This is not a current Waterman offering. The CF was introduced sometime in the 1950s and, I believe, discontinued in early 1980s.
This is a used FP/MP set that I purchased from DocNib in the Market Place... I have always wanted to try one of these pens and now have one...
For some reason, they do not seem readily available on eBay or other markets so I consider myself lucky to get this set.

First Impressions 5/5
I received this pen from Doc Nib the other day .... to put it mildly, I am extremely impressed...

Appearance 5/5
The pen is a classic black CF with a gold cap that has a split clip...
The section is extremely modern in appearance with it's semi-hooded nib and gold swallow tail piece in the section.
The barrel has a nice taper ending in a gold tassie that looks like a Parker 61 without the jewel.
All in all a very very attractive pen.

Design 5/5
This is a thinner pen than I am used to, measuring .414" at the body/section joint and only .275" just behind the nib where I hold the pen.
Overall length is .260" capped, 4.800" uncapped and 5.845" posted.
At first glance I was expecting this pen to not be one of my most comfortable writers. My first choice pens are Parker 51s and Vacumatics. This pen is decidedly thinner... in fact a whole lot thinner when you consider that the area on a P51 where I hold the pen is about .365".
I was very surprised when I found this pen to not only be comfortable, but comfortable even after writing with it most of the day.....

Nib 5/5
This was the real high point of using this pen....
The nib is solid gold and a fine. Not around a fine... but a real true fine as I like them....
It is also extremely smooth... there is absolutely no drag or tooth to this nib whatsoever. You would be hard pressed to find any factory nib that is this smooth...
I would say you would be hard pressed to find a nib from any of the nibmeisters that is much smoother than this.
CF nibs are purported to have some flex to them, but I can't see on this nib... I also don't want to put a lot of pressure on it to find out.

Filling System 2/5
The low mark here is not because of the fact that it is a C/C pen. The mark is because you can no longer get cartridges for this pen.
You need to refill the carts that you can find.
I was lucky, Doc sent me a box of Waterman Blue/Black cartridges and the pen had the original empty factory cart in the pen. I filled that one with Waterman Black ink and am saving the others.
According to Sam at Pendemonium Waterman still have converters for this pen... I believe they are called the Lady Waterman converter... I will be getting one.

Cost and Value 5/5
I paid $55.00 for this pen from DocNib in the Market Place ... definitely worth every penny paid. I received the FP/MP in the original factory box....
He originally had it marked $75 then I grabbed it when he reduced the price ... but then what do you expect from The Griz...

Conclusion 27/30
Unfortunately, this pen is no longer made.
IF you can find one, I would definitely say grab it....

another nice review, Griz. I wasn't at all suprised when you caught the pen as soon as the price was reduced, in fact, I would have been disappointed if you paid full asking price.

Congratulations on another fine addition to your pen chest.

French

Hello OldGriz,

thank you for the review!
This was my first "worthy" pen. My father gave it to me in 1978 when I was seventeen (I think as a birthday present?!). Later he also introduced me into the world of Lamy and Kaweco.

My C/F is sterling silver with 18k OB nib. I am glad, that I still have some of the original cartridges - what a poor idea to stop production....Waterman/Sanford
When I was seventeen I could not really estimate the gift - today I know what I got....

Great review and great pen! Mine is definitely a plainer "user" model but everything you say is true. My nib has a bit of springiness to it that gives me extra enjoyment.

Excellent review of a wonderful pen. I have converters in all three of my C/F pens, making them quite enjoyable to use. There are some wicked gorgeous C/Fs out there, if you're lucky. My coolest C/F is this silver moiré model:

Hmmm... this looks exactly like the Waterman I have just got serviced/cleaned. Except my cap and barrel are the same - a lacquered flat brownish/rust colour. But the clip and the nib section is exactly the same. So these are known as CFs? Any links to how I can learn more about the pen I have?

Thanks for the excellent review, Tom.... and thank you also for choosing a "vintage" pen to review!
I only have one C/F, a red one with a steel cap, but it's a nice pen with a nib design.

Great review. I saw a NOS CF in a shop which I couldn't afford at the time. When I got to the shop months later it was gone.

I know for a while these pens are great writers but do to the fact you cant get refiles for this pen I rather not have one.

OK, a few additions.

First, the converters are available. You can track them down through Waterman, or you can get them off Ebay. Usually about 5 quid - see item 110212001370 for instance.

Cartridges are also available, but from another Waterman model I don't recall at the moment (I don't use cartridges).

The reason these pens are not too common is that they weren't marketed on this continent as much as in Europe. There are a couple of dozen on Ebay now - a working knoledge of French can be an asset.

The only weak point is that the nib is slightly prone to corrosion if left with ink in it for long periods, so insist on seeing a nib pic before buying, and flush yours out before sticking it in a drawer.

They were styled by GM stylist Harley Earle and have always struck me as one of the most stylish pens, comfortable in the hand (even large hands like mine). A truly elegant pen, with one of the most intriguing nibs around.

