It’s quite a while since I’ve had a Waterman but when I saw this little beauty I had to have it.

The Waterman 32 1/2 was issued in the mid-thirties and remained available for the rest of that decade. It filled a niche in the market for a cheaper pen aimed at the school student market. At 12.1cm capped it’s a little shorter and more slender than the 52 but shares the same much admired Ideal nib.

This is a flat topped pen but a slight softening of the angles is occurring: the top of the cap and end of the barrel being very slightly rounded. The rivetted clip worked well but would be replaced in later models.

Waterman’s patterns of those years are outstanding. I was immediately attracted by this blue marble, quite different from those of Conway Stewart or Mabie Todd. There is such depth and it almost glows.

Of course with pre-war Watermans it’s all about the nib and this pen does not disappoint. It is a splendid writer with considerable line variation.