In the early 1900s, when Waterman pens  started being imported in Italy, the Waterman Agent for Italy (and Colonies, at the time) was clever enough to find a way to embellish them in order to make the pens more desirable for the Italian public.

The trend to enrich ebonite pens with precious and semi precious overlays in Italy went far beyond what was happening in the US and in the rest of Europe with dozens and dozens of different patterns of decoration.

Rolled gold, silver and solid gold overlays remained very fashionable through many decades and in the late 1940s and early 1950s there were still a number of models which were offered with  this type of enrichment.

This Waterman 52 with hand-etched floral overlay is a beautiful example of the  Art Nouveau  style of decoration  which flourished in the  1920s and early 1930s. Nevertheless, the design of the cap and the clip, suggest a later origin and this overlay is very likely to be from the late 1930s/early 1940s.

The nib on this 52 V is resilient, springy and very very smooth, a real pleasure to use.