibs. The old Waterman gold nibs were probably USA made.

    The nicest Waterman experience I have had was from a Carene extra fine. I had bought a spare extra fine Carene nib from nibs.com. Then I bought a black GT barrel from Dutchpen. I housed the pen in a Sheaffer Imperial black desk base. This extra fine always writes and never dries out (gravity feed on the ink). Later I got a cap for a black GT Carene, but in the desk base I never have to worry about the stupid Carene cap that will not post securely, but I can take the pen on the go.

    Enjoy the Hemisphere. With the gold nib you have probably taken that pen about as far as you can to improve on a Waterman.

  25. #17
    Senior Member Laurie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    [QUOTE=pajaro;137112]Laurie,

    If I read you correctly, the Hemisphere was nice with the stock steel nib. Is that right?

    Yes the Hemisphere wrote very smoothly with the stock steel nib. This nib also very smooth. Maybe the steel nib it came with was just a bit better. There was a post above that referred to the steel nib being subject to rust problems. But I checked this and it was perfect. In fact I dont think this pen has had much use. You can see an engraving on the side of the barrel. It was obviously a gift and like a lot of gifts was probably tried a couple of times and put back in the box and eventually because it was not used it was offered to the Opportunity Shop.

    However after Chrissy advised of the opportunity I found that Dutchpen only had one 18ct gold nib left so, as it was not that expensive, I decided to buy it and fit it. I expect that it would increase the value of the Hemi and be a good second option.
    Again can anyone tell me how you would describe that nib. I am not that experienced with ground nibs but the top certainly looks like it has been ground. Would you describe it as a ground stub?
    “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

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    Senior Member pajaro's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Identification

    The 18K gold nib is the way to go. You will not regret it.

    Some of the Waterman steel nibs have have had rust problems, but I am not sure this is still a concern with models as recent as the Hemisphere. I have had corroded Laureat nibs, and at least one corroded Phileas nib. These corroded nibs had been left inked, apparently for years. I am not sure if the neglect led to the corrosion or not, but I suspect that with reasonable care you shouldn't worry about it. Still, with an 18K nib you won't have to worry. I think the Watermans are good pens getting better. The ease of changing nibs is good for the users of the pens. It's a lot easier than on a lot of competitive makes.

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    Laurie (July 10th, 2015)

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