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Waterman Expert City Line Urban Brown


visvamitra

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While nowadays I rarely use Waterman fountain pens I usually recommend them to those interested in getting first “true” fountain pen. My adventure with fountain pens started with battered Waterman Hemisphere that I found on the street. You can’t blame me for the fact I have warm feelings toward the brand.



On second though though I guess I should blame them. I would have much more money if I hadn’t found this pen and started to dig into the hobby.



Waterman Expert is one of two most popular Waterman pens (the other one being Waterman Hemisphere). It’s available in variety of finishes. The one I’m going to present is called City Line and was available in four colors. Differences between different Expert series and lines are mostly cosmetic and limited to lacquer / material finish.



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This pen has a classic, simple look that I find appealing. It’s not stunning or unique but I would say it looks rather nice and elegant. The feel in the hand is solid and full metal body gives it a nice heft. The design is fairly simple and classic – the body is thick in the middle and tapers smoothly to each end. The end of the cap has an inset – shiny chrome disk set at a shallow angle. Shiny clipshaped like a man necktie has a slit in the middle. It’s stiff but functional. Personally I never use clips and never post pens chances are you’ll enjoy this one.



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The chevron pattern on the barrel isn’t textured. It’s printed (?). It looks nice to my eyes. I think it’s one of better Expert finishes.



Nib



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Text written with Diamine Sepia on Clairefontaine Triomphe paper. Quote comes from great fantasy (grimdark) book: Before they are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie.



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Stainless steel nib performs very well on variety of papers. The nib is marked as fine and I think it’ leaves finer line than Lamy or Pelikan fine nibs. City Line Expert nibs are less minimalistic than Expert III nibs – there’s a hexagon that surrounds the “W” on the nib and “Waterman” name underneath. Personally I don’t think it’s particularly nice nib. It delivers and that’s all that need to be said. Forget aboul line variation and softness, though. This one is rather rigid.



Filling system



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Well, Waterman doesn’t experiment a lot with filling systems. Expert line, as most of their pens, uses converters and cartridges.



Dimensions



The pen weighs 30g. It’s 142 mm closed, 126 mm uncapped, 152 mm posted.



Summary



Waterman knows how to make a fountain pen. I’ll try to describe Waterman Expert in few words: balanced, with comfortable grip., not too heavy, not too light. Also reliable. I’m prety sure you’ll easily find better pens on the market. On the other hand I believe that Expert line, especially if you’ll find one on sale, offers very good price / what you get ratio. I like this pen. I don’t use is as often as I could but I have way too many fountain pens to play with and this one usually looses with Omas Ogiva Alba or Visconti Opera. Or Sailor Black Luster.



It’s good pen, really. It’s just a little boring :)


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Thanks for the review.

I also have this pen and although it is not a very valuable pen I cherish it as it has sentimental values for me.

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Again, a well done review. Thank you.I have two of these. I found that the medium nib on my first, an Oriental Red was rather broad and switched it for a fine. Perfect. I later aquired a black one with a fine nib and again, perfect.

 

They are great, comfortable all day writers.

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Nice review, and great pictures. I only got one chance to have ever tested a Expert, and that was my friend's GT lacquer ballpoint. I found it very high-quality, and will be looking into buying one in the future.

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@Mastiff - my first pens were mainly Waterman's. I used to have close to fifteen Hemispheres, Experts, plus some others. Nowadays I almost never use them. I still like them but there's so many interesting pens on the market that I forget about these :)

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Great review. I have used a Charleston as my go to pen for decades and really like it best of all my other pens. Will someday get another. Where is the Charleston in the line up of Waterman pens compared to the Expert line?

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Great pictures. The pattern is interesting I think.

 

@Peregrinator: the Charleston is placed higher in the line up. As far as I can tell this mostly is due to the Charleston being inspired by the Hundred Year Pen and having a 18k gold nib whereas the Expert has a steel nib.

You might want to visit Waterman's website http://www.waterman.com/en/6-pens to get an own impression. Where the pens are placed corresponds with their luxuriance and price.

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Thanks for a great review, and, I think, an insightful conclusion. It is almost as if Waterman is a retro brand, dating back to the time when you could produce a well-made, attractive pen from good-quality materials and if it wrote reliably, you could sell it for a mid-range price. Today such pens have to compete against equally well-made, reliable pens from China, maybe with somewhat less overall quality but that is arguable, at single-digit dollar prices. A pen is no longer exciting just because it is attractive and writes well. It has to go the extra mile with an expensive marketing legend, or exotic materials, or a weird filling system, or a finish that can only be done by hand, or an unusual nib. It is a changed market.

ron

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  • 1 month later...

Great review. I have used a Charleston as my go to pen for decades and really like it best of all my other pens. Will someday get another. Where is the Charleston in the line up of Waterman pens compared to the Expert line?

The Charleston is a step up from the Expert.

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The Waterman Expert was my first expensive fountain pen. With an EF nib, it's the pen that I keep going back to. I can take my notes as needed. It's an elegant-looking pen that can serves as a "beater" -- I put it in my bag all the time (although I do have pen wraps and cases -- the only ones that don't go cased are my Pilot Petit 1 and Kaweo AL Star Stonewashed Blue). It does everything just right. For me. Your mileage may vary.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Based on this review I found one on eBay. It was well priced and I am very happy with it.

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Thanks for all the effort you put into your review of this pen. I have several experts 1,& 2 and whatever the current model is called. I've always enjoyed writing with them. As you say not to heavy, not too light, and very comfortable in the hand. Until the price hikes of the last few years, I've always felt the Expert was hands down the best pen in the under $100. Class. Still a great pen, just a but more expensive.

Like you my experts don't get used often. Sadly, Montblancs, Pelikans, and my new Sailor King of Pen, have since replaced my old Waterman Expert friends in the rotation. I'll never get rid of them though. Heck after reading this thread I just may ink one up for old times sake.

Thanks again for your review and reminding me of this iconic pen.

 

Btw: The Charlston is another fantastic writing pen. They all come with 18k nibs. Not made anymore, but you can pick up NOS for $125-$150 ( the cost of a modern Expert ) I've started collecting them.

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