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Pen bought around 2014. Fine nib. Thoroughly flushed with distilled water overnight, inked for the first time today with KWZ "Spacer nad Wisłą" ink. No skipping, just shaky hands.

I wanted to remind myself of the names that Waterman uses for its different colours of ink, so I have just looked at the Waterman website. https://www.waterman.com/inks/ To my horror and disgust, I found the following: There is NO mention of ANY ink in bottles, ONLY ink in cartridges! Even worse, ALL the colours appear to have been discontinued, except for: 'Intense Black'; 'Serenity Blue' (whose name still appears as 'Florida Blue' when one clicks on the swatch that indicates its colour); 'Mysterious Blue' (whose name appears as 'Blue and Black' when one clicks on the swatch). Furthermore, 'Mysterious Blue' is NOT listed as being available in the 'extensive' range of inks that are available in Waterman's short cartridges! We are currently living in the 'golden age' of inks. More companies that make fountain pen ink are appearing, existing ink makers are producing ink in more colours. But, if the company's website is anything to go by, it seems that the genius Executive class at Newell-Rubbermaid has decided to wave a little white flag, and abandon making nearly all of Waterman's offerings - just as it has with the varieties of Parker 'Quink' other than 'Black', 'Washable Blue', and 'Blue and Black'. 🤯 So, if you are especially fond of any of the bottled inks that Waterman has made up until now, I advise you to buy one soon! Unless, of course, the fact that their bottled inks AND most colours of ink have recently been deleted from the Waterman website merely indicates the unique level of competence of the Marketing and/or multimedia employees who have been hired by Newell-Rubbermaid. Do any of you know which of the two possible interpretations is the correct one? Slàinte, M.

