Potential Waterman Carene(?) purchase

[iddqd]

The Carene is getting a lot of praise from various fountain pen youtubers (Doodlebud, Hemmingway Jones, etc). This makes me curious, that inlaid nib looks very nice, and the latching mechanism for the cap seems better made/placed than on the Lamy 2000. Looking at the second hand market, these seem to cost more than Montblanc 149?

 

I've spotted this pen below, where advert doesn't state model or any information beyond "A Waterman". Box and manual says "Paris", so not sure what the history is there, but to me that looks like a carene, right?

 

Question: are there different price points for different Waterman Carene? I note some have very nice semi-translucent barrels in green, or blue. This is just solid red, which might warrant a lower price?

 

[davisgt]

Gorgeous Carene. I love the red. 😍 I enjoy using my Carene fountain pens. There can be a bit of nib bleed for some, especially at the top of the horns, but these pens are some of the smoothest-writing fountain pens in my stable. 

[iddqd]

Cool. For non-flex / work-horse pens I have a slew of Parker 51s (I do like them), Aurora Hastil, and a Parker Sonnet (and a MB 149 that I'm about to sell). This Carene would fill the same funciton.

 

I assume the converter pictured will work with the pen, regardless if the converter is for a Paris or Carene, I assume they're the same?

[davisgt]

From the Waterman website: "Crafted in France,  Waterman pens embody a Parisian style and grace that has defined elegance since 1883." Hence the Paris on the box. 😁 Yes, Waterman converters are pretty standard,  with the glaring exception of the C/F. 

[PAKMAN]

Definitely a Carene.  The Carene Deluxe has a higher price point than the standard Carene like this one. Very stiff nibs but usually very smooth. I love mine.

 

[iddqd]

@davisgt Indeed. I did some more research, and discovered it says "Paris" on all the Carene boxes (that I've seen). I was initially confused, since I thought it was another model name.

 

@PAKMAN What's the difference between the deluxe and standard? Just the finish of the barrel material?

[senzen]

For some time the base price for a new Carène has been around $160 USD, in the US; for more expensive editions, currently L'essence du bleu, it goes up to $260.

 

Worth it? You decide, some of us wouldn't touch a Montblanc with a barge pole, I find the Carène to be the best looking pen ever, followed only by the much older, rare and fragile Geha Goldschwinge.

 

It's finicky but thanks to the collective effort right here on FPN, the secret to reliability has been found. They also don't dry out as quickly as most snap cap pens, quite an achievement only shared from what I've tried with the Lamy Studio: no starting problems, no skipping, no drastic ink colour changes.

 

Not an easy second hand option since it has an inlaid nib and people insist on pressing down on their pens.

 

[Mercian]

3 hours ago, iddqd said:

The Carene is getting a lot of praise from various fountain pen youtubers (Doodlebud, Hemmingway Jones, etc). This makes me curious, that inlaid nib looks very nice, and the latching mechanism for the cap seems better made/placed than on the Lamy 2000.

 

I too think that the Carène is a Thing of Beauty (I like the 'Black Sea' CT pen, although I would prefer to be able to get one of the old 'Sea Garden' pens, except with chrome-coloured accents & nib - a pen that Waterman never made ).

I love the mottled reddish-brown colour of the 'Amber Shimmer' version of the pen, but find the gold on it to be too bright a shade of yellow for my tastes - which is at least great news for my bank balance

I was put off from buying one by seeing a good few reviewers say that it has a propensity to leak ink, and by the fact that its converter suffers from the ink 'clumping' at the end of the converter that is opposite the feed nipple, because of its surface-tension. See e.g. SBRE Brown's first review of a Carène (one in the 'Gunmetal' finish) on his website, or on YouTube.
And I know that I am too clumsy to be trusted with pens that have lacquered finishes 😔

(I have seen some very sorry-looking old Carènes on eBay.)

 

After watching Scrively's (complimentary) review of the Carène, and then emailing him to ask some questions about it, I actually decided to buy a Lamy 2000 instead (their prices here were similar at the time).

 

With all of that said, in SBRE Brown's more-recent review of the pen (an example in the 'Amber Shimmer' finish) he does not say that he has had the leaking/burping or ink surface-tension problems happen with that particular pen.
And I know that the model has many, many fans on here - both for its beauty, and for the smoothness of its nib.

