Waterman Carene Deluxe

[chemgeek]

Waterman Carene Deluxe

 

First Impressions--Based on my excellent writing experiences with a Waterman Phileas, I was interested in something with a little higher quality build. Comes in a stout box with a converter and one ink cartridge.

 

Appearance and Finish--I chose the Prussian Blue version with the vermeil cap. The barrel is indeed Prussian Blue, a steely-tealy dark blue. The main trim color is gold, with an angled end cap that surrounds a contrasting black button. The cap is metal, plated in gold with silver stripes that have been hammered through the gold plate. The clip has a slight swoosh for easy pocketing, and has the distinctive Waterman slot in the middle. The pen has a classy streamlined look from the past.

 

Design/Size/Weight--The pen is primarily metal in construction, giving it more heft than most pens this size, but it doesn't seem overly heavy to write with. With a full load of ink, it weighs in at 35.5 g (1.25 oz), about 20-30% heavier than resin pens this size. The pen is 5 7/8" posted, 5" unposted, and 5 3/4" capped. The cap can be posted securely, but it takes a good push, and it seems a shame to do so anyway for fear of eventually marring the blue finish. The cap snaps off for quick removal and replacement. The nib is inlaid and flush with torpedo-shaped writing point.

 

Nib design and performance--As is my wont, I selected a fine nib. As mentioned above, the nib is attractively inlaid into the grip/point in 18K gold. This is a true fine point, laying down a line no more than 0.5 mm wide, somewhat narrower than most fine-nibbed pens. The nib is smooth, but has a significant amount of tactile feedback. It is quite stiff due to its tightly tapered point and inlaid design. It will stand up to a heavy touch. This would be a nice nib for making detailed notes; I will probably use mine frequently to write in my laboratory notebook. It lays down a line that is actually quite wet, but not sloppy enough to encourage feathering or smearing.

 

Filling System--Uses a converter or cartridge. Fills nicely from a breather hole drilled through the back of the grip directly behind the nib. Make sure this hole is submerged, and turn the converter piston.

 

Cost/Value--Available for $225 from Swisher Pens. OK, it's not inexpensive. But it has the classic looks of the Edson for significantly less.

 

Overall Opinion/Conclusion--I admit I bought this primarily for the aesthetics and my prior experience with inexpensive Waterman pens. It's significantly "dressier" than my other everyday writers, and very well-made. Everyone who spies it in my pocket comments on it. Highly recommended.

Edited April 12, 2007 by chemgeek

[jonro]

Thanks for that review. I think that dressy is a very good word to describe that pen. I'm glad to hear that it seems to write as well as it looks because I'd like to pick one up one of these days.

[Leigh R]

My Carene Deluxe has a medium nib. I don't normally like medium nibs. They're just too, well, medium. But I used the Carene today for at least 3 notebook pages because the nib wouldn't stop gliding. A real smoothie. Enjoy yours.

[handlebar]

Beautiful.

 

JD

[MYU]

Great review, CG. You certain did the pen justice.

 

Wow, I didn't realize the Vermeil cap was so expensive! I got a full colored version for around $75, then later on picked up a silver fluted cap rollerball for the same price. But that vermeil cap is gorgeous!

 

http://www.worldlux.com/products/waterman/_pens/carenedeluxevermeilse/fullsize3.jpg

 

Btw, do you find that the bottom barrel accent is aligned with the top of the nib? In my Carene, it's askew. It looks like a manufacturing anomaly--not sure if it's just random chance of the barrel threads or if they cleared that up in production later on. I bought mine in 1999.

[Rique]

QUOTE (chemgeek @ Apr 11 2007, 10:40 PM)

The cap is metal, plated in gold with silver stripes that have been hammered through the gold plate.

Isn´t vermeil gold-plating over silver? I´m not sure, but I think this cap is solid silver finished with gold. There´s also another pen in the Carène line, slightly less expensive, with a silver cap; the cap design is different, though.

 

regards,

Rique

[chemgeek]

Yes, the end of barrel accent piece is not tapered in the same plane as the nib on my pen as well. I think they are just made that way. The accent winds up wherever it is when the threads bottom out. On my pen it's about 30 degrees rotation.

 

BTW, I've been using the pen for the last few days extensively during a data collection run and it writes very smooth yet fine in my laboratory notebook.

 

Cheers.

[Roz]

Hi ChemGeek.