I thought it would be interesting to write up a little comparison between six pens. To wit: the Lamy 2000, the Waterman Carene, the Parker 51, the Wing Sung 601, the Parker 75, and the Pilot VP. Why these six particularly? Well, it seems a frequent question many ask is “What is the best daily writer?” We could ask this question as well with a slant toward office tasks, notes in lectures, etc. I also think many of us fantasize about having one trusty “daily carry” fountain pen that can do pretty much everything, from filling out forms, writing letters, or penning the next great work of literature. There are thousands of different models of fountain pens from dozens of manufacturers to choose from, and many of us enjoy more than one. That being said, it’s an undeniable reality that with the pace of modern life (or, we might say, the pace demanded of us all thanks to our ballpoint-wielding brethren) many of the pens we love are perhaps a bit too fussy for daily writing tasks. Maybe they’re too delicate, or too expensive, or too slow to deploy when you need to get that idea or contact info down NOW, or just prone to drama, either in the form of hard starting, drying out, skipping and railroading, burping ink, or not having the most practical filling system. Therefore when someone says “I love fountain pens and I want to use one on an everyday basis, actually outside my own four walls,” there are a few pens commonly recommended for the job. The Lamy 2000 and Parker 51 probably are recommended most frequently, as being classic/timeless, business-appropriate, designs which are known for their workhorse prowess. The Pilot Vanishing Point is also frequently recommended due to its innovative retractable system, making it very fast to use. The Carene is a bit of a dark horse, but has been called with some justification a “French Lamy 2000,” the Wing Sung is often suggested as a product-improved Parker 51 clone, and the Parker 75, while not often thrown into these discussions, probably should be because it’s a great pen with a lot of the same virtues. There are certainly other common recommendations too, or pens I have left off. I know that at least one person will tell me their antique Duofold or Waterman 52 has never skipped a beat, or they would never dream of leaving their front door without their Visconti Homo Sapiens. Pelikans and Montblancs are popular choices but I find both lacking in one way or another as pens to carry around and write spontaneously with. I’ll expand on this a bit: most of us probably want the feel of a quality writing instrument. A platinum preppy may get the job done but it’s not really going to scratch the itch, at least for me. But I also hesitate to take a resin pen out that cost hundreds, because this pen WILL be used a bit harder than a desk pen, and scratches and scuffs might make us sad. For that matter, ANY pen that costs “a lot” is one to think twice about before tossing in a backpack to face the vicissitudes of daily abuse. The price comfort level will be different for everyone but I think most of us could agree that there’s a lot of great options under about $300, and over that point we might think twice about if we really want to risk dropping, theft, ham-handed colleagues, etc. I personally quite like the Pelikan line, and I like their screw caps -which are pretty quick to deploy because they usually thread on in less than one full rotation, but that unscrewing virtue is also a vice, and the internet abounds with tales of lost or broken pens, and ruined clothes. A good desk pen if you like them, but I can’t say it’s the perfect workhorse. As for Montblanc? Very similar. A good pen, and tailor-made to ride in your suit jacket’s breast pocket and sign a document every so often, but mine dries out easily if I’m using it while conducting an interview, so I can’t say they’re the best design for this particular task. It’s very annoying to write a sentence, and in a couple of minutes go to write something else and the pen requires effort, a scribble, or extra pressure to make it write again, with the alternative to be constantly capping and uncapping. The pens chosen for this roundup are therefore mostly hooded nibs, and all have snap caps or some other quick-deploy feature instead of threads. They come from the U.S., Germany, Japan, France, and China. Another factor to keep in mind with an everyday pen is the filling system. Every single type has pluses and minuses, but I don’t worry overmuch about that dreaded question of “what do I do if I run out of ink?” If I’ve got one pen on me I can easily have two. I can even have one that’s full for no other purpose than as a spare for some hypothetical gargantuan writing session. I keep a bottle of ink and a box of Kleenexes on my desk at work, and at home there is no shortage. In an absolute worst case scenario I can snag the cheap ballpoint someone left on the table… so I don’t feel a daily writer needs Japanese eyedropper-level capacity. But some capacity or versatility is good because, again, we’re talking use under sometimes less than perfect circumstances, not the pen spa in the home office. I’d advise everyone to actually get to know a pen before they start carrying it so they have an idea of its ink capacity and how often they may need to refill. I myself do like Extra Fine pens too, which means my pens will write a lot longer than the same pen fitted with a broad nib. Relevant information because if you like broad nibs you may prioritize capacity much more than I do. Ok on to the pens. The Parker 51. Some say this is the best pen ever made. It writes the first time, every time. It does not dry out when left uncapped for a time, and is a timeless, classic, understated design, which has a bit of retro-futuristic post-deco flair. The cap feels like a quality affair and posts well, while not impacting the pen’s excellent balance and versatile size. If I can sum this pen up in a nutshell, it’s a wonderful workhorse pen that does have a real vintage feel -because this is a vintage pen. The lucite body is unusually tough and not prone to cracking, chipping, or serious scratching, but it feels …like a plastic pen. Combine that with light weight and a nib that’s almost invisible, and you get a pen that while ticking almost all the boxes on paper, is frankly kinda boring. On the other hand, they do write sweetly. It’s the kind of thing you only notice after trying a lot of other pens. If this is your first or, especially, second fountain pen, you would be forgiven for finding this pen terminally uninteresting. Additionally, the filling system is a blessing and a curse. This pen is available with two systems. The later and more common aerometric filler is easy to fill, and the pli-glass sacs are pretty much bulletproof, making this the one vintage pen you can count on to write well with minimal restoration. The older vacumatic pens will probably require a trip to the repairman to get them running. They’re prone to drying out if left unused for days or weeks, and also difficult to flush and change inks, difficult to tell how much ink you got when filling, and difficult to see how much ink you have left. That said, there’s a reason that they took the pen world by storm in the 1940s and continue to be a recommended choice today. This is an “advanced” choice. Probably not a good starter pen but in a few years you’ll probably have one and enjoy it. Not a good choice if you like to change inks and colors either. Buy a bottle of some staid and businesslike blue, black, blue-black, or similar, and dedicate it to your pen. The Wing Sung 601 is a similar pen, with the advantage of having a more interesting vacuum filling system, having an ink window to give you an idea when you’ll be pushing empty, and being available new, for slightly under $20. The downside is that the plastic is said to be prone to cracking, but there’s a steel version available too. My Parker 51s are as a whole more pleasant to write with (nib feel on paper) because the Wing Sungs aren’t totally consistent. I have one that’s sublime, one that’s pretty nice, and a few that are average; overall the Wing Sungs aren’t bad. Mine in extra fine produce some of the prettiest writing of any of my pens. (I