Parker Sonnet vs Waterman Carene

[LapsangS]

I would like some info on Sonnet vs Carene (both with 18 karat gold nibs). I can see their images on Ebay but would like to know more about your experiences with both of them. I understand the nibs are quite different but how is the general feel and weight and size? I have previous experience on steel nibs only. This will be my first golden nib.

 

Looking forward to any comments & recommendations

 

Cheers,

 

Saku

[Karin]

Hi Saku,

I have both pens. The Sonnet has a surprisingly soft, almost flexible nib. The Carene is a totally different experience. It`s a heavier pen, but well balanced. The nib is very stiff. I like both pens though.

 

 

Regards,

Karin

[DWL]

Agreed, The Sonnet has a "soft" nib, while I wouldn't really call it flexible it's defiantly "springy." It's a fairly light pen overall while the Carene has a rigid nib, weights about twice what the Sonnet does & has an excellent balance (posted or un).

 

They are 2 completely different pens all together. I've owned both & have to say I like the Carene much better. The streamlined look, the "chevron" design of the inlaid nib is such an eye catcher, writes on carbons very easily and just has a look & feel I really dig. The Sonnet is a bit more traditional & is a fine pen in it's own right, but I just prefer the Carene.

 

Just my 2 bits worth.

 

Dennis

Edited February 15, 2006 by DWL

[gylyf]

Hi, Saku. I can't speak for the Sonnet, but I can tell you I love my Carènes. They're definitely two of my bigger and heavier pens, especially since I use mostly 400-sized Pelikans, but I love the look of the inlaid nib and of the pen in general. The F is quite a stiff nib, and like most Watermans not a very wet writer, but extremely smooth and reliable. My second is a really broad, wet factory stub that makes for an ideal signature pen (though I don't really use it all that much). Anyway, I think of the Carène, as a big, bad, souped-up C/F, which is one of my favorite pen designs. HTH and take care,

 

David

[JRodriguez]

I also have both. I love writing with both, but I would call the Sonnet more mushy than springy or flexy - just my humble analysis - but its definitely lighter than the Carene and more of a standard looking fountain pen (though the nib is a bit smaller than I like). I have a funky fine nib Carene that I absolutely love - its not on the dry side like many I've tried. I also had a nonfunky fine nib Carene that is very much described by what others here have said. Optimally, I would suggest that you try both. Gold nibs can be different, but you very well may not be able to tell any substantial difference compared to steel nibs. I think it generally makes more sense to compare individual pen performance than to necessarily group them by nib metal - just my $.02. I do like the Carene more by the way - its actually one of five pens I don't ever plan to part with - of course this is also because the pen is a bit of an anomaly. One more thing I remembered liking about the standard Carene I had - because the ink flow was on the dry side, it often wrote with a neat variation of ink amounts, giving the writing some coloration differences.

Edited February 15, 2006 by rigo311

[Michael Wright]

I'll just put in a word for the Sonnet. I have two, both of which I bought because they are pretty (Fougere and most recently the red Chinese laque ), but I also find myself writing with them. With a fine nib, the give in the nib does produce a small line variation. With a broad nib, I can see it might just be mush.

 

The Carene is extremely solidly made (IMHO not well engineered because it has too many parts, but well made), with an excellent nib if you like rigid nibs. I've had a couple of problems with ink ooze, though nothing bad (too many parts the root cause, I suspect), and if the nib and the tail end of the barrel get out of alignment, it's a bit of a performance to realign them, though it can be done. But the reason I don't write with mine much is because it's just too heavy for me.

 

I'd suggest that your taste in weight of pens should be the deciding factor. Both are well made, look good, and write well, though I can think of other pens that write better (Intrigue, Rotring 600, Lamy 2000).

 

Whichever, enjoy

 

Michael

[LapsangS]

Thanks for your comments

 

How is the Carene's cap like? Is it like a snap-on cap or slide-on (something like Parker 45)?

I ask this because I tried a Parker 45 and I didn't like it because

 

- the cap didn't "snap" on

- the pen was too light-weight

- plastic parts had VERY cheap-feeling finish

- easily scratched steel "Flighter" barrel when posted

- the nib had a very narrow "sweet spot" (it didn't like the angle I held it)

 

(Of course, I understand that these two pens are not on the same price level and can not be compared fairly. I just used this 45 as an example, because it was a recent purchase.)

[gylyf]

The Carène has a super-sturdy snap cap. There's definitely an audible click when one caps the pen, and there's no budging the cap once it's on. Have a good day,

 

David

Edited February 15, 2006 by parrhesia

[acj27]

Just to add my two pennies worth also...I own both and definite prefer the carene.

 

It's larger and heavier with, for me, a much nicer heft in the hand. The nib, while stiff, it smooth and good to write with. I prefer the look of the carene also.

 

Finally the carene is more reliable in my experience - the sonnet tends to dry out if not used for a day due to the air holes in the cap. My carene has just written despite having just sat on the desk unused for the last 5 days or so.

 

Some people will tell you about the carene dropping ink bombs but if, after refilling, the excess ink is removed from the section this is not a problem.

[Glenn-SC]

I tried some "pre-owned" Carenes that had writing issues.

So I bought a new one and it has ben great.

Good size and weight if not a tad slim.

 

I tried the Sonnet but was not impressed enough to care to buy one.

[Rique]

I too have both of them, and I find the pens are so different from each other that comparing them doesn´t seem to make much sense, in my opinion...