 

If you are happy to use cartridges, and are careful enough with your pens that you aren't worried about scratching its beautiful lacquer finish, a Carène may be the perfect pen for you

 

Slàinte,
M.

 

 

Edited November 8 by Mercian
Edited to correct my customary FFEs.

[Sh.Andrews]

I think every collection should have a Carene. Mine has a perfectly smooth nib that is absolute pleasure to use. It can be finicky with some inks and stores ink like a camel. Admittedly not my most used pen but definitely on my "would never part with" list.

[Mercian]

5 minutes ago, Sh.Andrews said:

I think every collection should have a Carene. Mine has a perfectly smooth nib that is absolute pleasure to use.

 

I am now pretending that I cannot see this post, and am using this pretence as a mantra to help me to rezeest the Temptation to start looking at these pens again!

[PAKMAN]

The Deluxe Carene has a Metal Finish cap. 

 

[iddqd]

@PAKMAN, ah, OK. Thanks! I don't think I've ever been interested in those, I prefer the caps that have same color and finish as the body. The pen I'm looking at has a price of $100 (0 bids (not ebay)). I might strike. I'll have to sleep on it.

[Carrau]

I believe there was a thread on FPN in which someone proposed the leaking issue had to do with residual ink if filled via the nib, the also proposed remedy being to fill the cartridge or convertor directly (with a syringe).  Following this advice, I’ve had no leaks over several years with my three Carenes.

[Mercian]

28 minutes ago, Carrau said:

I believe there was a thread on FPN in which someone proposed the leaking issue had to do with residual ink if filled via the nib, the also proposed remedy being to fill the cartridge or convertor directly (with a syringe).  Following this advice, I’ve had no leaks over several years with my three Carenes.

 

I've seen people claim that the leaking/burping doesn't happen as long as one always remembers to return four drops of ink to the bottle after filling.

So that, as you say, the feed isn't ever overly saturated with ink.

 

Personally, I would be loth to keep taking a modern Waterman converter on-&-off any pen repeatedly. I have heard that their lips are prone to splitting easily.
I would stick to the 'return four drops' method!

 

(Full disclosure: I am a paranoiac with a penchant for catastrophising.)

[Sailor Kenshin]

That's my tomato-red Carene.  Sleek as a sailboat.  I love it.

[niuben]

On 2024/11/9 at AM2点53分, iddqd said:

@PAKMAN，啊，好的。谢谢！我想我从来没有对这些感兴趣，我更喜欢与笔身颜色和表面处理相同的笔帽。我正在看的这支笔的价格是 100 美元（0 次出价（不是 ebay））。我可能会放弃。我得好好考虑一下。

nice price.

[iddqd]

Ending price was around $150. I didn't bid, as that red isn't really what I want. Would prefer the green pattern, or brown or orange (if available, I haven't seen)

[Mercian]

5 hours ago, iddqd said:

Would prefer the green pattern, or brown or orange (if available, I haven't seen)

 

The 'Sea Garden' green pattern pen wasn't produced for very long, so if you want one of those you will need to be patient.

 

There was once a version in a colour that Waterman called 'Coral', which was a pinkish-orange.

 

It sounds as though you might like the 'Amber Shimmer' (aka 'Marine Amber') finish. Carènes have been made in that finish for many years, and are still in production.
Many people love it.

[davisgt]

I have the carene deluxe in green and gold and the amber. Very pretty pens. Left side of the picture.  

[Ron Z]

On 11/9/2024 at 12:11 PM, Carrau said:

I believe there was a thread on FPN in which someone proposed the leaking issue had to do with residual ink if filled via the nib, the also proposed remedy being to fill the cartridge or convertor directly (with a syringe).  Following this advice, I’ve had no leaks over several years with my three Carenes.

 

The problem with the nibs is that the adhesive that holds the nib on, under the wings, fails.  When that happens ink wicks up under the wings and onto your fingers.  The repair involves removing the nib, cleaning off the old adhesive and sealing/gluing again with the appropriate adhesive.   Don't try epoxy.  Actually, I recommend letting an experienced pen mechanic do the repair.  You pay very close attention to what you are doing with this one because it's easy to break the plastic holding the nib in place, and it's also easy to get the adhesive/sealant where you don't want it to go.  I do the repair, but it's not one that I like to do.

 

No, you can not use Captain Tolleys.