Exception Ideal vs Exception Night & Day

[dennis_f]

 

 

Hi folks,

I'm thinking of buying my first Waterman, and I have what might be a pretty basic question.

 

Can someone tell me what the difference is between the Exception Ideal and the Exception Night & Day (the black laquer versions with silver trim and/or gold respectively)?

 

I understand that the N&D's have gold and silver piping on 2 sides of the pen; is this the only difference (the Ideal being all black)?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

D.

 

ps - in case it's not clear; I've had the pleasure of trying the Night and Day, but haven't been able to try out an Ideal.

Thanks again.

 

 

[DRichards1968]

Hi folks,

I'm thinking of buying my first Waterman, and I have what might be a pretty basic question.

 

Can someone tell me what the difference is between the Exception Ideal and the Exception Night & Day (the black laquer versions with silver trim and/or gold respectively)?

 

I understand that the N&D's have gold and silver piping on 2 sides of the pen; is this the only difference (the Ideal being all black)?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

D.

 

ps - in case it's not clear; I've had the pleasure of trying the Night and Day, but haven't been able to try out an Ideal.

Thanks again.

 

 

Just view the pens on the Waterman website and you'll have your answer.

 

The 'night & day' ones have the sidelines, while the 'ideal' is plain. That's the only difference. My personal favourite is the black and silver 'night & day' with the grey lines on the side - it's a very stylish and elegant pen.

[rogerb]

I agree and particularly like the N&D stub nib....super smooth.

[dennis_f]

 

 

Thanks for responding Gentlemen; I appreciate it.

 

I had indeed looked at the website, but I couldn't be sure if there might be a weight or size difference in the two lines of pens. And since I didn't think that such a small dfference in accents warranted a different product name, I assumed there must be a difference in pen.

 

As far as aesthetics are concerned, like both of you, my preference is for the Night&Day silver. I find the gold stripe on the GT a bit overbearing, whereas the silver stripe is a perfect accent. Having said that, I've suddenly started preferring gold trim pens to silver, and I thought that the Gold trim Ideal might be a great introduction to the look (as long as there wasn't an appreciable difference; I especially like the weight of the ND).

 

In the end, I think I'll go for the silver Night & Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DRichards1968]

Thanks for responding Gentlemen; I appreciate it.

 

I had indeed looked at the website, but I couldn't be sure if there might be a weight or size difference in the two lines of pens. And since I didn't think that such a small dfference in accents warranted a different product name, I assumed there must be a difference in pen.

 

As far as aesthetics are concerned, like both of you, my preference is for the Night&Day silver. I find the gold stripe on the GT a bit overbearing, whereas the silver stripe is a perfect accent. Having said that, I've suddenly started preferring gold trim pens to silver, and I thought that the Gold trim Ideal might be a great introduction to the look (as long as there wasn't an appreciable difference; I especially like the weight of the ND).

 

In the end, I think I'll go for the silver Night & Day.

 

 

Have you bought it? What do you think of it?

 

[Silvermink]

I came over here with the intention of creating exactly this thread - thanks for the info.

[dennis_f]

 

 

Sorry about my late reply Gentleman. As it turned out, I've been on the road (in the far north) for work for the past few weeks.

 

So... I just got back and placed an order on the Silver Trim Night and Day (not the Ideal). I've been told it will take a few days to arrive. As soon as it's in my hand, I'll let you know what I think.

 

Hope everyone's having a great new year.

D.

[adyf]

Sorry about my late reply Gentleman. As it turned out, I've been on the road (in the far north) for work for the past few weeks.

 

So... I just got back and placed an order on the Silver Trim Night and Day (not the Ideal). I've been told it will take a few days to arrive. As soon as it's in my hand, I'll let you know what I think.

 

Hope everyone's having a great new year.

D.

 

 

I have the very same pen myself. It's a wonderful smooth wet writer and the bayonet fitting between section and barrel is quite unique. They are quite heavy though and this aspect of the pen took me by surprise. Hope you enjoy yours when it arrives.

[van]

I've got a silver Night & Day stub on the way, but while looking around I wondered the same thing. Seems that the "Ideal" may be the international designation for the US "Slim"? Most of the references to "Ideal" have been from EU/UK sellers, and few if any US dealers mention the "Ideal" version. The Waterman site is pretty vague as well...

