A review of the lovely Waterman Carene fountain pen in black and gold with a 18k Fine nib. Ink used is Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun amd the paper is Rhodia 80gsm Dot Pad.
Pro tip specific to the Carène: fill from a bottle, return exactly four drops of ink, draw back the remaining air; this will make the pen super reliable and write at its stated size; read it on FPN some years ago, has made my 3 Carène work perfectly. Fine nibs are nice, mediums are a joy to use.
Nice review. I love Waterman Carene pens for their distinctively simple, but very elegant design. I have two and they are wonderful writers. By the way, "carene" in French is the hull or keel of a ship. And as you do, I like the substantial feel of the pen in the hand without being too heavy. An iconic pen. Other excellent Waterman pens are the L'etalon and the Exception. The L'etalon is disontinued, but you can find them in the used market. It too has a very distinctive look and a beautiful gold nib that's an excellent writer. The Exception is a rounded square pen (4 sides but no sharp angles). The Exception comes in two sizes, one is slim and the other large. They're beautifully made, but very pricey, especially the large version, and carry a hefty price even used.
Stunning pens, that nib makes almost all other pens look ancient in comparison. Inlaid nib so don't even try to flex it, a good excuse to relax your grip. One of the few pens with snap on caps that doesn't dry out quickly. They can be let down by converters that crack at the mouth: any starting or skipping problems, ink changing colour, dryness on the page, ink not lasting for long is a good cue.
Have the marine amber finish with fine nib. No leaks, skips or stuttering so far (using the original waterman converter and Diamine Ancient Copper ink). Really good looking and reliable pen 🖋️.
I got the Carene and my pen doesn't leak. Some users reported minor ink leaks from breather hole. It's great pen for note taking, because it can sustain long pauses with cap off. The pen doesn't dry out too soon due to nib design
My suggestion is to go to their website to register for the warranty for 2 years and you can extend it another 2 years added at no charge. I needed to use it twice and they were wonderful! I've had to buy a new Nib Section and yes they are expensive however I found a company in the UK that sells them new with a warranty for ~$120.😅
I still think of Waterman as an American pen company, even though it was sold to a French company. Waterman did invent the first workable fountain pen, though Conklin invented the first modern fountain pen. Before Cocklin did its thing, pen were gravity fed and eyedropper filled. Waterman was one of the three big brands in America when I was very young, and I still have a soft spot for their pens. The Carene is one of my favorite pens. I think it's stunningly pretty and elegant. Anyway, the inlaid gold nib in front, the trim, sleek body, and the gold at the rear is why this pen looks like a yacht, and I think it does. I've seen a number of classic yachts with this same styling. Oh, three hundred is a steal for this pen. The nib costs two hundred. Be careful about buying one on Amazon. Some of the "new" ones there are used. I seldom trust anything on eBay, with rare exceptions. A lot of stolen goods change hands there. Real, high quality brass is also expensive. Forget Chinese brass. Very little of it even qualifies as brass by western standards. You can buy almost anything on the cheap, but sometimes paying full price from an authorized dealer is the right move, and when compared to other pens at the same price range, the Carene really is a steal at three hundred dollars.
I see the converter has what appears to be a screw thread yet you just pulled it out. I have a Carene bought from Harrods in 1999 with a silver cap. I can't seem to get the converter out.
It looks threaded, but it's not, just some metal part where it connects. If yours is still stuck, maybe try running it in warm water or even leaving it to soak overnight in some warm water. Warm not hot though, hot might harm the nib.
So, I'm going to try and buy one of these next week hopefully. However, my dilemma is that I am not able to find one to buy in person, so I'm having to watch videos of people using them or forum reviews to help decide what nib to get, medium or fine. What is difficult is of course everyones opinion, however one that seems to recurr is that the pen generally writes rather wet and thicker than you'd expect. I've never had a fine nib before, but a fair number who bought a medium have said they wished they'd gone with the fine and that the fine is more a medium-fine. I'm not sure what to do, have you any insight or advice? I was going to go for the fine but yours seems as I'd expect a fine to be! Another video of a medium looked incredibly thick! 🤔
I would probably go with the thinner size if you are between the two. Another thing to consider is the wetness of the ink that could be manipulating the width of the writing a bit. I would say it is a little on the wider side given the full scale of nibs, but not outrageously so. Hope that helps and you enjoy yours!
Yeah it's pretty stiff in terms of gold nibs. Since it is inlaid into the body of the pen, there's not really any room or way for it to flex or bounce at all.
Pro tip specific to the Carène: fill from a bottle, return exactly four drops of ink, draw back the remaining air; this will make the pen super reliable and write at its stated size; read it on FPN some years ago, has made my 3 Carène work perfectly. Fine nibs are nice, mediums are a joy to use.
Thank you. I carry one with me every day. It is a beautiful pen.