can’t argue with the results!)The cap clips are cheap and easily bent, which is annoying on a pen of any price, but overall this pen is hard to argue with. I’d suggest trying one as a prelude to see if you like the feel, before stepping up to the vintage ‘51. I will say that one of my Wing Sungs managed to fill its cap with ink 20 minutes before an extremely important meeting once, which did not endear it to me that day. I’ve heard that my lack of finesse with the filling might have caused this so it’s possible it’s operator error, but it’s hard to completely trust the pen after an incident like that. On the other hand I’ve had one inked up for months untouched (I have several of these) and I just tried it. It wrote perfectly. The next pen in our list is the Parker 75. I don’t often see this pen recommended but took the liberty of throwing it in because it’s got a similar cap to the venerable Parker 51, making it a very easy choice if you need a pen to write something quickly. It’s got the Parker 51’s love-or-hate aerometric filling system, along with the option to take a cartridge, and I think piston and slide converters are around too, which does add some extra versatility. My Parker 75 writes a wet medium, and has never displayed any hard-starting shenanigans. I did leave it uncapped for 10 minutes to test it and there was only a slight hesitancy which made the first stroke of my first capital a bit faint. The nib also has a much more interesting feel to me than the glassier nibs of the Parker 51 and Wing Sung, inviting me to grab this one instead if I want to enjoy my daily writing even more. Because the nib is open and not hooded, there’s more potential to easily tune it to your preferences, and nib units are available if you want to go down that route. The triangular section (slight but it’s there) is pleasant for me -but maybe not for you- and is also a bit on the smaller side, and I also enjoy this pen’s ability to rotate the nib so the writing experience can be further tuned to your preferences. And let’s not forget the iconic styling, most frequently seen in a solid sterling silver body with a crosshatch pattern. This pen is available used at non-exorbitant prices and isn’t a bad option. The real question is if your hand gets along with the section. If so, a very decent and underrated pen for daily use. It feels luxurious and high quality, but only you know if your fingers will like it. The Pilot VP is an odd duck. Actually designed (at least in terms of the mechanism) contemporaneously with the Parker 75, this pen looks and feels like a fancy ballpoint, complete with a big clicky button on the back. Click the button (which does have a nice feeling if you like such things… I’m indifferent personally) and a tiny nib emerges from an ingenious trapdoor hidden in the nose. This pen is bulbous, has a weird clip coming down the pen from the nosecap (so you can clip it to your shirt and still keep the nib safely vertical) and has a brass body, which makes the pen weightier than you might expect. It’s a recipe for either love or hatred. I personally love it. I’m one of those lucky ones who can grab this pen and write with no ergonomic issues whatsoever, and in fact I find the pen utterly comfortable for pages and pages. (This might actually be the most comfortable pen I own. Seriously.) The nib on this one is also a delight, and has a great feel (for me.) I own around 50 pens and this nib, to me, is in the top 5. Highly subjective I know, but it’s great. The downside of this pen is it’s limited capacity. It can take a cartridge or use Pilot’s small piston converter, or pilot’s larger aerometric converter. I usually opt for the aerometric one, myself. My pen is finished in black carbonesque paint, which is an interesting finish. This pen mostly lives a pampered existence but I have to assume that it might chip if the pen were carried a lot outside of a case. This is a pen I might seriously consider buying in an upgraded finish -a bonus is that it’s one of a very few Japanese pens with interchangeable nib units, so you can replace the body, nib, or both, or try different widths. There’s no cap to worry about, and if the feel in hand works for you, this pen is a wonder. It is prone to dry out if left untouched for weeks which means this pen needs to be used like it was designed for. Another bonus here is that you can get functionally identical copies from Majohn and Jinhao for $20-30, making it easy to see if the design works with your fingers. The Waterman Carene is a bit of a departure from the previous pens. It’s a much more modern design, cartridge converter (standard piston type) and has a gorgeous inlaid nib. This pen is a looker, and with its fancy lacquer finishes, striking nib, svelte shape, and extra touches like the spring loaded clip, this pen definitely adds an element of extra refinement to your writing. It’s a very pretty pen, and writes …ok. For me, this pen in M is so utterly smooth on paper, that it’s numb, or kind of “dead” feeling. The F version, on the other hand has not just a little but substantial feedback, making it a chore to write with for paragraphs. I also find I have to consciously grip the pen just a little higher than I normally might instinctively do, and my medium nib still feels a bit clunky. It will do the job, and the cap pulls off and pops on with a strong click, bordering on a snap, but overall writing with this pen just feels like work to me. Added to this feeling is the fact that while the cap will post, others have said that you probably don’t want to do this because the pen body can be scratched. Now I have to find somewhere to set that delicate cap before I write. The cartridge/converter filling system is unusually finicky too. The feed holds a ton of ink which is great for capacity and general performance, but getting a fill can be tricky, and some people have trouble with inky fingers, either from filling or from fingers sliding down onto the nib when writing. Finally, newer Waterman converters don’t last, most other converters don’t fit… leaving you potentially sourcing “vintage” converters for a pen that’s still sold new! This is a pen I want to like but just haven’t warmed up to. It sounds good on paper but it’s fussy. Last we come to the Lamy 2000. If the last pen was a polished Frenchman, this is a direct and to-the-point German. Or, put another way, if Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars were shopping for a fountain pen, this is the one he would choose. I wanted to dislike this pen, because my personal aesthetic preferences are far closer to 18th century Baroque than they are to 20th century Bauhaus design. I avoided trying, let alone buying one for years on principle. But let me tell you, this pen is amazing. It’s probably the most practical, well-designed and functional pen out there. For everyday purposes, it has a few virtues that specifically commend it. Every time I uncap this pen, it writes, and its cap is easy to pull off, easy to snap on (with a nice click, too) and readily posts. The spring loaded clip will hold to just about anything, and the makrolon body and texture make for a durable, grippable pen that is robust, doesn’t readily show scratches, and feels very nice. This pen is a piston filler with a very generous ink capacity. Frankly the pen is also a bargain compared to others of its class (gold nib piston fillers), and though its looks are polarizing (they’re growing on me) the overall vibe is subdued and businesslike, which means this pen doesn’t scream “look at me guys, I’m using a fountain pen!” which can sometimes be a desirable trait in professional settings. It’s got a subtle window allowing you to check the ink level, too. Downsides, in addition to the polarizing looks, are the smooth, tapered section and its two tiny “wings” for securing the cap, which protrude in a very low-key but readily feel-able way, meaning some complain that their fingers slide toward the nib and others complain that they feel the cap wings as they grip the pen. Personally, I don’t mind either feature and even appreciate the wings to help me grip and index the pen in my fingers, but this is definitely personal preference. Also, this pen writes very well for