Unfortunately My Most Disappointing Pens are the Carene Fountain Pens

[Baka1969]

For years I had coveted the Waterman Carene because it's an amazing looking pen. Recently I had the opportunity to pick up a black and an amber one within a close time period. Actually within a few days of each other. I have gotten a good deal on both of them so I figured two was better than one. 

 

I was wrong.

 

My expectations were too high. I dislike both of them. They're both medium nibs. Which was probably a mistake. They were both purchased used (hence the good deal) so I couldn't get the nib exchange Waterman offers for unused pens. I wish I could say these nibs were just nail hard. Somehow they seem to write harder than almost any other pen I have. Especially for 18k nibs. Just about every steel nib I have from other pens writes softer. Even if it's just by a little bit. 

 

Then there's that gosh darn alignment issue. You know the one. The back finial not lining up with the nib. How is the QC so poor on a not-so inexpensive pen? Oh yeah, the leaking problem. My amber pen leaks like a sieve at the nib. Making it unpleasant to use. 

 

Admittedly the Carene pens are gorgeous. That said, beauty runs more than just skin deep. And these pens ran out of beauty for me. 

 

Does anyone else feel the same about their Carene? Is there another pen you had hoped to love and were crushed by ownership? 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2023 by Baka1969
typo

[Sailor Kenshin]

Not really.  My first Carene was a coral with medium nib and I LOVE the medium's stubbish quality.  I also have a B, F, and EF, in different colors.

 

Yes, you'll sometimes get inky fingers.  And they don't post all that well.  And there's that monster feed.

 

It is what it is.  But I'm not disappointed.  Why else would I buy four of them?

[TSherbs]

Well, my disfavor toward my Carene is because now my hand hurts with any pen that tapers toward the nib. I had to sell my Lamy 2K for this reason, and now I will put my Carene on the selling block. But it isn't the pen's fault. Mine (F) has written well and never leaked. 

 

Sorry that yours has disappointed.

[OCArt]

There is a procedure to align the nib to the barrel. I don’t have a good enough internet connection to search for it now but it was discussed here on FPN.

[thx1138]

I have maybe a dozen carene FP's. Probably half new and half used.

 

None of them leak.

 

I have a few broads, one fine, a stub or two, and a few mediums (i may have an obliquebut memory fails me). All are very smooth writers, even the fine with the miserable little line it leaves on paper. The medium nibs write my perfect medium line.

 

The finish on the sea green and marine amber is beautiful. 

 

As for the "alignment issue" my AR index is not high enough for that to worry me. I have read the post on how to fix the alignment but it wasn't worth the effort. 

 

The leaking issue is different,  it shouldn't happen and can be fixed. I'm sure Force posted on a way to fix this.

[Baka1969]

Thanks everyone!

[ruby.monkey]

15 hours ago, OCArt said:

There is a procedure to align the nib to the barrel. I don’t have a good enough internet connection to search for it now but it was discussed here on FPN.

It's simple, and requires just a grippy pad an some trial and error. Just tighten or loosen the smooth nut at the rear of the section that fixes the barrel thread, and keep adjusting until the barrel ends up at the correct orientation. It's not something I'd expect to have to do to a new pen at this price range, though. 

 

Hard starts after a few days' inaction is what I find really annoying. I have Moonman M2s that can sit idle for months on end, even standing nib-up, and start writing with no preparation and no hesitation. I don't think it's asking too much to expect the Carene to be able to handle a few days lying on its side.

[Sailor Kenshin]

2 hours ago, ruby.monkey said:

It's simple, and requires just a grippy pad an some trial and error. Just tighten or loosen the smooth nut at the rear of the section that fixes the barrel thread, and keep adjusting until the barrel ends up at the correct orientation. It's not something I'd expect to have to do to a new pen at this price range, though. 

 

Hard starts after a few days' inaction is what I find really annoying. I have Moonman M2s that can sit idle for months on end, even standing nib-up, and start writing with no preparation and no hesitation. I don't think it's asking too much to expect the Carene to be able to handle a few days lying on its side.

Some of that may be ink-dependent, or not….

[ruby.monkey]

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Some of that may be ink-dependent, or not….

Maybe, but one would hope that the Carene can handle Waterman Noir Intense cartridges reliably - and this is the second nib/section with the same behaviour.

