Carene, To Buy Or Not?

[minddance]

I am on the verge of acquiring a new Carene in Medium or stub. I am interested in

1. How well it seals inks

2. Does it leak easily at the section?

3. How easy is it to dismantle the nib for thorough cleaning?

 

To all Carene lovers/owners out here, your kind advice please.

[Chrissy]

It has a slip on cap, but still keeps ink in a converter for a reasonable time as it has a large internal feed. Is that what you mean when you say how well it seals inks?

 

It doesn't leak easily at the section.

 

The nib cannot be dismantled at all, and you should never attempt it.

[zaddick]

Get a stub. They are good, reliable pens and worth a try. No issues with ink drying or leaks in mine.

[Ghost Plane]

I deployed with mine. All they need is an occasional flush. The section alone holds as much ink as an international cartridge, so be prepared to give it a little time to get primed. These are not designed for obsessive disassembly. That’s the fastest way to ruin one short of trying to flex the nib (not designed for that fad) and watching it bend horribly before ripping off the section. The stubs are actually narrower than the broad nibs, which are also slightly stubbed.

 

The only reason you might not like one is if you let your fingers drift all the way down to the horns of the inlaid nib and experience ink flow w up close and personal. Hold it back on the section and you’ll find the balance incredible.

[welch]

Nice pen. Smooth nib -- mine is a medium. Wonderful balance, as Ghost Plane says. Does not leak at the section. As Chrissy mentions, the nib is not designed to be removed: it has "wings" that attach into the left and right sides of the grip. An impulsive (and destructive) owner could, probably, rip the wings out of the grip, but that would destroy the nib.

 

The only complaint I've ever read is that on some Carenes and after long use, ink can begin to seep along the back edge of a wing. Simple solution suggested: put a touch of shellac on the very end of a wing. (Search FPN: seems an easy fix)

 

Incidentally, the Carene is downright beautiful.

[PAKMAN]

Stub would be fun!

[pajaro]

The nibs on the Carenes are almost without peer for a luxurious smoothness.

[Tas]

Stunning nibs and the feel of the pen is so solid. My particular Carene sadly dries out if left for a week on the desk so it only gets inked up for specific use. Shame.

 

Id still buy another if I lost this one though.

[RocketRyan]

Stub, its a lovely nib.

[Left FPN]

You will not know (find out) which nib size you like until YOU have tried them all. And they may not ALL be the same as others have found. One medium can be broader or thinner than another, one stub can act different to another. Not many (any in the UK) offer anything other than Medium at the counter to try so it's of no use me saying try them all first. I think you are somewhere far east so see what sizes you can actually try first.

 

If I had to suggest a nib size it would be a medium or at a push a fine. Don't forget Waterman do offer a FREE section change but you will have to pay for the pen to be shipped to them or if you purchase from a local Waterman AD they might do it FOC for you.

 

Yes the cap is a slip so if left for a while the ink will evaporate plus it also depends on your environment.

 

Yes, hold the pen around its girth....the section joint and you will have no inky on the pinky.

 

Cleaning is easy, unscrew, drop the complete section into warm water and leave for a while. Remove, blow out excess water and refill.

 

Some have experienced problems with the latest converter (all plastic tip) but I have not. So long as it is fully inserted it should be OK. Converters are good because they allow you to fill that HUGE feed chamber and regularly keep it topped up. Every few days I check my desk pen. Hold the pen with nib vertical, slowly wind in the piston until ink is seen at the blow hole, invert the nib into ink bottle and slowly wind the piston back out. Once fully out remove the nib from ink, wind piston in 1 or 2 turns to allow a few drop of ink back into the bottle then wind it back out. You are ready to go.

 

In the west the Carene has dropped in price mainly due to a large internet company selling them cheap. This has also affected the SH market price. A new Marine Amber set FP/BP sold a few days ago for £82. Considering new sections are this price someone got a good deal. Honest, it was not me cos my funds are heading in a family Wedding direction at the moment.

 

Get one, enjoy and report back.

[miel]

At first: I am really addicted to my Carenes.

 

My experience started with a medium, which I like a lot for it's smoothness but which does not get any use at the moment.

