Waterman Edson

[MidnightBlue]

From the first time I saw it 'til now:YUK

thanks

[paulrbarnard]

From the first time I saw it 'til now:YUK

thanks

 

Each to their own. It's top of my want list, in Black.

[breaker]

excellent review and pics

[Esterfella]

I happen to also own 3 Edsons - sapphire, emerald and ruby, all with medium nibs. Despite some problems with nib creep, they remain, along with the Parker Duofold Centennial, one of my favorite models of all time. The art decco design and firm but smooth nib are right up my ally. Congrats on your collection and thanks for posting such goregous photos! I would eventually like to tadd the Black Diamond, the 100th and the 125th Anniversary models, but I am waiting to see if I can find a mint used one on sale. For a C/C pen, the MSRP is insane, but they are stunning and durable.

[WOBentley]

One fact not often mentioned is that the nibs (somewhat like those on Pelikans) tend to run generously wide compared to other similarly sized nibs on other western pens. This is particularly true in the M and bigger nibs in my experience. My M nibbed Edson (Blue) writes a line close to a B from some of my other pens. That they are stunning in person and write very smoothly is something I completely agree with.

[Vincenz]

Nice Review! thanks!

[rvthof]

My Sterling Silver LE is on the way, can't wait to get my hands on it :puddle:

A real thing of beauty if not ART!

 

In searching the net and auction sites I got a bit confused about the nib possibilities: I saw it advertised on ebay stores with a Broad nib. I would really like a stub, but broad comes close.

 

I asked J.M.Lewertowski (aka penseller from france) and he answered that only fine and medium nibs are available for the LE 120 years (blue/silver). There is a stub in black/silver for the Diamond Black version however.

 

Do people use this black nib unit on the Sterling Silver or do you stick with a fine or medium nib?

 

Rob

[akustyk]

I really enjoyed reading your review! The Edson is a pen I've often thought about, but haven't really wanted to buy, mostly due to my not-so-good experiences with the Carene, but your review - "Summed up in one word – "Stunning" - leaves me wanting to at least hold one of these beauties and try it out.

 

Your review makes me think about the historically prominent manufacturers, such as Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer, whose flagship pens are perhaps their only claim to fame these days, being surpassed by either new artisan pens, such as Edison, or some of the less expensive, but innovative pens, such as the TWSBI. Still, it's somewhat reassuring to see that Waterman can still make wonderful writing instruments. I wonder, though, how long can they keep going without changing their inventory somewhat, coming up with innovative designs? I think that the Edson, with its inlaid nib, is a good example of an interesting design that captures the hearts of fountain pen lovers. I thought the Carene would be it for me, but I had serious flow problems that several trips to Waterman did not fix. Sad.

[RMN]

My Sterling Silver LE is on the way, can't wait to get my hands on it :puddle:

A real thing of beauty if not ART!

 

In searching the net and auction sites I got a bit confused about the nib possibilities: I saw it advertised on ebay stores with a Broad nib. I would really like a stub, but broad comes close.

 

I asked J.M.Lewertowski (aka penseller from france) and he answered that only fine and medium nibs are available for the LE 120 years (blue/silver). There is a stub in black/silver for the Diamond Black version however.

 

Do people use this black nib unit on the Sterling Silver or do you stick with a fine or medium nib?

 

Rob

Hey Rob.

 

I think Waterman will not do a free exchange of nibs on this pen outside the standard offering. So you will have to buy the special nib. I wish I new about the free exchange when I bought my first (diamond-black) Edson, I would have gotten the stub then. Later the nib was used and no free exchange possible any more...

 

And my silver LE came with the M nib. It was NOS (I have the all silver 120 years) and got it at a verrry pretty price, but had to take it as it was.

 

I have thought about buying an extra nib, but that nib alone could buy me some pretty other pens.

 

Because of the price, I doubt many will have exchanged their pretty translucent blue section for a plain black with stub.

 

 

D.ick

[raging.dragon]

My Sterling Silver LE is on the way, can't wait to get my hands on it :puddle:

A real thing of beauty if not ART!

 

In searching the net and auction sites I got a bit confused about the nib possibilities: I saw it advertised on ebay stores with a Broad nib. I would really like a stub, but broad comes close.