me, BUT it’s an “EF” that’s actually a M, maybe even a B, so depending on your preferences finding a nib size that suits you might be difficult. Now, how do these writing instruments compare? For quick access the Pilot VP wins. That button makes the pen instantly available. The Parker 51, Parker 75, Wing Sung 601, and Lamy 2000 tie for a close second, and the Waterman Carene is in third -its cap requires more force. These caps pull off easily enough, and can be retained in the off hand, set on the table, or posted. For subtlety of deployment… I think the Parker 51, 75, Wing Sung and Lamy 2000 all tie for first, the Pilot VP takes second, and the Carene, again, brings up third. The Carene cap makes a louder sound, doesn’t want to stay on when posted (which is maybe questionable anyway) making you deal with the cap in some way… The Pilot is clicky and loud. Nobody will notice the first or second time but in a meeting it can get a little annoying for some of your neighbors. The other caps are silent or subdued and can be equally silently posted if you wish. Visually it’s all about your personal preference. The Carene looks very luxurious with its mottled lacquer (or solid color and contrasting silver cap.) The Lamy is subdued but a piece of modern art. The VP is subdued (but a little wacky when you really look at it.) The Parker 75 exudes class and refinement. The Parker 51 is vintage (with an aura of authenticity if you or your neighbor examines the pen. They’re 50+ years old and don’t seem like copies.) The Wing Sung seems vintage and the details are a little bit cheap. But it looks classy and businesslike nevertheless. Personally I’m going to say the Parker 75 is the clear winner here, but this category is entirely up to you. Writing prowess is tough too because it is so important but can be subjective, boiling down to nib and grip preferences, weight preferences, etc. For me, the pens rank: Parker 51, VP, Lamy, Wing Sung, Parker 75, Carene. But it may be completely different for you. Capacity and filling: I’m going to give the Lamy top marks here for its cavernous piston filler and ink window. The Wing Sung scores second: the modernized vacumatic mechanism is fun and holds a lot of ink, and there’s a window to check it. The Parker 51 is third. The Aerometric units are easy, seem to hold a decent amount of ink. The vacumatic units are fun and also hold a decent amount. Next is the Parker 75. It uses slightly less readily available Parker converters and cartridges but works well and this does make switching inks easier (not a huge priority for me for an everyday workhorse pen.) The VP is easy but capacity is limited and this is a pen that readily dries out if neglected, and the filling system can get cruddy too. Finally the Carene comes in last, because the converters are proprietary-ish, difficult to find, and the section is so cavernous that it holds nearly a cartridge worth of ink on its own, making filling fiddly. Reliability, ie does the pen always write and does it do so in a predictable way, is very important when out and about. The Wing Sung 601 and Lamy 2000 get top marks here. These pens have never failed to work for me. The Wing Sung and Lamy have been inked for months and write every time, even when untouched for a long while. They put down the same amount of ink and it never looks oxidized or discolored. The Parker 51 gets 2nd place. It is very reliable but may dry out if left inked and not touched for months. The Parker 75 comes in third. My medium can be a bit inconsistent… writing wetter as the pen warms up. My accountant nib (xxf) is incredibly consistent though. I’ve had hard starting from the VP depending on my ink choice, and woe betide thee if its been a little while since you used the pen. It probably will work… but it may not, or may require a line of doodling, reverse writing, pressing a bit, wiping the nib with a towelette, or other tricks to coax the nib into life. My Carene has been known to skip, and dry out a bit, and although mine have never given me any ink trouble, they have a reputation for inky fingers, and my friend’s Carene routinely floods its cap. Durability is last mentioned here but may be the most important consideration. I’m going to give top marks to the Parker 51. The lucite plastic is still tough and vibrant, if you get a scratch (you probably won’t) it will just blend in with the pen’s existing patina. Nothing generally goes wrong with these pens. The Wing Sung is in 2nd. Plastic is softer and the clips are easily bent. But the pen is pretty tough and if you should have a tragic accident, you’re out $20…. Which is a very liberating thing. The Lamy 2000 gets 3rd place. It’s got a textured finish which obscures normal scratches and marks, and the makrolon material is fairly durable in its own right and feels solid. Anecdotally though, these pens can break in two at the area where the section and ink window join the body. Not incredibly likely but maybe if you sit on the pen in your back pocket or dump a few textbooks on top of it in your bag, it could happen. It’s said to be more likely if you’re in the habit of completely disassembling the pen for cleaning. The Parker 75 gets 4th. Still a durable pen but dropping one can put unsightly dings in the top or bottom tassies, the open nib is also pretty thin and would not be at all resilient to a drop of any sort, and the plastic threads holding the section to the barrel can apparently sometimes strip out. But the prevailing cisele finish is robust and not easily dented, and a mark would probably add character. The VP and Carene come in last. These pens have painted brass bodies, and they can and do scratch or chip. I treat my pens carefully and haven’t had issues, but this isn’t a desirable trait in a pen that’s getting carried around from room to room in a workplace or school. The VP is at least one piece, but the Carene’s posting issues make it very likely that regular daily use will see scratches develop. Also, metal pens tend to hit harder when they take a tumble onto a tile floor. Maybe that’s not true in terms of physics strictly speaking, but my experience is, heavy metal pens will dent themselves not infrequently, while the plastic one will probably be unscathed or maybe a mild scratch. We all prize different things in a pen. I went into this comparison thinking to myself that the Waterman might well win, at least for me, because on paper it seems like a prettier Lamy 2000. My conclusion after spending about 6 months getting to know, and using all the pens mentioned in this review, is that the Lamy is a way better pen than I thought (but I just don’t use it much due to a nib that’s more broad than I typically need.) And I don’t have to fret about whether I should get the nib ground (spoiler, I did and it’s still too broad) or cultivate a taste for Modernist design to appreciate the Lamy, because…. on a daily, real world basis, the Parker 51 is just as good, actually a bit better. (For my fingers, the Lamy section is nice for a page, the Parker, many pages.) And I have one with a nib that is superlative. The pen cost me $10 (and another $65 to have the Vacumatic system restored.) Any one of these pens could be a good fit for you depending on your particular needs and environment. I’d particularly recommend the Parker 51 (main annoyance is no ink window but my solution is a second pen inked in same color), Lamy 2000 (main annoyance is nib width…. And looks.) Beyond those two, pick up a Wing Sung 601 and a Majohn A1 or Jinhao 10 because, for the price, you owe it to yourself to try them, you won’t cry too much if they’re lost, either. Frankly, my Majohn writes nearly identically to my VP (and nib units are interchangeable) so I’d rather scratch up the $20 pen than the $200 one. The Parker 75 is a good pen and has some hidden virtues. I’d be hesitant to recommend it as a daily pen without trying it out first though. But if you find it comfortable and it’s got a nib you like, it could be a very good daily pen. And the Carene? Well, I wanted to like it but for me this pen is very overrated. It’s not a bad fountain pen in itself, if I didn’t have at least 20 in my collection that are better, including all the other ones in this review.

