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snedwos
June 10th, 2012, 06:35 AM
First review
I got this pen as a birthday present after a lengthy period of staring at four different pens and going on the fact that this one was heavy.

594

I like how the pen feels, even though the tiered grip section looks like it may be uncomfortable, itis actually not bad at all. I tend hold the pen on the silver band above the section anyway.



So, in the style of an awesome review:

Dealer prep 7: It has a nice blue box lined with suede-y material, a warranty and a set of instructions. Came with a long international cartridge -- the converter was bought separately. Points off for that I suppose.

Fill 'er up 6: Standard C&C type pen. Not a humongous capacity.

Test drive 8: Absolutely lovely to write with first up. Smooth wet line, the fine nib producing a bold stroke that makes me wonder why anyone would go for a broad...

Under the hood 6: The nib is pretty when looked at as something that's supposed to be pretty, but the engraved details I sometimes find distracting -- I panic and start to think I've scratched it! The lack of a breather is interesting, I have a suspicion it may affect the performance (see below).

Performance: The pen is comfortable and writes well when it wants to -- the feed doesn't stay saturated for long though. No real hard starts or skipping, occasionally an upstroke at the beginning of a word.

Design notes: The tiered grip section is actually surprisingly comfortable, no problem when I do happen to hold it there, though I usually grip above the section. The cap won't really post fully on, as can be seen from the picture, and makes the pen a bit top-heavy for my taste.

Detailing 7: It's a nice looking pen. Not the nicest looking pen. A bit angular for me, but I chose it for the heft. It was comfortably the heaviest pen of the ones I chose from. The engraving on the nib, as I said, is a little distracting.

Road Trip 5: Rather than a 21 minute road trip, I think a three hour exam counts, right?

Now to the main issue: how it writes in the long stretch.

Well...

Beautifully. When it wants to. When the feed is saturated it is an absolute pleasure to use on just about any paper I have tried it on. Cheap printer paper, lined refills, the recycled paper used in the printers at University, Moleskine notebooks. Probably the best pen I have owned (this is my first serious fountain pen, so that isn't saying much).

However, this doesn't last. After a few lines (how many depends, I think, on the type of paper -- I should conduct some tests when I have time), the flow becomes much drier, writing becomes a tiresome effort, a few start-strokes on letters start to skip... really quite unpleasant. Twisting the converter works, which suggests that the feed is drying out, but is not being replenished -- air isn't making its way through the feed into the reservoir. I do wonder if the fact that the nib doesn't have a breathing hole might be partly to blame for this.

KrazyIvan
June 10th, 2012, 07:38 PM
I was just looking at this pen so your review is very timely. Thank you.

snedwos
June 10th, 2012, 07:49 PM
You're welcome! I don't know if the issues are just with my pen or a general problem, though.

KrazyIvan
June 10th, 2012, 07:55 PM
I am not sure. I have several Waterman pens without the breather hole and they do not suffer any ink starvation. They are actually rather wet. :blink:

Bogon07
June 11th, 2012, 05:11 PM
Hi Snedwos, the Waterman Perspective is a very appealling pen, a very clean and classy design. The chrome and black look good together.

Thanks for the detailed and informative review.

Seems ideal for black or very dark blue-black inks.

I wonder if they have 'Paris Waterman' the other way up for left handers ?

ianmedium
June 20th, 2012, 10:07 PM
That is a very elegant fountain pen. I have owned two waterman's in the past, sold one and gave one away.. I must get another and this one looks perfect! Thanks for the excellent review!

Bogon07
June 24th, 2012, 09:30 PM
I keep looking at your Waterman Perspective, such a nice pen.

However I didn't realise all the other variations: Black with gold, Blue, White, decorative trim on Blue, Silver and Champagne.

http://www.theonlinepencompany.com/pencompany/product_fp.php?cat1=Waterman&cat2=Perspective&cat3=Fountain%20Pen&gclid=CNOXgoa36LACFYY3pAodnFwD0A


Interestingly the three decorative pens have perspective lines in the body and cap.

717

KrazyIvan
June 24th, 2012, 10:59 PM
That pen would go good with those Exacompta journal covers from that architect/designer that I cannot remember the name of.

Bogon07
June 25th, 2012, 04:20 PM
That pen would go good with those Exacompta journal covers from that architect/designer that I cannot remember the name of.

You mean those damn Frank Lloyd Wright ones that are always out of stock when I try and order them.

KrazyIvan
June 25th, 2012, 05:46 PM
You mean those damn Frank Lloyd Wright ones that are always out of stock when I try and order them.

That's them. I hated that. Have not seen any more come up.

Wingnib
November 22nd, 2016, 09:56 AM
Just signed up and I am looking at old reviews. I have a Perspective as well. Zero starvation issues but mine is a medium that anywhere else would be called a broad. Reading your review makes me wish that I had picked a fine.

Now, where to get a fine nib unit.........