 

Thanks for the review. I have just bought a Carene deluxe (in the black) and had to send it straight back to Waterman for an EF nib ... so I can't wait for it to be returned and my Carene and I can start our journey

 

Thanks for whetting my appetite

[lenj]

QUOTE

But I used the Carene today for at least 3 notebook pages because the nib wouldn't stop gliding.

 

I agree, wonderfully smooth nib.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2007 by lenj

[piplup]

Hi Rique,

 

Yes, you are right. Vermeil is gold plated sterling silver. When engraving the cap, the beautiful, contrasting silver lines result. It's beautiful! I'm thinking of the bronze one.

 

Sandra

 

 

 

 

 

The cap is metal, plated in gold with silver stripes that have been hammered through the gold plate.

Isn´t vermeil gold-plating over silver? I´m not sure, but I think this cap is solid silver finished with gold. There´s also another pen in the Carène line, slightly less expensive, with a silver cap; the cap design is different, though.

 

regards,

Rique

 

[msganesh]

  chemgeek said:

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Waterman Carene Deluxe</span>

 

First Impressions--Based on my excellent writing experiences with a Waterman Phileas, I was interested in something with a little higher quality build. Comes in a stout box with a converter and one ink cartridge.

 

Appearance and Finish--I chose the Prussian Blue version with the vermeil cap. The barrel is indeed Prussian Blue, a steely-tealy dark blue. The main trim color is gold, with an angled end cap that surrounds a contrasting black button. The cap is metal, plated in gold with silver stripes that have been hammered through the gold plate. The clip has a slight swoosh for easy pocketing, and has the distinctive Waterman slot in the middle. The pen has a classy streamlined look from the past.

 

Design/Size/Weight--The pen is primarily metal in construction, giving it more heft than most pens this size, but it doesn't seem overly heavy to write with. With a full load of ink, it weighs in at 35.5 g (1.25 oz), about 20-30% heavier than resin pens this size. The pen is 5 7/8" posted, 5" unposted, and 5 3/4" capped. The cap can be posted securely, but it takes a good push, and it seems a shame to do so anyway for fear of eventually marring the blue finish. The cap snaps off for quick removal and replacement. The nib is inlaid and flush with torpedo-shaped writing point.

 

Nib design and performance--As is my wont, I selected a fine nib. As mentioned above, the nib is attractively inlaid into the grip/point in 18K gold. This is a true fine point, laying down a line no more than 0.5 mm wide, somewhat narrower than most fine-nibbed pens. The nib is smooth, but has a significant amount of tactile feedback. It is quite stiff due to its tightly tapered point and inlaid design. It will stand up to a heavy touch. This would be a nice nib for making detailed notes; I will probably use mine frequently to write in my laboratory notebook. It lays down a line that is actually quite wet, but not sloppy enough to encourage feathering or smearing.

 

Filling System--Uses a converter or cartridge. Fills nicely from a breather hole drilled through the back of the grip directly behind the nib. Make sure this hole is submerged, and turn the converter piston.

 

Cost/Value--Available for $225 from Swisher Pens. OK, it's not inexpensive. But it has the classic looks of the Edson for significantly less.

 

Overall Opinion/Conclusion--I admit I bought this primarily for the aesthetics and my prior experience with inexpensive Waterman pens. It's significantly "dressier" than my other everyday writers, and very well-made. Everyone who spies it in my pocket comments on it. Highly recommended.

hi

i own a same piece with medium nib. i am not so sure the medium nib writes well. it does skip few strokes and the tactile feed back is not the best. i feel any pelikan is way up in comparison. thenks for a nice feed back however

[breaker]

nice review

[aliikizkaya]

Waterman Carene with 18K gold nib is a disappointed nib performance after Phileas and Expert. Pentel Tradio FP nib made by Waterman has a better performance than Waterman Carene. Carene nib is very stiff for an 18K gold nib.

[Ghost Plane]

Inlays are supposed to be stiff. You float Carenes on the ink flow as opposed to shoving down with pressure like the flex freaks. Very restful to the hand letting the weight of the pen do all the work.

[MarneM]

I absolutely love my Carene. I've found, as people have suggested in other areas, that the section holds an amazing amount of ink, to the point where I will actually force ink up into the section and then fill up the extra space in the converter. This helps a great deal with the ink flow, and ensuring that the pen doesn't suffer any skipping.

 

I have the marine amber version with a stub nib. It does beautiful things for my writing. When I hit the sweet spot, the pen does indeed do all the work and glides across the page effortlessly.

 

(This post is from 2007! *laughs*)