[arcfide]

5 hours ago, ruby.monkey said:

Hard starts after a few days' inaction is what I find really annoying. I have Moonman M2s that can sit idle for months on end, even standing nib-up, and start writing with no preparation and no hesitation. I don't think it's asking too much to expect the Carene to be able to handle a few days lying on its side.

 

No idea whether this will help, but Waterman does specifically recommend storing its pens nib up between use. This may or may not make the nib easier to resaturate and get the pen writing again more quickly, but Waterman's austensible reasoning is that it causes the ink to flow back down into the reservoir and the bottom of the feed, which helps to preserve more ink from drying out and keeping the feed free and relatively clean. When combined with Waterman's water soluble inks, I've found this to be reliable with my own Watermans for getting good first start performance as long as I don't try to rush from point up to immediately touching paper and writing, and give the pen a second or two to rehydrate before trying to write, but I don't have a Carene to verify that this is also the case with them. 

 

[Baka1969]

I have my pens stored in an acrylic cabinet drawers and they lay horizontally. Admittedly I probably keep more of my pens inked than I should. I just tested my Carene pens and they both hard started and needed priming to get going. This is after at least several weeks and probably over a month of non use. 

[ruby.monkey]

2 hours ago, arcfide said:

 

No idea whether this will help, but Waterman does specifically recommend storing its pens nib up between use. This may or may not make the nib easier to resaturate and get the pen writing again more quickly, but Waterman's austensible reasoning is that it causes the ink to flow back down into the reservoir and the bottom of the feed, which helps to preserve more ink from drying out and keeping the feed free and relatively clean. When combined with Waterman's water soluble inks, I've found this to be reliable with my own Watermans for getting good first start performance as long as I don't try to rush from point up to immediately touching paper and writing, and give the pen a second or two to rehydrate before trying to write, but I don't have a Carene to verify that this is also the case with them. 

 

Thank you, I'll give that a try.

[TSherbs]

1 hour ago, Baka1969 said:

I have my pens stored in an acrylic cabinet drawers and they lay horizontally. Admittedly I probably keep more of my pens inked than I should. I just tested my Carene pens and they both hard started and needed priming to get going. This is after at least several weeks and probably over a month of non use. 

 

MB in the penthouse suite 

[Baka1969]

19 minutes ago, TSherbs said:

 

MB in the penthouse suite 

lol All four of them. 🤗 When my 149 arrives it will rest with the others.

[senzen]

Bottom line: there's no need to suffer, sell them, someone else is bound to appreciate them, that would free up funds for something more appropriate.

 

My three Carène are among my smoothest pens, any issues have stemmed from dried out ink or one specific ink which didn't get along, Aonibi; I swapped inks and all was good. I would expect no flexing or bounciness from a inlaid nib. 

 

The finial alignment can be fixed by fiddling with two rings at the back of the section, since you bought it used you probably knew it was misaligned?

 

All my ink issues have been resolved by returning exactly four drops of ink and drawing the remaining air; any further issues (ink turning darker) with a simple cleaning.

 

Mine also have the benefit of producing medium hues which brings out the best of Asa Gao, Kon Peki and Blood Orange, consistently even if after a few months they do go darker; quite an achievement for snap cap pens. I've needed to restrain myself from buying more of these.

[thx1138]

Two more carene FP's arrived for me this week. I can stop anytime.

[Baka1969]

1 hour ago, thx1138 said:

Two more carene FP's arrived for me this week. I can stop anytime.

 

Suuuuuuuuuuuuure you can. 😉

[DutchGuy]

I love mine. I told myself I was only after a matching mechanical pencil to my dark blue ST fountain pen, but all of a sudden a sea-green GT was on its way to me. Now if anyone does point me to a matching mechanical pencil I may be out of excuses. 

 

[Baka1969]

54 minutes ago, DutchGuy said:

I love mine. I told myself I was only after a matching mechanical pencil to my dark blue ST fountain pen, but all of a sudden a sea-green GT was on its way to me. Now if anyone does point me to a matching mechanical pencil I may be out of excuses. 

 

 

I'm happy that there are those that love these pens. I have just gotten to prefer pens with bounce to them. I find the Carene to be nail hard to my taste. I have mine un-inked at the moment and sitting in Maison de Plume unused.