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and hoping to tap into the collective wisdom here. I just picked up this second-hand Waterman fountain pen and I’m trying to pinpoint the exact model. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Here’s what I can tell so far: · It has a gold-toned nib with the Waterman logo. The engraving says: "Waterman France F". · It’s a cartridge filler. I’ve done some searching online, and my best guess is it might be a Preface, but those all come in 18K gold nibs, which I’m sure this one doesn’t have. Does anyone recognize this model? Any clues about its production era, or if there are any known quirks or things I should look out for with this pen? Thanks in advance for your help! I’m excited to learn more about it.

I bought a beautiful sterling Waterman Gentleman, medium nib, on eBay a couple months ago. I like the pen, but it skips badly. It turns out to be a display model, so has a special non-functioning dummy feed for pens that were not supposed to be sold. So I can get the pen working if I can locate a real feed - but where can I find one? I'd like to avoid spending a fortune simply to get a usable feed. I'd also like to avoid a long wait for a feed to show up on eBay. Is there any hope Waterman can supply one? Also, I'll bet the feed for a Gentleman is the same as for some other Waterman pens, but which pens are a match?

Hi all, this is a teaser post before I do a full review of my new pen, the Waterman Expert Fountain Pen - L'Essence du Bleu. (Note: I am currently living in the UK, which is important for the rest of this post). I purchased the pen with an (M) nib, but I wanted an (EF) nib. I enquired with Waterman UK before I purchased the pen if they would do a free nib swap, and they confirmed that would be absolutely fine if I followed their procedure. I thought everyone here might find it would be useful for me to share the free nib swap service procedure from start to end through screenshots and pictures. TLDR: - I purchased the pen with an (M) nib from Hamilton Pens online in the UK for £140 GBP (approx $188 USD), which was the best price I could find at the time. - I received the pen at home the day after on 26th Jul 2025 (great service from Hamilton Pens). - I initiated the nib swap service on Waterman's UK Contact page on 29th Jul 2025, you can see the whole process below. - I received the pen back in perfect condition on 7th Aug 2025 - The experience overall was great. However, I did have to call their UK call centre to confirm some details with the customer service representative who received my initial Nib Swap online form. Even though I answered everything, I heard nothing back. So I called them, and the guy said he would send me the label as he hadn't read my 2nd email, which he had asked for over email! He was an Italian working in the Waterman Poland call centre ;-) Very helpful and friendly guy, he was a pleasure to speak to and very helpful.