My next buy was a fine - very smooth too (but with no line variation at all) and really a fine.

 

And then I got on the train for a stub.

 

Now I do have five Carenes and two extra section. My collection is a Fine, a Oblique Fine, a Medium, 2 Stubs and 2 Oblique Broad (named OL = Oblique Large) who are quite different in the line they give. (One behaves like an Oblique cursive Italic.)

 

 

 

Don't forget Waterman do offer a FREE section change but you will have to pay for the pen to be shipped to them or if you purchase from a local Waterman AD they might do it FOC for you.

 

If you are living in Europe, the nibcharge should be without any costs for you I had 2 nibchanges (1x Stub, 1x OL) and Waterman did pick it up and send it back via UPS without any charge for me. I contacted them by email first and then the process started. Great customer service.

Edited October 31, 2017 by miel

[Chrissy]

 

Some have experienced problems with the latest converter (all plastic tip) but I have not. So long as it is fully inserted it should be OK. Converters are good because they allow you to fill that HUGE feed chamber and regularly keep it topped up. Every few days I check my desk pen. Hold the pen with nib vertical, slowly wind in the piston until ink is seen at the blow hole, invert the nib into ink bottle and slowly wind the piston back out. Once fully out remove the nib from ink, wind piston in 1 or 2 turns to allow a few drop of ink back into the bottle then wind it back out. You are ready to go.

I have had one of these all plastic tip converters suddenly split inside the pen for no apparent reason. Then the ink just dripped out when I removed the cap.

 

If I see those converters with a metal tip going cheap on eBay, I often pick one up. I still have more Waterman fountain pens than I do metal tip converters.

[minddance]

Thank you very much to all who replied. After reading, I guess I might end up with more than 1 section or maybe even, 1 Carene.

[Left FPN]

I have had one of these all plastic tip converters suddenly split inside the pen for no apparent reason. Then the ink just dripped out when I removed the cap.

 

If I see those converters with a metal tip going cheap on eBay, I often pick one up. I still have more Waterman fountain pens than I do metal tip converters.

They are uncommon now and sometimes it's good to buy an old pen that has one in the box.

 

One of my better ebay deals, I purchased 100 NOS converters + 21 Deluxe boxes for BIN £25. What the seller failed to mention was that each box also contained a converter. I have sold many of them off now but retained a few for my own use. Some were even purchased by a very well know UK pen repairer.

[senzen]

So many positive posts, I was expecting more negative ones from my casual reading of this pen, sort of "glorious french design with bad french waiter attitude". I recently had the chance to buy it for the equivalent of $80 USD bucks, new, not in my preferred nib size or trim (so medium gold as opposed to fine rhodium), but had to pass for budgetary reasons. Still, looks like an interesting pen, unlike anything else.

[Left FPN]

We all forgot to mention how tactile the Carene is.

 

One does not need to write with it but just run it through your fingers.

 

There's equal, if not more, joy in doing just that.

[ink-syringe]

I have one Carene.

 

I love it much more than I thought I would. I thought it would be an over heavy brass barreled dullard with a leaky boring nib. Yawn. It is a pen that never appealed to me.

 

Then I picked it up and wrote with it. Would love to find a stub some day. My only problem so far is the converter leaks into the barrel of the pen. I am still not sure why I enjoy mine so much, maybe Force is right, but I would not have predicted it. I like mine enough that I would consider getting a second down the road.

Edited November 2, 2017 by ink-syringe

[pajaro]

I ended up buying four. Medium, broad, fine, then extra fine. This process confirmed to me that extra fine is my preference in any pen. I sold the broad one. I don't think I want to sell the other three. The feel of the pen is sensuous, as is the touch of nib to paper. The only thing I hate is that I cannot post the cap.

[vojtahlad]

My personal experience with just a single Carene:

 

1. Sealing is very good, no problems with drying.
2. I have to store mine vertically with the nib pointing up. Otherwise, it tends to leak significantly.
3. Dismantling does not seem to be possible. But the cleaning is fairly easy thanks to the converter filling.

[TSherbs]

This is a thread of temptation.