Nice review. I love Waterman Carene pens for their distinctively simple, but very elegant design. I have two and they are wonderful writers. By the way, "carene" in French is the hull or keel of a ship. And as you do, I like the substantial feel of the pen in the hand without being too heavy. An iconic pen. Other excellent Waterman pens are the L'etalon and the Exception. The L'etalon is disontinued, but you can find them in the used market. It too has a very distinctive look and a beautiful gold nib that's an excellent writer. The Exception is a rounded square pen (4 sides but no sharp angles). The Exception comes in two sizes, one is slim and the other large. They're beautifully made, but very pricey, especially the large version, and carry a hefty price even used.
Great info, thanks for sharing! I'll have yo keep an eye out for those others.
Very sharp looking pen. Very cool nib✒️
This will probably be my next pen purchase. Such an elegant design!
Good choice, it's fantastic! Hope you enjoy it!
Stunning pens, that nib makes almost all other pens look ancient in comparison. Inlaid nib so don't even try to flex it, a good excuse to relax your grip. One of the few pens with snap on caps that doesn't dry out quickly. They can be let down by converters that crack at the mouth: any starting or skipping problems, ink changing colour, dryness on the page, ink not lasting for long is a good cue.
Have the marine amber finish with fine nib. No leaks, skips or stuttering so far (using the original waterman converter and Diamine Ancient Copper ink). Really good looking and reliable pen 🖋️.
The U shape of the nib resembles the hull of a yacht. Hence, Carene.
I got the Carene and my pen doesn't leak. Some users reported minor ink leaks from breather hole. It's great pen for note taking, because it can sustain long pauses with cap off. The pen doesn't dry out too soon due to nib design
My suggestion is to go to their website to register for the warranty for 2 years and you can extend it another 2 years added at no charge. I needed to use it twice and they were wonderful!
I've had to buy a new Nib Section and yes they are expensive however I found a company in the UK that sells them new with a warranty for ~$120.😅
When I bought my Carene in 1999, it came with an international lifetime warranty.
I still think of Waterman as an American pen company, even though it was sold to a French company. Waterman did invent the first workable fountain pen, though Conklin invented the first modern fountain pen. Before Cocklin did its thing, pen were gravity fed and eyedropper filled.
Waterman was one of the three big brands in America when I was very young, and I still have a soft spot for their pens. The Carene is one of my favorite pens. I think it's stunningly pretty and elegant.
Anyway, the inlaid gold nib in front, the trim, sleek body, and the gold at the rear is why this pen looks like a yacht, and I think it does. I've seen a number of classic yachts with this same styling.
Oh, three hundred is a steal for this pen. The nib costs two hundred. Be careful about buying one on Amazon. Some of the "new" ones there are used. I seldom trust anything on eBay, with rare exceptions. A lot of stolen goods change hands there.
Real, high quality brass is also expensive. Forget Chinese brass. Very little of it even qualifies as brass by western standards. You can buy almost anything on the cheap, but sometimes paying full price from an authorized dealer is the right move, and when compared to other pens at the same price range, the Carene really is a steal at three hundred dollars.
I see the converter has what appears to be a screw thread yet you just pulled it out. I have a Carene bought from Harrods in 1999 with a silver cap. I can't seem to get the converter out.
It looks threaded, but it's not, just some metal part where it connects. If yours is still stuck, maybe try running it in warm water or even leaving it to soak overnight in some warm water. Warm not hot though, hot might harm the nib.
So, I'm going to try and buy one of these next week hopefully. However, my dilemma is that I am not able to find one to buy in person, so I'm having to watch videos of people using them or forum reviews to help decide what nib to get, medium or fine.
What is difficult is of course everyones opinion, however one that seems to recurr is that the pen generally writes rather wet and thicker than you'd expect. I've never had a fine nib before, but a fair number who bought a medium have said they wished they'd gone with the fine and that the fine is more a medium-fine. I'm not sure what to do, have you any insight or advice? I was going to go for the fine but yours seems as I'd expect a fine to be! Another video of a medium looked incredibly thick! 🤔
I would probably go with the thinner size if you are between the two. Another thing to consider is the wetness of the ink that could be manipulating the width of the writing a bit. I would say it is a little on the wider side given the full scale of nibs, but not outrageously so. Hope that helps and you enjoy yours!
Have you have any leaking issues from that feeder hole or leaking into the cap at all?
None at all! And I've had it for about 2 years now.
There's no danger of a breather hole leaking on any pen I've ever seen or heard of.
I purchased a Carene 2 years ago. The gold ring on the cap fell off. Fortunately under warranty.
the nib is very stiff?
Yeah it's pretty stiff in terms of gold nibs. Since it is inlaid into the body of the pen, there's not really any room or way for it to flex or bounce at all.
Carène = keel
Ah thanks!
Yes, but it is designed to look like a classic yacht.