I used some pretty fancy pens this rotation that whenever I picked them up, I just had to say to myself:

Ooh la-la!

Waterman Carene

Specifications:

  • Filling System: Proprietary cartridge-converter
  • Nib: Fine
  • Nib material: Medium
  • Price Range: £200+
  • Ink: Beaufort Blue Black

Waterman pens are seldom discussed these days. They had their time to shine, and you might get someone discuss how their flex nibs used to be good (in fact, some models are highly coveted for this reason), but their modern pens get left to the side

…that is, except for the Carene

And rightly so; this is a wonderful pen in both form and function. It is the form that is its secret weapon for latching itself to people’s minds, but it’s the function that makes them stay for the ride.

The mottled amber barrel design is perhaps what causes people to take their initial look. The cap is elegant and slim; the clip certainly refined. In a way, it is undoubtedly beautiful and carries a Parisian smugness about it.

But then you get to know it a bit better and decide to remove the dress.. sacre bleu! It has an inlaid nib! How divine!

Ba-oui! Je sais que je suis belle

The nib, also wonderful in function, is what I fell in love with this pen over. It’s a bit fatter than what I’d like (it should be a fine but I’d say it’s closer to a medium), but boy does it give a wonderful writing experience.

This is a stiff nib. If this isn’t something that bothers you, read on

…if it is, I still emplore you to read on because I bet this pen could change your opinion

You know that pencil like feedback that people go on about, usually in reference to Platinum nibs?

Well, this has it. The nib catches so wonderfully on the page that it’s as though it is lending out a soft and generous hand to the paper fibres. Softly brushing against their cheeks in a whimsical and caring motion.

It’s not bite-y or grabby, but respectful; a tease, if you will.

John Twiss Autumn Storm

Specifications:

  • Filling System: Converter
  • Nib: Fine
  • Nib material: Steel
  • Price Range: £200
  • Ink: Pilot Iroshizuku Yama Budo

I picked this up at the London Pen Show 2020, which was held in early March

Talk about cutting it close!

John Twiss is a custom pen maker based in the UK. I enjoy going to his table at pen shows because it’s always full of beautiful pens

…in case that wasn’t obvious

No official name for this pen, but I named it Autumn Storm, I guess because I’m a poet at heart. The purple and orange swirls give me autumnal vibes, while the grey undertones give me that cosy sitting-inside-while-it’s-raining feeling

I reckon you could put any ink in this pen and it would work. I chose Yama Budo because I inked up a pen for my girlfriend the other day using this and it had been on my mind since.

Yama Budo is a darker pink, as in it’s not a vibrant baby or neon pink, but this pen brings out more of the lightness in it that you’d otherwise miss if it was in, say, a TWSBI demonstrator. The purple on the barrel contrasts nicely with the ink, making it pop.

What a great purchase. What a great purchase. What great decisions I make!

Er.. Moving on

Pelikan M200

Specifications:

  • Filling System: Piston
  • Nib: Fine
  • Nib material: Steel
  • Price Range: £100-150
  • Ink: Pelikan Edelstein Topaz

Now I don’t know if this is an M200 or an M150. Whatever it is, I love it.

I bought this pen as I was being driven to my university halls to start my undergraduate degree. I was obsessively checking my phone to check up on the bidding because I was so taken by the blue and gold. I enjoy my M800 for this reason, so to have it in a similar vain in a demonstrator, I felt it was a must

Cheaper than an M800 demonstrator, too!

The reason for this is because, while being very similar in shape to, sub M400 pens come with steel nibs and use plastic parts in place of things like metal pistons that you’ll get in larger models (I think this is M800 onwards).

But boy does this thing write like a dream.

It’s marked as a fine, and it’s obviously not, with a bit of stubbyness to it and gives some wicked line variation.

No joke - I prefer this to my M800 nib!

I’ve been enjoying using Pelikan Edelstein Topaz. I am a sucker for blue inks, especially this kind of Dodgers Blue shade (if you know, you know).

TWSBI Go!

Specifications:

  • Filling System: Spring
  • Nib: Fine
  • Nib material: Steel
  • Price Range: £20-30
  • Ink: Pilot Iroshizuku Chiku-Rin

You know that meme with the dragons? All but one are serious, with the one looking like a goof

That’s how the TWSBI Go! looks in this line up. It’s a gimmicky pen amongst a rather sophisticated, dare I say posh, bunch. But if the M150 is anything to tell, first impressions can be deceiving…

I’m not about to suggest this pen is serious, but it is at least clever in some way. The aesthetic is a bit rougher, with metal springs, spike embezzles in the cap, and the frequent spraying of ink inside the cap that can build up if you don’t clean it.

That’s what I love about it, though.

Perhaps being something closer to a piston-form of an aerometric converter, it’s a fun and different system to use and fill the pen up and really forms part of the charm of using this pen.

I had this inked with some mix of Chiku-Rin and Irish Green, the latter being the ink I had in it last. It gave me a nice bright green, but with a bit more yellow in it. This was more when the pen was first inked, mind. You’ll have to take my word for it

Uniball Style OneFit

I remember getting multipens often as a gift at Christmas as a kid. I was always a bit confused, but I also seemed to enjoy them

Father Christmas knew me better than I did myself!

While he may have begun slacking off in this respect lately, I picked up the reigns (no sleigh, unfortunately) and bought myself a multipen in a recent visit to a stationery shop while in Berlin. Of about EUR 70 purchases, this formed, [err]

The Uniball black ink is amazing, and so are the colours. It made a nice change to the blacks and dark blues I’ve been using in my pocket notebooks lately

I’m still using the Snowy Evening

Sadly the orange ink has never worked. I haven’t replaced it, but I guess that will wait until I need to replace the whole pen because there’s one extra part to this pen…

It is also a mechanical pencil!

In my infinite wisdom I put this refill where the clip is, so I always knew where it was. I kinda got used to what refill was where, but then I changed the orange around and things would get muddled for me again

The orange was in the position that meant I was often pushing it down first out of ease of access, which was annoying for obvious reasons. I’ve since changed this so the blue and pink are the one I look for most frequently, but I’ve not quite learned which way round they are. So it’s still a surprise

I also have a green. It’s nice and vibrant and makes me wonder what the orange is like

Okay, enough moaning.