The Sonnet is a "standard size" pen (i.e., about the size of a commom vintage Parker or Sheaffer), while the Carene is big and heavy (the heaviest pen in my collection, actually). My Sonnet had a lot of nib problems, which were fixed by regrinding it; the Carene writes well, a M that is bit too broad for my taste, smooth but not superlatively so. I can attest to the solidity of this pen: I´ve dropped it twice, once on a tiled floor, and the second time on the street asphalt , the hardest and roughest place I could have found to drop an expensive pen... It was capped, fortunately, and had only a very small nick (less than 1 mm) on the cap lacquer, and a few scratches on the clip.

All things considering, If I were to buy one of them, I´d go for the Sonnet, though - the Carene is a bit too heavy.

[JRodriguez]

I think both have quite sturdy bodies, though the Carene nib section is, in my humble opinion, prone to acquiring rub marks - not quite scratches - if you've ever looked at any used Parker 51s you might know what I'm trying to describe. I had this issue with the Carene I sold and have just been more careful with my favorite.

[LapsangS]

I like big and heavy pens. I have a big hand. So it seems that I am going to buy a Carene. What is the biggest/heaviest Parker? Is it the Duofold?

[Ruaidhri]

I chickened out and bought both. Then a Sonnet Chiselle. Love them all.

Rather think the Sonnet nibs have more give, but the Carene has a lovely solid feel.

Biggest Parkers I have are a Big Red, a green jade Centennial and a navy pinstripe Centennial. There may be bigger Parkers, but not to my knowledge (limited!)

[amin]

Moving this thread to the 'Writing Instruments' forum to get equal input from Waterman lovers .

 

For the records, I've really enjoyed using both pens but own neither. totally different writing experiences - I don't have much to add to the comments above.

[chad234]

I have a gray Carene, it has a nail hard, very smooth nib. It feeds waterman and noodler's inks very well, and is an instant starter. It has a good balance. I am a Waterman fan, and would readily shoose the Carene over the Sonnet.

[Boltonator]

My sonnet is a fairly nice pen, but it does give me some problems. Mainly because the 18k nib is so fragile and i keep getting the tines all out of alignment. I have had to readjust quite a few times and the nib was a bit out of alignment with the feed from all the times that ive had to have it out. I only persist because its a nice writer and was so out of the box (after a little bit of dish detergent of course . My point is that its a nice pen but you have to be a little delicate with it.

My Hemisphere is my only other pen and its VERY smooth but thats because of its steel nib which was worn to a flattish surface after half a year of study. Its now my bold lab report pen. Its quite sturdy but the Sonnet takes the bulk of my writing.

[kwinana]

I own both: a Sonnet Cisele Limited edition (Med) with chrome fittings and a Carene Lagoon Turquoise (Medium point). The Parker is a gorgeous looking pen, however, it has had nib issues. The nib has been exchanged twice by Parker. Both times for 'scratchiness' and ink flow. The ink now flows well if exerting pressure while writing, so less pressure means it skips and misses. Too much pressure, it releases too much ink. That said, it has a flex which, I guess, allows one's writing too take on a 'vintage' look; less flow and more flow equals thick and thin lines! The Parker is well balanced, however, the springy nib is tiresome, in my opinion, and the inconsistent lines produced not to my taste.

 

The Carene is a beautiful colour, although I think it cannot match Parker's styling. The Carene is one of my best, smooth writers and produces a fairly broad line for a medium. My taste is for a finer point so I will in the not too distant future order a fine nib. Well balanced when the cap is posted, I find the Carene supremely comfortable for writing long distances. And the stiff nib means I don't have to worry about too much flex and damaging it.

 

In conclusion: I would select the Sonnet for styling and the Carene for exceptional writing performance.

[Nicholas Green]

I have recently purchased both these pens to compare them with each other, as they are in a similar price range and class.

 

 

I haven't inked either of them yet, so I can't speak as to how they perform against each other from a writing perspective.

They are both well made pens, although the Carene definitely has more heft, which definitely gives the impression that its a more solid pen.

 

I initially bought the Carene to compare it to the Edson from a performance point of view, but I then got the opportunity to acquire a Sonnet for an extremely good price, so I bought it.

 

I have posted some pics of both pens together so that their physical differences can be noted.

If you take a close look at the nibs of these pens, you can see why the Carene's nib is stiffer.

 

 

 

The Carene, just like the Edson has what I would call a "stressed nib", in that it has pronounced curvature in both its lateral and longitudinal axes.

This curvature adds to the apparent strength of the nib material allowing them to stamp the nibs from thinner gold bands. I don't believe that this is design principle was introduced in order to reduce the cost of manufacture, but was made to improve ink flow performance. Thats why the Edson writes so dam well!

 

A nib made from thinner material with a well designed compensator should have more predictable ink flow characteristics than a standard nib design, but it will have allot less flex, as the nib has to be stressed in order to prevent the thiner nib material from bending when under pressure.

 

Both pens appear to be good from a build point of view.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Nicholas Green

[InkedPages]

I have both, have written with both, and I prefer the Carene EXCEPT as to its durability. I will speak only to performance and durability because I feel that design speaks for itself and is more a matter of taste. The Sonnet offers more spring to the nib, but the Carene blows the sonnet out of the water on smoothness - my first experience with a butter smooth nib right out of the box. The Carene has a wetter flow that I preferred as I was using it to write quickly. My other pens are Japanese so the medium nib on the Carene felt like a broad to me at the time. I was in love.

 

Alas, it was not to last. Klutz that I am I dropped the Carene onto a floor. Thankfully it didn't fall nib-first, but the section split in two. I bought it resale from a friend and sadly had to put it back into the box. I haven't given up on it, my dream is to have the time and hand-skill to do a Kintsugi repair of the section with gold-dust imbued epoxy.

 

Despite my love for the Carene and its wet, ultra-smooth nib, I feel I have to come down for the Sonnet here. I've dropped the Sonnet as well, and many of my other pens (I'm getting better) and never had the same kind of problem.