[georges zaslavsky]

Congrats on the purchase and happy writing

[dennis_f]

 

 

Thanks Georges... I'm pretty excited about it.

 

Van - About the difference betw. the Slim, the Ideal, and the Night and Day: a few days before I made the original post above, I'd found one site that included all three of the pens, each at a slightly different price point. It was finding that website that finally prompted me to ask the question because like you I was under the impression that the Slim and the Ideal were the same pen marketed under different names.

 

For now, I'm operating on the assumption that the Slim and the Ideal are indeed two different lines (though the issue is moot for me now)... Unfortunately, I can't find that original website (I didn't bookmark it), and a google search earlier this morning hasn't turned up any hits. The only thing I remember about it was that it was a European site, possibly Italian...

 

Enjoy your stub when it arrives.

 

Adyf - I'm really curious about the pen's weight. I tend to gravitate towards heavier pens, but I've never written with one for an extended period. That being the case, I'll let you know how my little experiment turns out.

 

 

[van]

Edited, as i see initial question had been answered very early on... the Ideal being the same size as the Night & Day, but without the the extra deco and in gold trim only. Still not sure if it's primarily an international item or not, but it looks to be from what I see online.

Edited January 19, 2009 by van

[Rainwalker]

 

Just started looking into the possible purchase of an Exception.

 

Comparing the pens on eBay using the stats given by the sellers, the Night & Day would appear to be much longer and heavier than the Ideal. The Ideal comes in more colors and options as well.

 

The Slim would appear to be thinner than even the Ideal, but I have seen no stats on it.

 

The pricing seems to support this, the Night & Day being much more expensive than the Ideal and the Slim being the cheapest of all. I am guessing that the Slim is part of the Ideal line.

 

It is hard to find a seller that gives stats (length and weight).

 

Anyone have both the Night & Day and an Ideal, or an Ideal and a Slim?

[lewertowski]

Just started looking into the possible purchase of an Exception.

 

Comparing the pens on eBay using the stats given by the sellers, the Night & Day would appear to be much longer and heavier than the Ideal. The Ideal comes in more colors and options as well.

 

The Slim would appear to be thinner than even the Ideal, but I have seen no stats on it.

 

The pricing seems to support this, the Night & Day being much more expensive than the Ideal and the Slim being the cheapest of all. I am guessing that the Slim is part of the Ideal line.

 

It is hard to find a seller that gives stats (length and weight).

 

Anyone have both the Night & Day and an Ideal, or an Ideal and a Slim?

 

 

The IDEAL and the NIGHT&DAY are the same pens, use the same nibs (the IDEAL NIB is the same than the NIGHT AND DAY GOLD) only their pattern change.

The slim version is the small version of the exception, you can get it in a lot of different colours, the IDEAL only exist actualy in black GT, J.M.L.

[dennis_f]

Rainwalker,

 

One thing I'd suggest before you purchase an Ideal is to confirm the dimensions of the pen with the seller.

 

One thing I discovered while shopping around for a N&D was that a dealer would occasionally mislabel a Slim as an Ideal. This was exacerbated by the fact that some of the latest catalogues weren't showing the Ideal as an option.

 

I can't speak for the most recent catalogue, but as late as October I was being shown back-dated catalogues (say 2007 or 2006. Perhaps even the 2008 catalogue, though I can't be sure anymore) in which the Ideal wasn't represented. This confused not only me but usually the dealer as well...

 

This is one of those cases where you might want to track the pen down physically, or at least deal with a seller who can distinguish between the three versions.

 

(And yes, as Lewertowski decribes the Ideal and the N&D are similar with exception of the piping (which is absent from the Ideal)).

 

D.

 

 

 

[Rainwalker]

Good advice, Dennis. And Jean-Michel gave us the exact details (Yay).

 

Anyway, I decided that this is my "Grail Pen" and why should I trust anyone other than Jean-Michel? So I ordered a Night & Day Gold tonight from Mr. Lewertowski.

 

Dancing Bunny time for the Rainwalker ...

[lewertowski]

Good advice, Dennis. And Jean-Michel gave us the exact details (Yay).

 

Anyway, I decided that this is my "Grail Pen" and why should I trust anyone other than Jean-Michel? So I ordered a Night & Day Gold tonight from Mr. Lewertowski.

 

Dancing Bunny time for the Rainwalker ...

 

 

Very good choice , enjoy with it! J.M.L.