Cartridges for Waterman Pens

[garin]

Do current Waterman Pens take a standard, universal cartridge, or do they need a specific Waterman one?

 

Thinking of getting a cheapish Waterman pen for my schoolkid son, but for school,  he needs cartridges - not bottled ink - and I'd rather spend a £3 for a pack of 50 cartridges, than £5 for a pack of 5.  Sorry Parker! So I need a pen that takes universal cartridges.

 

Can anyone confirm whether Waterman pens take the short, universal cartridges?

 

Thanks in advance...

[Mr.Rene]

Yes It takes short or european cartridges. Some old Watrman f. pens, discontinued, took CF Waterman Cartridges.

Regards.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

They do not take standard cartridges, at least not all of them. See this thread from a few weeks ago, there are also some links in that thread to other threads where this has been discussed. Apparently it's been a topic of contention for decades now.

 

 

Waterman does some vaguely shady business practices in regards to their pens and cartridges. Their cartridges are marketed as "standard international" cartridges and will likely fit other pens that take standard international cartridges, but other standard international cartridges do not always fit their pens.

 

Waterman cartridges are just a touch slimmer than "normal" standard international cartridges so the standard ones are too fat to fit some of their pens properly. So it might fit or it might not depending on the pen, I am not sure which one you are looking to buy for your son.

 

If you're looking for alternative recommendations, I'd say go for a Faber Castell Grip. It's a great entry level cartridge pen (Faber Castell has some of the best steel nibs in the business, IMO) and I've tried several different brands of standard cartridges in mine and never had issues with any of them.

[Mercian]

4 hours ago, garin said:

Thinking of getting a cheapish Waterman pen for my schoolkid son, but for school,  he needs cartridges

There is a large array of pens available here that will accept ‘Short International’ cartridges.

Other members have already offered some good suggestions.

 

Depending on how old your son is, you could get him a Pelikan Pelikano, or a Pelikan Ilo, or a Pelikan Style.

Personally, I would have loved that Pelikano in the ‘Dragon’ finish when I was a schoolboy.

 

My links above are to specific UK retailers, but others may also have those pens in their stock, possibly for less money than the ones in those links.

 

Those Pelikan pens will all accept the ‘Short International’ cartridges that one can buy e.g. from WH Smith in bags of 50, but they will also accept the longer versions of these cartridges that are made/sold e.g. by Pelikan, or ‘standard’ ink-converters.

 

WH Smith’s website also sells pens of the ‘Oxford Helix’ brand and of its own brand, that will accept SICs.
Those pens cost from £4.99 to £9.99, and there are also some STABILO pens (which appear to accept SICs), that are on for £12.99.
I don’t know whether or not those will accept the longer cartridges. A metal-bodied WH Smith branded pen that I bought in 2012 would not accept the longer cartridges, or a ‘standard’ ink converter, but it did have enough space in its barrel to carry a ’spare’ SIC, turned around so its thinner end was rearward, behind the one that was in-use in the pen.

 

I would advise you to buy one of the slightly-more expensive pens, rather than buying one of the very-cheapest ones. They will, I suspect, be constructed to higher build-quality standards than are the very-cheapest pens.
A cheap pen that soon falls-apart is a false economy.

 

If your son expresses an interest in that ‘Dragon’ Pelikano, advise him to not try to use its ‘clip’ as a clip, e.g. to attach the pen to his shirt pocket.
I once tried that with one of my Pelikanos, and its plastic clip just broke 😔 It does, though, function well as a ‘roll-stop’, to prevent the pen from rolling off a table.

 

Good luck 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

14 minutes ago, Mercian said:

There is a large array of pens available here that will accept ‘Short International’ cartridges.

Other members have already offered some good suggestions.

 

Depending on how old your son is, you could get him a Pelikan Pelikano, or a Pelikan Ilo, or a Pelikan Style.

Personally, I would have loved that Pelikano in the ‘Dragon’ finish when I was a schoolboy.

 

My links above are to specific UK retailers, but others may also have those pens in their stock, possibly for less money than the ones in those links.

 

Those Pelikan pens will all accept the ‘Short International’ cartridges that one can buy e.g. from WH Smith in bags of 50, but they will also accept the longer versions of these cartridges that are made/sold e.g. by Pelikan, or ‘stamdard’ ink-converters.

 

WH Smith’s website also sells pens of the ‘Oxford Helix’ brand and of its own brand, that will accept SICs.
Those pens cost from £4.99 to £9.99, and there are also some STABILO pens (which appear to accept SICs), that are on for £12.99.
I don’t know whether or not those will accept the longer cartridges. A metal-bodied WH Smith branded pen that I bought in 2012 would not accept the longer cartridges, or a ‘standard’ ink converter, but it did have enough space in its barrel to carry a ’spare’ SIC, turned around so its thinner end was rearward, behind the one that was in-use in the pen.

 

I would advise you to buy one of the slightly-more expensive pens, rather than buying one of the very-cheapest ones. They will, I suspect, be constructed to higher build-quality standards than are the very-cheapest pens.
A cheap pen that soon falls-apart is a false economy.

 

If your son expresses an interest in that ‘Dragon’ Pelikano, advise him to not try to use its ‘clip’ as a clip, e.g. to attach the pen to his shirt pocket.
I once tried that with one of my Pelikanos, and its plastic clip just broke 😔 It does, though, function well as a ‘roll-stop’, to prevent the pen from rolling off a table.

 

Good luck 

 

I have a Pelikan Twist and it is also a great school-grade pen. Herlitz are great as well and also made by Pelikan.

[Mark from Yorkshire]

Avoid WHSmith own brand pens like the plague. They look nice but leak between the section and nib ring at its base. I can heartily recommend the Helix Oxford, they are bomb proof well balanced and good writers. I have a stainless steel one as my office EDC and it works Ace. I remember the days when one could pick fountain pens up in stationary stores, local post offices or as a sideline at the local newsagents. 
 

ok they where cheap and plastic but they worked. The Helix seems to have replaced them along with Lamy, Parker and Waterman. I think at one point I had a bic one.

[chromantic]

Modern Watermans take standard international, short and long. Older ones, as LoveBigPens says, may take the slightly smaller Waterman CFs shown in the photo. I bought a shiny red lacquer Lady Agatha and was surprised to discover that the standard carts did not fit. I ended up buying another one in a finish I didn't care for just to get the included box of CF carts.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

2 hours ago, chromantic said:

Modern Watermans take standard international, short and long. Older ones, as LoveBigPens says, may take the slightly smaller Waterman CFs shown in the photo. I bought a shiny red lacquer Lady Agatha and was surprised to discover that the standard carts did not fit. I ended up buying another one in a finish I didn't care for just to get the included box of CF carts.

 

They're not CF carts, those are modern "standard international" Waterman cartridges. They're not very standard. ☹️ I think the CF carts are only for the much older pens. And maybe the Concorde?