The Pen Decumulation No. 2 - Waterman C/F

The Waterman C/F doesn't quite get the attention it deserves for such a landmark pen. There are of course articles available online that cover it in a fair amount of detail (here's David Nishimura, Richard Binder and Dirck de Lint), but this pen is arguably as important in the history of fountain pens as the Sheaffer Balance, Parker 51, or Lamy 2000 - but it doesn't get half the love. Maybe that's because it signalled the end of an era - the demise of the old US 'Waterman's' and perhaps the beginning of the end for fountain pens more generally - as much as it introduced a new one - the French 'Waterman' with it's distinctive clip and the world of cartridge/converters. As well as being the first proper cartridge/converter pen, I suspect it's the also the first quasi-inlaid nib, or a the very least the first fingernail-style nib.

So lots of reasons to regard it as an icon. Nonetheless, I ended up selling mine. So why was that?

I had picked up a handsome French-made example in what's called the chrome moiré finish for about £60 on ebay. It came without a cartridge or converter - and these don't take standard international, so I could have been stuffed, but thankfully you can still buy the converters online (I got mine from The Writing Desk - not cheap, though). 

It was fitted with a 14k gold nib that wrote with a fine, but wet line. Quite stiff and unlike my experience with other Waterman pens, but with that slightly masochistic firmness that can be very pleasant in a fine nib if it's not too dry. So thumbs up for the writing experience.

Ultimately, though, it was aesthetics and feel in the hand that were deal-breakers.  I couldn't get on  with the moiré finish (it's not lacquered and the feel of the ridges just gave me the shivers), and there's something just slightly obscene about the coke-spoon fingernail of a nib. Finally, this C/F, like most, makes this very odd design decision to have these metal overlay on only some of the section. It's not flush - at least it wasn't on my example - so the edges dug into my fingers as I held the section. So, all in all, not a great feel in the hand, even if it looks handsome from a distance and lays down a pleasant line.

Stats

• Length (capped) - 135mm
• Length (uncapped) - 122mm
• Length (posted) - 148mm
• Section diameter - 9mm