Today, I went to the mall, and while there, I saw Caran d'Ache pens in a (jewelry) store. Me and my girlfriend were in a great hurry, still, I spared a couple of minutes (and that was really just a couple of minutes) at the store. While there, I got my hands on a fountain pen (chevron guilloche, hexagonal body), which wans't inked, and a Ecridor Eclat (which was shockingly light for a ballpoint, and which was unfortunately a ballpoint). They both caused me a really good impression at sight and handling. Finish was superb.

Does any of you have a Caran d'Ache pen? Ever wrote with them? What do you have to say about them?

I have an Ecridor Retro. Excellent pen! Even after two years the pen looks mint. The clip design is excellent and resilent.

The pen was not a good writer out of the box though, had a skippping and slow starting problem. Had bought it from an airport duty free shop during one of my travels. Wrote to the sole Indian service centre but got no reply, so I had to take apart the nib and feed myself, cleaned them out thoroughly and aligned the nib gap and tines. now the pen writes excellently and the steel nib has an amount of softness (tactile feedback?) which makes it a joy to write with.

Regards,
Hari

I had a Leman, which I then sold on Ebay. Nice pen, with an excellent, very smooth nib. But I found it too short for me, and I liked other pens better, so it got sold.

CdA make good pens, but not so good as to eclipse other high-end manufacturers of a similar type, like Dupont, Cartier and Dunhill. I find that their pens are on the small side, and very thin (with the exception of the Leman). I often look upon them as pens for the ladies.

I ahve the Caran d'Ache Leman Godron and I love, super smotth nib and a pleasure to write with.

I have to admot the Leman is the only CdA pen I liked.

Regards

Hunting down a Caran d'Ache Standard BP, in a round about way, got me interested in FP's. I have a soft spot for them and own the Ecridor BP as well but no FP's. The whole line seems to be quality.

Whoa. Two of you had to send'em back or work them out! That causes my an unfavourable impression.

By having them "sent back", what kind of servicing was performed? What exactly was the problem?

have had a Cd'A Ecridor Retro in silver plate rather than the newer rhodium plated finish... VEEEEEERRRY nice FP indeed... VEEEERRRRY smooth F nib... a joy to use and look at... never regretted getting it... except getting it from where I did... the Bay is soooooo much cheaper for the exact same pen... except the silver plated is now hard to get

I have three Caran d'Ache fountain pens -- all from the Ecridor line but in different patterns. In fact, one is an Ecridor XS, which is a pocket-pen.... or as my friends like to call them, "midget pens." Anyway, I've had no problems with any of them out of the box. I've never had to return one, but it's good to know that if I did, their customer service is top-notch. The F nibs write like true F nibs, and all are super smooth. So, Cd'A is 3 for 3 in my book. Their offerings aren't as diverse as other pen brands, however.