Articoli e note pubblicati riportano che le penne rivestite da Aikin, Lambert Co. , avevano una costante comune: la parte superiore del cappuccio non era rivestita, ma lasciata libera.
Le penne utilizzate a tale scopo erano da loro prodotte ed erano penne fatte bene e senza alcuna iscrizione.
La produzione delle penne laminate in America cessa intorno al 1920 a seguito della introduzione della lavorazione industriale: non era più conveniente produrle.
Intorno al 1920 la Aikin, Lambert viene acquistata dalla Waterman. Questa, invece di rilanciare il marchio cercando di riportarlo ai vecchi splendori produttivi soprattutto nelle lavorazioni in oro, le tolse ogni autonomia operativa e dette precise direttive di produzione in maniera che la Aikin Lambert apparisse a tutti come una sottomarca della Waterman.
Vi sono state tante imitazioni di penne rivestite in oro in America, ma soprattutto di penne di marca; a tal proposito leggete il seguente articolo che chiarisce diversi aspetti del problema.
“Filigree Pens:
The most desirable pens today date generally from the period from the beginning of the century until the mid thirties.
The qualities which make pens desirable are size, rarity, workmanship (including scale of complexity of the art work), presence of precious stones in the design and lastly aura.
Naturally pens with filigree work over hard rubber will be more valuable than pens without such work, and pens with pierced and engraved work will be more valuable than pens with filigree work.
Considerations of size are relatively self explanatory. In collecting terms, the most desirable pens are the Watermans (or Swan) No: 20s , the Parker Giants (black and red), the Mont Blanc No: 12 safeties and currently above all others, the Namiki giants which see figures above $350,000 which some feel to be quite a lot of money to pay for a single pen.
While not quite as large, the Leboeuf No 75 or 90 is also collectable principally because the plastics which that company used are so phenomenally beautiful
Conversely at the moment, small (ladies size) pens do not command the same values as their larger counterparts.
All of these large pens have an inescapable aura about them, which is sometimes divorced from their actual beauty.
Such can hardly be said about the next two categories. Although the concept of beauty in complexity is something which seems to have been forgotten at around the time of the depression, some of the earlier pens were incredible works of art in themselves.
In collecting circles, pens with intricately hand carved snakes , aztec heads, tree-trunk designs or cupids represent the centrepieces of any collection.
Generally exceptionally desirable ( and rarer) is the elegant piercing and engraving work in minute detail, as well as japanese hand painting called Maki'e work.
Although such snake (etc) pens have all the aura with collectors, rarer are the pens which combine these hand (?) engraved motifs with the elegant piercing and engraving work, as in the cupid examples of (usually) Watermans safety pens.
However rare these pens were, they did feature in catalogues, and could be ordered through ordinary dealers. Of ultimate rarity are the pens which were so rare that they didn't even feature in the catalogues, principally because of the complex workmanship.
Pens with precious stones fall into this category, as they were normally only 'ordered' as special presentation pieces.
Probably rarer still are the individually signed pens, such as the Watermans safeties featuring a certain religious symbol, pens featuring beautiful depictions of scenes from classical literature and the one signed Cavardi in the photograph . These were usually made or commissioned by Watermans of Italy; although fakes abound, -and were of particular concern to Watermans at the time of manufacture, the truth today is that the pens did harm only to the companies' profits, and assuming high standard, are almost as valuable as those produced by the major companies.
Rarer than this are the pens which one hears about but which one will probably never see. Into this category fall the few items described in the Faberge order books, elegantly mounted by the artist over Onoto mechanicals for Russian princes in around 1912, and the fabled Eversharp Coronets in solid gold with diamonds studded around the crown, made in the late thirties.
As these Coronets were only made for special presentation to heads of state it is relatively unlikely that many will find their way onto the general market.
A sub category of the valuable pens is the filigreed pen. These were made from around 1897 onwards, initially by Watermans predominantly. The early filigree pens were made out of fine silver (marked FINE SILVER 999 1000).
Generally the silver was so soft that they did not wear well.
The original designs were whirling lines in period style but without any particular form. After a few years the lines incorporated within them floral patterns. Curlicues were also found in the early pens, although these pens are very rare.
After about 1910 the designs standardised around a pattern resembling a paisley design and (later) a pattern resembling sheafs of bamboo.
Non Watermans designs (Parker, Conklin), tended to have either a three leaf floral or four leaf floral design.
The rarer pens are those found in Sheaffer or Moore patterns and resemble highly stylised and beautiful art nouveau swirls.
Filigree designs started to peter out at the end of the twenties when mass production techniques dictated that it was no longer cost-effective to produce them. The overlay had to be put in position by hand with careful heating of the metalwork. This production technique does not lend itself to mass production.
Thus although filigree pens were made in the thirties (specifically the Watermans 'Night and Day' pattern in 452 or 454 size and a fine pattern resembling rabbit ears or marihuana leaves usually found in a 494 size), they are relatively rare.
The most desirable filigree pens are the exceptionally rare Mont Blanc filigrees either in spider, electric ray, or an art deco pattern and the Watermans or Parker filigrees which were mounted over red hard rubber.
Unfortunately fakes abound; furthermore, when the pens were new, it was not uncommon to have jewellers mount filigree work to the pens when they were originally ordered. In addition to this factor, the pen companies themselves would often either send out pens for the art-work or buy in filigree work from
Careful checking is necessary to see whether the pen started out life as a filigree (the number of a Watermans pen should always say (e.g.) 452 to reflect each part of the companies' pen numbering identification system. If a filigree has been mounted over an ordinary red pen, the number will be 52, denoting that the pen did not start out as a filigree (although infuriatingly, oversea Watermans subsidiaries often used merely the number of the basic pen which they either manufactured or imported from the parent company in America. Italian Waternams 18KR (rolled gold) safety pens always had two digits on the twist-knob (either 42 or 44) and english metal pens often came in different configurations (of the same size) which were invariably numbered 52.
Check also that there is no chasing, engine turning or inscription of any type under the filigree. Pen companies would not have had any reason to mount filigree work over a pen which has been finished off by engraving anything on the barrel.
