Waterman Carene

It's a tie. In 1998, I was writing with rollerballs and a Waterman Phileas. Wanting to upgrade, I went to the Fountain Pen Hospital, and on the same day, I bought a new Namiki Vanishing Point for 99 dollars, and a just released Waterman Carene for 129 dollars.

This is my second Waterman Carene fine point fountain pen. My first is twenty years old and has written hundreds (if not many, many more) of pages. It is the smoothest writing fountain pen I have ever tried, and when combined with a Rhodia journal made of Clairefontaine paper and a nice Iroshizuku i...

It’s still going strong, looks good (it’s had a few knocks, but who hasn’t in the last 34 years?) and writes well. Looking forward I can definitely see me using (and enjoying) my Parker Duofold Centennial Big Red for the next 17, along with my Waterman Carene.

The pen is beautiful and well built. The cap snaps on firmly and is a good alternative to a screw in cap. The tip is really good looking but it also presents its biggest design flaw. The ink will circulate along the edges of the tip and given its footprint and placement this means it is virtually im...

I like it for it's looks and easy one-handed operation.*. * Waterman Carene: Gun Metal Rollerball Blue Refill.

It's a beautiful pen, writes smoothly, but if you're looking for a fine line, this is not it. The expert works better, if you're wanting a fine and cleaner looking page. Only reason I'm not returning it is because it is very smooth, and the weight and comfort of use is good. Would recommend but not ...

And the Carene is always cool, even if the repairman in me winces a little at inlaid nibs because though they're gorgeous they're much more of a pain from a repair perspective. I admit the gold body with the kinda silver outlining is a little bit ruined for me just because so many cheap-ass IPG nibs use that color scheme, even if I'm sure that Edison nib is perfectly nice.

This pen is a very good writer. It writes very smoothly, but it does have a tiny bit of feedback that I find very pleasant to write with, even though I really like my pens as smooth as possible. The clip is well-designed. It's thin and holds very closely to the cap, but it pivots outward on a spring...

The Carene is one of the few Waterman designs that I still wish I’d managed to obtain a sample of , but the prices always were kind of expensive. It has a kind of elegance that isn’t overblown like modern MBs… an old world beauty that I’d place on the same level as a Duofold.

The pen itself is amazing, but when I pay >$300 for a new pen, I expect it to be a new pen. The pen I received was not new. It had been inked. There was ink residue in the nib/feed and ink residue in the included converter. Amazon should develop procedures to ensure “new” products are truly new and ...