I'm up to almost 40 of them. The cream is probably the Crocodile in both GP and sterling, but they also made many very small production patterns that will take a long time to find (I have a gold Moire in my pocket today - like the silver plate one Richard posted.

Oh yeah - and I don't think anyone else needs to start collecting them any time soon - OK?

Here's a couple of farly rare ones:

Fantastic, I have literally just snagged one on eBay for the equivalent of about $35 plus postage. Looking forward to getting it.

You should be careful. There is a good nib (with metal surround) and a cheap nib (with plastic - usually white, sometimes black) to stay away from.

Bad nib:




Good nib:

Is the nib different, or just the surround? The "bad nib" shown here is 14k, and the pen, while not the top of the range, isn't one of the bottom-line ones, either, with the visibly riveted clip. I can't imagine Waterman would make a bad nib out of gold. (I just sold that pen on eBay, and I'd sure not want to think the buyer bought a "bad" pen. It's a made-in-USA version.) I'd certainly agree it doesn't look as good as the metal surround, but is it actually bad, or just aesthetically bad? The nib itself looks identical to OldGriz's.

I was wondering what the CF was about. Thanks for an interesting review.

No, Tom got the 'good' nib. The second rank nib is gold but a slightly different design and the surround is plastic, not metal. The feed is usually better on the more expensive version as well.

The cheaper model writes pretty well, but if one is going to invest in a CF, given the small price difference, one would be well advised to seek out the better one, that's all.

Here is one of the top models, the Sterling Crocodile:

Thank you for the info.
I will concider buying one just to see if I will like it.

Here is a picture of mine. It seems to have an ultra fine nib. 18kt and 750 is engraved on it. It writes fine - without any skips/blots/leaks but being used to broad/medium nibs, this fine nib seems a bit rough or has a bit too much bite, it is not as smooth as I would like it to be. Since it is new, maybe I ought to write with it some time before I get it smoothened/adjusted.

My pen has a factory fitted sac convertor (it has 'waterman' engraved on it) and works well in filling ink. And why is my 'swallow' portion in gold? All the pictures here seem to have it in silver/steel.

All in all it seems a very nice pen, light and easy to carry around in the pocket.

The C/F I bid on has an 18K nib, so I guess I'll be getting one of the better models.

The description on mine says (roughly translated from the French): The cap is tarnished a little on a side and like often on the cf, the white wings on each side of the nib are oxidised"

Do these 'wings' typically suffer from oxidation in anyone's experience?

Also, is there a source of CF compatible fillers in the UK, I'm guessing mine will come without cartridge or filler.

As I noted, mine has gold 'wings' and are absolutely untarnished even after all these years. A relative may have just tried it and found the fine nib a bit scratchy and left it around. Since it was lying around with other pens in a case, the lacquer has come off in some spots. But the gold/brass clip, ends of cap and barrel are absolutely shiny like new. I got the inside filler sac changed to a nylon one from my local pen guy. The original one was atrophied.

I am sure a bit of buffing/polish will get your pen looking good.

Well mine has arrived. Its black with chrome wings and cap and gold plated detail (clip, barrel tassie). To be honest, it looks a bit scruffy (pic to follow), the chrome plating on the 'wings' has corroded badly and you can see through to the metal beneath. The nib is just marked 18K, with a small squiggle marking I can't make out underneath, then a diamond shaped mark underneath that.

The nib is a revelation - fine, wet enough and (dare I say it) buttery smooth. Mine came with one used and one full cartridge. I soaked the nib/section in ammonia solution last night, flushed with water then filled the empty cartridge with some old Quink Black with Solv-X.

Its lovely to write with - its slim and light (18g or 12g without cap) and very elegant looking. Shame about the corrosion. I'll just have to get a better example - those sterling silver ones look nice. I paid just shy of the equivalent of $40 incl postage for this one. There appears to be a constant stream of these on eBay from French sellers.

If it has corroded that badly, it is sad. One thing I would not like is an unclean/poorly maintained looking pen. Maybe keep it for spares for your next and hopefully better one.

Tom, nice pen, and very nice penmanship! You have a great signature, too.

DJ

Here is the picture of the CF I got:


You can see the corrosion/pitting on the wings and also the wear on the chrome cap in the background. ebay item 320209656007 looks like it has the same disease. On another description I have also read that "this pen has the long gold filled inlay on the section and there is no visible corrosion in the area adjacent to the nib as is usually seen on these models." So it looks like this corrosion is something to look out for on prospective purchases.

Anyway, its (almost) the worst looking pen I have ever got from eBay, but its actually one of the best writing: I really love the pen. Its not going to be a spare but rather one I will turn to quite frequently I think. Of course, that won't stop me from looking to buy a better example

That is a bit bad, you may be better in trying to take all the chrome off. It does not seem to be corrosion, but simply the chrome is coming off. Though mine looks very spiffy, its' ultra fine nib will take some breaking...