As you know, I had a Waterman Carene last week. I was very impressed with it and decided to get one for myself. I chose the Marine Amber pattern and an EF nib. The colours are very attractive and positively glow in strong light. The EF nib must be a Western EF! It’s a fine, and not an especially fine fine, but I had anticipated that would be the case and I’m perfectly happy with it. It’s heavier than the pens I usually use, but not so heavy that it will be a difficulty, I think. This is the first extended period of writing with it I have done, so I’ll know better later.

It is unusual for me to buy an expensive pen for myself and when I have done so in the past they have been vintage pens. Sooner or later my conscience catches up with me and I sell them. This is likely to be an exception as I would take a loss on the pen, selling it on. Besides, I really like it and want to keep it.

Waterman’s interpretation of the inlaid nib is a large part of the appeal of this pen, as is the sense of quality that just holding it and handling it imparts. The only possible improvement I might have made would be to make the section the same colour as the barrel.

The Carene is an outstanding pen. There are others in the Waterman lineup that are more expensive and I can see the appeal of some of them especially the Exception but the Carene seems the better pen to me. It’s quite a bit more expensive than the pens I usually buy for myself but it isn’t all that costly. Anything more expensive than a good desktop PC is expensive to me and this cost a lot less than that.