Waterman Expert Fountain Pen - L'Essence du Bleu (EF)
A great fountain pen at a great price
I decided to get a new fountain pen in July as I was looking for something that was high quality, but weighed less than my Caran d’Ache Leman Bicolor. Although my Leman is a fantastic pen, I wanted something in between the weight of that, and some of my cheaper fountain pens such as the Pilot Prera or Pilot Explorer.
I’ve seen the Waterman Expert fountain pens in stores over the years, but none of the colours or designs really appealed to me until I saw this one online.
Free Nib Swap from M to EF
Before I decided to buy this pen, I enquired with Waterman UK if they offer a free nib swap service because I could only find the M or F versions online at the time. Waterman confirmed that they would swap the nib based on the following strict process:
This service is no cost provided the nib and front end of your pen are in pristine condition and provided the pen is from our current range. We also ask that the request be made within 28 days of purchase.
In the event the pen does not meet these conditions, a quotation will be issued for the new nib. If you accept the quotation, the pen with the new nib fitted and the original nib will be shipped back to you.
Waterman provided a pre-paid shipping label to send the nib back to their office in France. The Waterman call centre I dealt with was in Poland. I had to ring them once because there was a delay in emailing me the shipping label. The guy on the phone was very helpful and sent it to me within 10 minutes of the call.
After the whole process was complete, here is how it was shipped back to me. Overall, it was a great process and the customer service was very good.
Price / Value
I bought the pen for £140 GBP (approx $188 USD) from Hamilton Pens (online) in the UK. This was around £50 - £60 less than other online stores and I thought it was a great price. Hamilton’s service was great and the pen arrived via next day delivery.
I didn’t buy a converter as I wanted to use the 2x blue cartridges that came with the pen (one was in the box, and Waterman gave another one in the envelope after the nib swap). I will refill them with syringes in future as I have several bottles of ink at home including Pilot Iroshizuku, Diamine and Pelikan.
Review
The Waterman nib is harder than my Caran d’Ache Leman, but softer than my Lamy Studio that I sold years ago. (That Lamy nib was the hardest one I’ve ever used, so I sold it on eBay)
I was surprised to feel that I really liked the nib. It is firm, but not tough. I also can’t explain why I sometimes prefer writing with it over and above my Caran d’Ache!
I surprisingly liked the ink in the Waterman cartridges too. They’re great quality and a nice shade of blue. This is in stark contrast to cartridges I used from Sheaffer 5 years ago which were terrible quality. Never again!
Here is a sample when writing on the reverse side of my Fabriano Ecoqua Plus paper (90 gsm):
Conclusion (9/10)
Overall I’ve been very impressed with my first fountain pen from Waterman.
It has great build quality, has the perfect weight to it, and is supplied with good quality ink cartridges. The customer service from Waterman UK with their nib swap service was excellent.
Have you got any Waterman Fountain Pens? Let me know your thoughts below.