Waterman Hemisphere Agnès B. Fountain Pen

A while back Vanity Fair ran a profile on the French fashion designer Agnès B., whose clothes run the gamut from "trad to rad" (take a look at Uma Thurman and John Travolta in the Pulp Fiction Twist competition, they're both wearing Agnès B.).

When Waterman relaunched their Hemisphere pen a year ago they introduced a special edition fountain pen and ballpoint that was commissioned from Agnès B. Who best to showcase a French pen company's classic design that a well-known and admired French fashion designer?

Several shops I visit often had this beauty in their lineup, including Goldspot Pens, and I definitely planned to add one to my collection but didn't put a deadline on it. The 2012 Philadelphia Pen Show seemed like the place to finally make the purchase, and I contacted Tom at Goldspot to see if he could bring one with him. Then came the snow, and my plans changed: no train ride to Philly, and a call to Goldspot to buy the pen over the phone.

(And many thanks to Tom at Goldspot Pens for the reduced price, a courtesy to bloggers/ reviewers and greatly appreciated.)


The pen arrived Saturday, and I've been happily playing with it while waiting for the snow to melt. I love the signature on the end of the barrel, which is in lower case in keeping with the corporate name.


According to the press release, the above sweeping lines are a point d’ironie, a humorous punctuation mark created by 19th century poet Alcanter de Brahm. The lines are shown against a deep black lacquered barrel with complementary blue roundels. The cap and trim offset the black of the barrel with their bright chrome plating.


Finally, this is one of the cutest nibs I've seen and used, reminding me of a Parker Latitude. It's what I'd call snub-nosed or squat, not the tapered, longer look of some of my Japanese pens or a few of my vintage fountain pens.

One thing I didn't think to ask about was a converter, so I had to make do with a MonteVerde that I had in stock. It's not bad, but I have to get one that's a better fit.

Finally, how does it write? It's a medium nib but the line isn't as wide as I would have thought. It's definitely wider than the fine points (Japanese and Western) that I use, but it's not as sloppy as my Faber-Castell Ambition medium (which verges on broad). What also caught my attention was how slim the pen feels in my hand, it's not heavy yet it looks like it might have a bit of weight to it. The cap feels very light, so you don't even notice it.

All together this is an elegant pen and a great way to re-launch the Waterman Hemisphere. Do take a look at Waterman Hemisphere pens if you're looking for the next great pen for your collection.

Vintage Waterman 92V Fountain Pen

This amazing fountain pen was my brother's Christmas gift to me, and my mouth still drops open when I think about it. He remembered my mentioning the Philadelphia Pen Show to him last Christmas, and then telling him about the Waterman pens I picked up at the October 2010 NYC Pen Show. So he went online and found a vintage pen seller, someone by the name of (wait for it)...Richard Binder. Did I know anything about him?

After picking my jaw up from the floor I grabbed some paper and the bottle of ink my brother also thought to buy with the pen ('cause I don't carry any when I'm traveling) and filled my new tyke up. This green and red Waterman 92V is a vest pocket pen that was made sometime in the late 1930s. It's 4,5 inches in length when capped (tiny!), and meant to fit in a gentleman's pocket for jotting quick notes. It has a 14k #2 nib, a very flexible fine point which my brother said had been worked on in some way by Richard Binder (bro doesn't quite remember what the specifics were, I may have to email to find out).

This is definitely a flexy nib, my only problem with it is that it seems to be a very dry writer. I'm using the EVERFLO ink, but will switch over to Noodler's or maybe the Chesterfield/Diamine archival inks. Noodler's tends to be very wet in most of my pens, the archival inks would be similar to what was originally in this Waterman. It's a beautiful pen, writes very well, and it's so small I have to be careful not to lose it. The perfect colors for Christmas as well.

One interesting note: I had my Sheaffer Slender Balance fountain pen with me and my brother really liked it. So much so that he went online and found one at an auction site that he immediately bought. He also mentioned that the seller had some really nice Esterbrooks available, then stopped himself saying that buying these fountain pens could become really addictive. Could be, lol.

Waterman Rollerball

While visiting the parents, I wandered into my brother's office looking for something only to stop dead when I saw this on his desk--a beautiful Waterman rollerball from the early 1990s. It looks very much like one of my Waterman Laureat fountain pens, but it has a slightly slimmer silhouette. The shiny grey-black lacquer over metal, a color that reminds me of hematite, is elegant but not too snobbish.

My brother was amused when I grabbed the rollerball and started writing with it, checking out it's grip and flow. It's beautiful, but then it's been sitting in a drawer for over 15 years unused and unremembered until recently so it's in absolute mint condition and ready to go. Seeing this led me to get out some of the fountain pens I brought home and show him the vintage ones I got at the NYC Pen Show, and talking pens. I got another shock when I opened his gift to me, but that's for another post. I will only say that Richard Binder must have been pleased. I sure was.

Waterman Lauréat in Marbré Bronze

André Mora of Mora Stylos was at the recent NYC Pen Show, and had a very nice selection of NOS Waterman fountain pens. I really liked these Lauréat pens, and purchased several, including a Marbré Bronze.

The medium nib on this pen seems to change back and forth on line width depending upon the ink I used. My first go round was with a Sailor blue-black ink cartridge to try it out, and I had a slightly-finer medium width that I liked.

But now I've got Diamine Syrah in the pen and the wetness and line width are a bit more than I wanted. I'm being very careful with this pen as I've had bad experiences with lacquer over metal finishes. My lovely bright red lacquer Cross ballpoint scratched terribly to the point where I put it away in a closet somewhere and try not to think about it. So I'm keeping this one in a cloth case, and trying not to bump or jostle it too much.

Lately I've noticed how my pens react to various inks, and have started making notes on which works with what ink. One new pen DOES. NOT. LIKE. the Pelikan 4001 blue-black ink I used, and made it very clear to me by skipping and scratching and refusing to write. Took out the Pelikan blue-black, put in Waterman black, and the pen is in heaven and writing perfectly. I'm wondering if it will have the same reaction to an Edelstein ink, which are from Pelikan, and am looking forward to the test.