Waterman Expert Mk Iii Review (M, Matt Black)

January 11, 2019

As you may have guessed by the title, this is a review on the Waterman Expert Mk III. Its a pen that is near and dear to my heart, since it got me into this hobby.

My parents gave it to me for Christmas. I had asked for a fountain pen because ever since primary school, I had prefered them over ballpoints. I was in my third year of law school, and just wanted a nice looking, high quality pen to use on exams and to accompany me when I would start my carreer. The one I was using before I would now call a Lamy Safari, but back than that name was meaningless to me. They spent hours in Leën, Hasselt trying out different pens and eventually settled on this one because of its business like, understated looks. It was way over budget for a Christmas present but they wanted to give me something that would last. In the end they most of all gave me a new hobby.

The pen came packed in a typical Waterman blue clamshell box, which I still consider as one of the nicer fountain pen boxes I have. Its sturdy, with a good quality hinge, thick soft padded interior and a compartiment that contains the warranty information and a Waterman Serenity Blue refill. What it does not come with; a converter. A word of warning, dont get a Waterman converter as I did. They crack easily and operate difficultly. Get a Graf von Faber Castell converter for it, or alternatively a identical one from Pelikan. Being a 135 euro pen, it not shipping with a converter may seem difficult to understand, but as Ill try to demonstrate down below, actually really fits the pen.

The design of the pen gets to you in waves. First you notice how bland and boring it looks. This is not a pen for people who want to get noticed. Its a mix of shiny black and matt black, with silver trim. Secondly, you notice just how well the design works. When capped, its a smooth continuous shape that reminds me of a submarine. When you take the cap off, it remains relatively smooth, looking as a pen that was designed not to have a cap at all. The pen can be posted and the cap even snaps on the little silver ring on the barrel. As much as I like the look and the balance of the pen when posted, the cap rotates while writing so I prefer to keep it unposted. Finally, you start noticing the little things that make this pen different. Theres the Waterman logo on the top of the cap, placed on a slope. Its odd, but it works. Theres the typical Waterman clip, with an opening in the middle. Theres the nib, thats small and does not even have a breather hole. Its very featureless, but it compliments the look of the pen brilliantly. Theres the material its made of: metal but with a matte lacquer. Perfect weight, strong and special to the touch. The size is ideal toom though this is of course highly subjective. Especially with slightly smaller hands like mine, it is just very comfortable to hold.

I like holding it, uncapping it and in order not to look like an idiot, that means writing with it as well. I had some bad luck. Though I didnt know back then, the nib was overpolished and didnt start properly, ever. Two returns to Waterman and one nib exchange later, the problem was solved. The nib is as hard as a nail. Its ironic how the same company that is known for its old flex pens now makes this. Push as hard as you like, youll damage your table before you see any line variation. Though probaby if thats what youre after, few steel nibs are ideal. The pen behaves beautifully: no more hard starts, it glides over paper and the ink flow is as reliable as can be. One issue it seens to have with coverters (not with cartridges) is ink starvation. I have this same issue with my Van Gogh so maybe its just me but I can never empty a converter without forcing ink in the feed by twisting it halfway through. Apart from that minor nuisance, the pen is a true joy to write with.

In the case of this pen, I think the main question is who it is for. The Community is used to demonstrator pens with a vacuum filling system and a replacable nib for half the price of this. You can also find a gold nibbed Platinum 3776 for that same half price. Even the Lamy 2000 is well whitin reach. How dare they ask 135 euros (about 155 dollars) for a cartridge-converter filled, steel nibbed pen? Shouldnt Waterman just stick to making their inks? Not quite. As bad a value as the pen might seem on paper, it is brilliant when you actually put it to paper. Its a design that is going to work for a lot of people who may not necessarily be in this Community, but buy fountain pens out of preference over a ballpoint. They want something that they can use alongside their coworker who has a Montblanc, without the price tag or the flashy look. It blends in a business setting or a clean desk like no other pen I know. Its inoffensive, chique and bland to the casual eye, yet a party for the lucky soul who bought it (or got it for Christmas). I highly doubt they will even notice the lack of a converter, because they will use cartridges anyway. If they show their pen in a pen shop asking which cartridges they need, the seller will likely give them Waterman cartridges. So they will end up with a Community favourite ink without knowing it and the ink starvation issue doesnt happen when using cartridges.

I adore this pen, can you tell? As if this review didnt contain enough blasphemy yet, I even got the matching ballpoint and like that as well. It has a great twist mechanism and Watermans proprietary ballpoint refills are very smooth to write with.

I hope you enjoyed this review of my gateway pen.

Edited January 11, 2019 by BVT

January 11, 2019

Good read, thanks for sharing. I think most of us love their old gateway pens.

January 11, 2019

Although it was not my first pen, a Waterman Expert is my best remembered workhorse and the pen which, on revisiting, encouraged my to buy over a hundred other pens; not quite all of them immediately.

It is a fine, practical, business pen.