I wanted to remind myself of the names that Waterman uses for its different colours of ink, so I have just looked at the Waterman website. https://www.waterman.com/inks/ To my horror and disgust, I found the following: There is NO mention of ANY ink in bottles, ONLY ink in cartridges! Even worse, ALL the colours appear to have been discontinued, except for: 'Intense Black'; 'Serenity Blue' (whose name still appears as 'Florida Blue' when one clicks on the swatch that indicates its colour); 'Mysterious Blue' (whose name appears as 'Blue and Black' when one clicks on the swatch). Furthermore, 'Mysterious Blue' is NOT listed as being available in the 'extensive' range of inks that are available in Waterman's short cartridges! We are currently living in the 'golden age' of inks. More companies that make fountain pen ink are appearing, existing ink makers are producing ink in more colours. But, if the company's website is anything to go by, it seems that the genius Executive class at Newell-Rubbermaid has decided to wave a little white flag, and abandon making nearly all of Waterman's offerings - just as it has with the varieties of Parker 'Quink' other than 'Black', 'Washable Blue', and 'Blue and Black'. 🤯 So, if you are especially fond of any of the bottled inks that Waterman has made up until now, I advise you to buy one soon! Unless, of course, the fact that their bottled inks AND most colours of ink have recently been deleted from the Waterman website merely indicates the unique level of competence of the Marketing and/or multimedia employees who have been hired by Newell-Rubbermaid. Do any of you know which of the two possible interpretations is the correct one? Slàinte, M.

My latest 1960s Waterman came in the mail today (my first actual C/F) and the sac in the converter that came with it has sadly long-since gone hard and crumbly. As I was able to successfully disassemble it without destroying it, I'm hoping to be able to put a new sac in there and get it up and running. After all, the C/F converters I already have aren't going to last forever, and my old Watermans are my absolute favorites. Has anyone else done this and had it work? If so, what size sac did you use?

Hey all, I’ve been struggling to identify this pen and wonder if someone else more familiar with the brand can help. I thought it might be a waterman gentleman? Trying to determine model, year of manufacture and filling system as it’s missing a part I think - likely a cartridge / converter but not 100% sure? Thank you in advance!

I happened upon some new-old-stock bottles of "Waterman's Permanent Blue Black" ink. They were in pristine condition, and the cap sealing was good such that no ink appears to have evaporated. I see no precipitate or any other issues. The ink has a chemical scent I can't quite identify accurately, but it makes me think of paint and art supplies, for the lack of better description. I don't know if this ink has any amount of iron gall or not, but I suspect it has a small amount. If anyone wishes to contribute to this ink's description and dating, it would be great. The bottle has the following embossed on the underside: There are no visible dates on the bottle or the carton, but the following is stamped on the inner side of one of the carton flaps in black ink with silver shimmer--and it's difficult to read. Box #1: Box #2: The ink itself goes down on the page in a cool-toned (with a very slight purple tinge) hue of medium saturation and then dries to a muted very slightly teal-tinted blue. The color change is gradual over the next day or so to what you see on the photographs. The final color of the ink is quite consistent with the bottle cap. I can't explain why that is, but, subjectively, the color of this ink feels just right to me -- a classic. The water resistance test was a wash under running water, 3 days after the writing was done. I really like the look of the paper towel "chromatography" -- medium blue fading to slightly more cyan vintage light blue to almost cream. The more ink is concentrated, the more the blue is shifted toward green, as can be seen on the Col-o-Ring card. There is some red-magenta sheen. Not sure if I am going to hold on to both bottles yet--I got them out of curiosity, but it turned out that the ink inside was surprisingly good. And the bottle, along with the carton, look great on my desk. That "19 cents" printed price

Hello all Waterman fans. This is my first post in Waterman forum since the set below is actually the first Waterman i own. I got it along with some other pens and from my research it appears to be a 70s or 80s school pen named Waterman JIF. Am I right? I wonder if the ballpoint is actually matching the pen or from a different model. The red/orange plastic is definitely the same and it has the same logo on the top. Will be grateful for any comments and info about this model. Thanks. PS. I will be probably selling this set, but I already do have another Waterman on my mind Concorde.

What is this pen? What is the brand / producer / origin? What model is this? This is a pen given to me by my father in early 80-ties. I used it for a couple of years as my every day pen. I cannot identify the producer nor the model. Must be produced somewhere in 1970-ties ot late 1960-ties? Much likely to be from China ? Maybe Japan? Maybe someone is able to read the signature on the nib?

I wasn't sure if I should put this here or on nibsand tines, but this is a waterman specific nib question. I bought my husband a waterman ideal "red" nib. It was mentioned that it is a no. 7 nib. Which pen would this fit? I saw a waterman 52 with a no. 2 nib, so I'm confused as to which pens he can use the 7 on. Any help is appreciated as I'm very new to fountain pens and trying to understand my hubby's hobby. Thank.

I was fascinated by the recent article, Waterman's Almost Forgotten C/F Cartridge-Fill Fountain Pen, in the most recent issue (Volume 7, Issue 1) of Paul's Fountain Pen Journal. I would direct you to the article's rendition of the history of the pen and its great photos of the pen and advertisements for the pen from the past. I won't repeat its information here. I was stimulated by the article to hunt on Ebay for this pen. There are many examples of this pen offered on Ebay, both from American and International sellers. I now have purchased three of the pens in different colors, have bid on another, and have purchased perhaps a one-of-a-kind display box of 12 different C/F nibs-in-sections for this type of pen. I wanted to share some photos I've taken today. The C/F I already received is this one, which has a gold-plated cap and reddish-brown barrel. It came with all its papers and a box of 8 cartridges, the ink in which mostly has evaporated, plus a "place-keeper" empty cartridge. I substituted a "broad-flex" nib-and-section (from the 12 nibs) for the one that came with the pen originally. I cleaned out two of the formerly filled cartridges, and then filled one with Diamine Monboddos Hat (dark purple) ink. Wow! The pen wrote immediately and was very smooth in its first "outing." We'll see how it performs over time. I would welcome any experiences or comments others have about this pen.

