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| Waterman
Skywriter c1950-1953
A Tale Of Three Skywriters
Collectors who have run across a pen marked Skywriter may take a double take with these pens. There are actually three very different pens, all from Waterman, with that name, and each is representative of changes in the direction of the company. The first pen was an all-plastic pen made by Waterman for the Aiken Lambert pen company, significant in that it is the last pen made under the Aiken Lambert name before the company was fully absorbed into the parent Waterman company. Waterman had purchased Aiken Lambert in the late 1930s. These older Skywriter pens will typically be imprinted "Skywriter Manufactured in Canada by ALCO Division L. E. Waterman Co." and will have one or two nickel silver or lightly gold plated cap bands and Ink Vue style clip, a 14 karat gold nib marked ALCO, and in a variety of colors including swirled marbles and stripes. Planes were the pinnacle of engineering in the late 1930s and early 1940s and pen manufacturers wanted to capitalize on this, using names like Sheaffer SkyBoy and Eversharp Skyline, so Skywriter certainly fit in.
The next Skywriter, covered in this article, debuted probably in the late 1940s, following the Taperite line, and probably ran through 1953, just prior to the introduction of the C/F. Bright silver color caps started coming into fashion in the late 1940s and examples include higher line pens such as the Sheaffer Triumph and Touchdown Sentinel pens, and the Eversharp Symphony, which used polished stainless steel. Lower line models, such as the Sheaffer Craftsman Tip-Dip were brightened up with polished steel caps. Wearever introduced chrome plated capped pens, but the plating was light and highly susceptible to scratching. This Skywriter served as a competitive, but high quality entry level pen along the lines of Esterbrook and the low end pens from Parker and Sheaffer. The 1950s Skywriter is a lever-fill pen with a distinctive bright heavy chrome plated spiral ribbed cap. The cap has a plastic inner cap that mates very nicely to the plastic barrel, which would help to avoid metal on plastic stripping problems. The clip is stamped "Watermans USA" down the length. The barrel is imprinted "Waterman's" over "Skywriter" over "Made in USA". For a cheapie, this is a fairly heavy and high quality pen. Barrel colors included black, burgundy, and blue.
The Skywriter came fitted with a very smooth writing stainless steel nib stamped "Sky" over "Writer" in a script style and the nib grade stamped underneath. The 1950s Waterman Skywriter is not well documented, as is the case with many entry level pens, so research on the model, pricing, and advertising was quite difficult. Much more is written about the earlier Skywriter, as it represents a transition.
The final Skywriter, obviously strongly influenced by the C/F, debuted probably after 1953 and likely ran through the C/F lifecycle. Though the design is strongly influenced by the C/F cartridge filling pen, this Skywriter is a lever fill pen. As with the second version pen, the C/F style Skywriter is well made, a high quality entry or school pen. Performance I frankly was very surprised at the quality level of this pen when I first got it. The bright chrome cap is very shiny and is obviously very heavily plated, being quite resistant to scratching, a trait I associate with the well made caps from the early Eversharp Symphony and early Sheaffer Triumph and Touchdown Sentinel pens. The pen is heavier than a similar sized Sheaffer Fineline, which I imagine it competed with, and seems far better all around in terms of manufacture, fit and finish. The general shape is very much in line with Sheaffer pens, more than the Waterman style, especially in the bullet cap with the front mounted clip. It's a large pen at 5 1/8" long capped and 6" posted. The plastic barrel is heavier plastic and polishes up well. The pen sits fairly low in the pocket because of the high placement of the clip, and rides snug. It posts securely, similar to Sheaffer pens, and I found I preferred writing with the cap on as it made the pen heavier and felt more balanced. The lever is the typical Waterman stiff box type and fills with a couple of quick, short strokes. The nib is the story on this pen: a very smooth and even writing stainless medium. There isn't much give, but I don't expect much in 1950s pens. The nib defies the price point of this pen.
This is a really nice everyday user pen. It does what it was made to do and does it well. The chrome may not be for everyone - imagine a bumper sticking out of your pocket - but it's well done. These later Skywriters don't generate much interest with collectors, but neither are they abundant. They should be priced in the modest end of the market, even for nice examples. Don't overlook these pens if you want a nice, bright, but inexpensive writer! Acknowledgement Grateful thanks to Andy Evans of Andy's Pens for supplying the red C/F style Skywriter pen. This pen will be reviewed in a later article. Comments on this article may be sent
to the author, Jim Mamoulides |
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PenHero.com - All Rights Reserved Use of photographs, scans and illustrations is not granted without prior written permission. This includes internet auctions. Contact Jim Mamoulides Last Update 8/26/04 |
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