I got a Waterman Graduate and a Phileas a few weeks back. The Graduate was an impulse buy, since the ebay seller could do combined shipments. I was dissapointed when I first saw the Graduate. It certainly did not have the flashy elegance of the Phileas. Anyway, I loaded it with a catridge (had no converter at that time), and tried it out. It actually writes well. A couple of days later, I brought it with me to work, instead of the Phileas. The more I used it, the more I liked it. It has a really good weight, it does not feel flimsy or light when I hold it, and it writes well on many kinds of paper. And since it does not have gold trimmings etc, it does not look like you are showing off (and since I work with clients from the public sector, that can be a good thing).

The Phileas still writes slightly better, and is better looking, but if you want a good and sturdy every day pen, I would suggest a Waterman Graduate.

Just my two cents

Henrik

I've got an early Graduate in (I guess) aluminium and unfortunately with completely destroyed nib... It seems like someone was doing experiments on it with pliers for some obscure reason (ritual murder?). The design really is minimalistic, which I definitely appreciate, this is also why I like Parker Vector. Simple and not flashy but with elegance of its own.