Thank you to everyone who was so warm and welcoming on my first review a few months ago! Finally returning with another review Tender purple: we know her, we love her. Reminds me sometimes of the pansies that would spring up in my backyard growing up. transcription: "Waterman Tender Purple Lamy Safari F nib, Rhodia DotPad I've had since the mid-2010s SMEAR TEST: five seconds or less! Well, I mentioned it in my first review, so it seemed only fitting to review Tender Purple next. This is THE purple to me00this is the colour I think of when someone says the word "purple". Weirdly, not quite as wet or fast-flowing as I remember, but I've had this bottle since the mid-2010s and haven't pulled it out since at least 2021, so who's to say! Maybe I'm misremembering, maybe it's a quality of aging, maybe it's Maybelline! (I should say, "not as wet as I remember" isn't to say this ink is dry, it's still lovely and wet.) No feathering, maybe the slightest bit of spread. No bleedthrough, but ghosting on this paper. There is some shading with this pen/ink combo, thought not all that much. A respectable but subtle amount, we'll say. Not too much to say about the bottle here. Stable, nice big opening. I did have to run the bottle under the tap because dried ink had glued it shut, but that's more on me for not pulling this one out in a long while despite it being only one of 3-4 bottles of ink I have with me on this side of the country. Thanks for reading ❤️❤️❤️ " Waterproofness test reveals it to have all but no resistance to the droplets.

Hey all, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Apologies for that. I saw these old Waterman safety tools for auction on EBay. Similar ones show up from time to time. Does anyone know how they’re used? I maintain a small stable of vintage Waterman safeties for my cartooning practice, and just wondering if these would be at all helpful to take a flyer on. Thank you in advance!

I have a Waterman Le Man from (I think) the early 80's. I have searched this forum for guidance on disassembling the pen and have found some posts from 8-10 years ago. almost all of the links are dead and most of the images linked to are broken. I have found a good picture of a Le Man disassembled but not the process of disassembly. Is there anyone here who has a resource that will give some insight on breaking down the nib unit. I am worried about breaking the aged plastic parts of the feed section. Background: The pen was part of my first used pen purchase which occurred at a pen show. It came as a part of a 2 pen deal and being my first foray into the used market I made the mistake of not inspecting either pen adequately. I was lucky with one but the Le Man - not so much. It appears that a previous owner had eyedroppered the pen. As a result the interior of the brass body was severely corroded. I was able to get a cartridge into the pen with some effort and it wrote fine but I could not get a convertor to make a seal. I have cleaned 90% of the corrosion using multiple applications of ketchup. After doing some research I choose ketchup because I thought it would not react with the gold trim or plastic parts of the feed. After removing the corrosion around the feed I was able to install the convertor. I filled it up with some ink and all was good for about a week. After a week I started to see ink in the cap. Not a lot but enough to make a mess. I think the ink is leaking from the seem at the gold band at the base of the nib. My thinking is that the plastic section is cracked and needs to be replaced or maybe the unit just needs to be broken down and cleaned really well and reassembled. Either way I wont know until I take it apart. Here is a link to images of the pen showing the ink: Image Gallery Any help finding resources on a Le Man 100 is appreciated.

Hi everyone, A few weeks ago I bought a used Waterman DG (Directeur General) in the gold plated spec. When I received the pen, I didn't expect it was that used. The area round the nib is very corroded ( I guess because it's a brass body). So much it is unsuitable to write with I think. Then there's the nib... I truly feel sorry for it. It is an 18kt gold nib so that's that 😅. Writing with it will be impossible as I'm too inexperienced to repair this kind of damage. Nonetheless I think it is a wonderful and quit rare pen I saved from permanent death. I also found some documents in the original box of the pen, I don't know if they are correlated. It's an original French pen I bought on a holiday in France (I'm Belgian). I discovered the document later at home. Any ideas on what I could do with this pen? After feeling this pen, I feel very tempted to buy a silver one, but they are even rarer. For context, see photos :). Keep on writing, Lars

Greetings! I was recently gifted with two fountain pens and two bottles of ink from a friend in her 70s. They'd been sat in her husband's desk for so many years that neither of them can remember getting them or ever using them. One is a Waterman; some Google-fu suggests it's a Laureate? M gold (plated?) nib. It was used as it had an empty long international cartridge in it. It writes so nicely! I love how slender it is. One is a Pilot; steel M nib. No other markings or indications. Appeared to have never been used. Writes okay with the Waterman ink; not as smooth as my newer Pilot Metropolitans. Two bottles of ink: Waterman Washable Blue Ink and Pilot Shin-Ryoku. The blue is meh but that Shin-Ryoku is a gorgeous teal. Any ideas how old these might be? Seems like maybe from the 80s or 90s? I assume they don't have high value but are nice enough pens to add to my small collection...and I am really liking that Waterman. Edited to add: What exactly constitutes "vintage" when it comes to fountain pens and ink?