 

I asked J.M.Lewertowski (aka penseller from france) and he answered that only fine and medium nibs are available for the LE 120 years (blue/silver). There is a stub in black/silver for the Diamond Black version however.

 

Do people use this black nib unit on the Sterling Silver or do you stick with a fine or medium nib?

 

Rob

 

My recollection could be faulty; however, I recall seeing the Sterling LE with EF, F, M and B available a few years ago. No stubs or obliques though.

[Boston Brian]

What a terrific review of some awesome looking pens. I regret selling my Waterman Carene, may have to think about finding another Waterman, with a B or OB or Stub nib.

[Fab75]

I just found this very interesting review and fully agree the Edson is my favourite waterman, i cannot consider it as a vintage so i will not compare it to waterman from the fifties.

Some people are comparing the Edson to the Carene or Waterman 100 but for me there is no comparison, i have owned a Wat 100 and Carene but sold it. The Edson is by far a better pen in terms of size, nib, look. It is really a lovely, i can say that all the nib are good but by far i prefer the stub which the better stub i have ever tried. Even in comparison with some nib modified by very well known people, the warterman Stub Nib is really excellent.

When the review has been made price was around USD 300 but today it's more USD 600 to get a nice one and USD 100 more to get one with the Waterman stub nib.

 

cheers

Fabrice

[Aysedasi]

I would dearly love one, but I can't justify spending that kind of money one a pen.......

[olivier78860]

I have two Edsons, but both have a M nib. Could anyone spare a writing sample of EF and/or F nibs ? Thanks !

[georges zaslavsky]

Testwrote an Edson Boucheron back in 2009 as well as a green Edson with an OB and a blue Edson with a Stub at my favorite penshop back in 2008 but despite the nib is gliding well on paper, it is still too rigid. I can't also bear the fact that it doesn't have a piston filling system and it is not made of more exotic materials like celluloid or vegetal resin. Even Sheaffer inlaid and triumph nibs are far more smoother and pleasant to use than the Edson's nib.

[olivier78860]

I understand the reason why the Edson isn't a piston filler. If you fill the converter, half the ink stays in the (giant) feed. So If you really want to be good to go for a while with an Edson, the best is to pump ink inside the feed with a converter, then empty and fill the converter up directly from the ink bottle.

 

Georges, regarding smoothness, I might have been lucky (considering what you wrote), but both my regular blue and Boucheron Edsons have really smooth nibs.

[John Cullen]

I have two Medium Edsons, both were originally smooth writers. The Mediums are stiff and smooth, as most others have found.

 

I like the pens.

 

I do not mean to be a cold shot of water in the face here, but I would just point out that the nib unit on this pen is not one that can be adjusted or fixed if anything goes wrong. I have contacted a reputable repair person about removing the feed and working on the nib and he told me that this pen is hard to work on and the feed is hard to remove so he could not really promise results. This pen person posts here and is reputable.

 

I finally got Waterman to replace the feed but one of my pens writes poorly and Waterman has told me three times it is fine, even though it simply does not write well and the ink flow totally dries up if the nib is turned even the slightest bit in the hand. My other Edson is fine and works great.

 

Again, I like the pen, but I just want to point out that there are limited service options on this beyond Waterman, which up until this pen had always been pretty reliable for me. A new nib and section unit costs about $350 or more.

 

Maybe this is one of those things where if price is an issue you should not get into the pen. Again, if I only had my blue one I would have only positive things to say, but my experience with my older Green one has left me with a useless pen and with a feeling that for the money Waterman service should have been better.

 

Just my limited experience, and maybe it was just that one pen??

[olivier78860]

I think that it is there that one needs a good relation with a dealer. Big brands are not really luminous when it comes to aftersales services, and only a good brick and mortar shop can help you when you have weird issues with a pen, to put some weight in the balance.

[georges zaslavsky]

I think that it is there that one needs a good relation with a dealer. Big brands are not really luminous when it comes to aftersales services, and only a good brick and mortar shop can help you when you have weird issues with a pen, to put some weight in the balance.

that is correct

[Lordrdx666]

This collection of yours is simply amazing! Do you have one of these in sterling silver ?