Waterman Duofold Centennial Fountain Pen - Classic Black & Gold Trim, Medium 18K Solid Gold Nib with Converter & Black Ink - Luxury Writing Instrument for Professionals, Collectors & Gift Giving - Perfect for Signatures, Calligraphy & Executive Gifts

The Carène is a bit of a sleeper. Waterman as a brand seems thoroughly uninterested in the hobbyist fountain pen scene, so it has little social media presence, but it does have excellent old world customer service run by actual people rather than algorithms or bots. Their aftermarket nib service is superlative! And this pen is a beauty.But you must be OK with hard nibs. Completely inflexible but it writes very smoothly, with a distinctive Waterman feel, and is not at all fussy or delicate. Metal cap and body construction with great balance and weight and looks sharp. Makes a nice gift, as well as a daily writer. Worth considering among other more popular hard gold nib pens like the Platinum 3776 or Sailor Pro Gear. My personal preference is actually for softer nibs and yet I like the Carène enough to have two!A few cons:--Plastic grip section scuffs from repeated cap on-off (the marks are noticeable enough to bother me).--Ink seems to dry out quickly if not in regular use, compared to other slide-snap caps.--Doesn't matter in the black colorway, but placing the same black grip on everything regardless of pen body color/finish makes some colorways look a bit cheap to my eyes.--Cost. I was lucky enough to snag at deep discount here on Amazon, so it isn't always at/near retail, but you may have to wait and hunt.