So I found this pen amongst a few others in a bin in my garage. It belonged to a late family friend who used it. In fact, it had an old cartridge in it and upon further inspection, it still wrote. How that ink didn't dry out is beyond me. But I cleaned it out and and tried it with a little converter. It looks like a medium nib with some line variation but nothing like the 52 1/2 V I just picked up. Is it worth me holding on to this or should I look for something better? Also am I correct? This is the Chrome Torsade? Right? Thanks!

I recently acquired a waterman ink-vue that is missing the nipple and retaining collar for the inksac(8 and 13 in the right side of the attached photo). I understand these are difficult parts to find, so I’m open to suggestions regarding any other repair option.

Please help identify this vintage Waterman safety nib pen. What I know so far: 1 It’s a Waterman safety nib (much like the Montblanc Bohemes) 2 Julia Gusano said it’s from the 1920s. 3 It has an eyedropper filling system. 4 The silver has a 935 grade. 5 It’s smol.

Hi there, I've been a silent member of the FPN for 11 years now, it's high time to come out from the closet! I was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland, where I got my first fountain pen as a kid from my daddy. My father is a notary emeritus and he gave me a deep purple Waterman (no idea what model it was, but it was new back then in the 90s and had a steel nib). My Dad always wrote with his Waterman Le Man 100, he owned several of these. He used the havana Waterman ink. In consequentce I was, too, writing only Waterman pens, oblivious to the whole universe of other pen-makers. I looked down to my friend (and penfriend) Ania's Parker which I considered vulgar (hihi). And up to my uncle's Montblanc, but Daddy said, that Montbalncs were delicate, prone to problems and - the bottom line - had the screw system. So I stayed happily with my Waterman, till one day in London I lost it. I was about 16 years old back then and it was a true tragedy... My beloved pen, with which alone I wrote so many letters and pages... Daddy took me to the Waterman boutique in one of Warsaw's shopping malls and he bought me a new Harmonie (black, CT). I really liked this robust and heavy but slim and elegant pen. After maybe two years there was some issue with it, I sent it to Waterman for reparation and got a brand new one instead. In the meantime I was using one old Waterman with a gold nib ground by my Dad to a custom oblique. It scratched a bit but I loved the line variation. And then I went to Italy to continue my philophical studies. In a little exquisite pen shop next to St. Anthony's Basilica in Padua I got my first Lamy Safaris. I was delighted by the calligraphy nibs one could swap at ease! I got several of these pens and used them with different nibs and inks. But my nostalgy for Waterman was growing (in the meantime I lost my old Waterman with the custom ground nib on a train from Warsaw to Vienna, I took it out to write down some insider's pizza recommendations in Venice to some stranger in the compartment and forgot it there). I started searching for Watermans with oblique and stub nibs and realised that one could buy some new old stock Préfaces. I got myself one in black resin and one silver plated with an F nib and a stub nib separately. These were my new favourites, I loved them. After several years in Padua I moved back to Warsaw and then to Cologne, where I live now. Upon my arrival in Cologne a disaster occurred: my whole backpack still packed with valuable fountain pens (the silver-plated Préface and all my Lamys, thanks God the black Préface with the stub nib was not there) got stolen. (Alongside with my laptop and kindle...) Now I own several beautiful Waterman Gentleman pens with different nibs and I like them even more than the Préface. And I use them at home, taking my pink Lamy Safari to the University It writes great and if I loose it, I can rebuy it. So as you see from my lengthy fountain-pen autobiorgaphy, I love fountain pens as writing instruments but I don't really collect them (well, if you exclude 5 different rare finishes of the Gentleman that I have accumulated lately). I love the section inky thoughts and might be tempted to tell you more about the exclusive Diamine Kölsches Rheinwasser Ink that came out recently made for the local pen store Ortloffs. Still, what intetests me most, are archival / waterproof inks. I would love to try out an old Waterman or Pelikan with a flex nib. Best wishes to you all, fellow fountain-pen freaks!

Dear Waterman Folk, I have a little collection of Gentlemans (Sterling Silver Grain d'Orge Oblique, Sterling Silver Godron F, Gold-Plated Godron M). Now I got two more delightful Gentlemen which on the cap instead of the W Logo have emblems of BMW (Dark Cherry, M nib, see photo) and "Porsche Club de France" (Tobaccco, M nib). The tobacco colour seems rare to me. How rare are these pens? Do you know other branded editions of the Gentleman? The nibs are normal 18K, deliciously smooth writers. I wonder if some people collecting the Gentleman find this exciting:) I don't even have a car, let alone a Porsche ! I am looking for the one in black or blue laqueur with gold flakes though. Please share your knowledge and thoughts on these pens !