Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 98

Happy Hallowe'en! Today's newest acquisition is a fountain pen made by a pen company whose name begins with "Water"... and no, it's not Waterman...

Meet my new Waterford 'Marquis Arista Prism' fountain pen!

(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

Though Waterford is best known for its hand-cut fine crystal, it also put its name on fine writing instruments (the company named their 'Beaumont', 'Lismore', 'Kilbarry' and 'Marquis' writing instruments after famous Waterford glass patterns). My first Waterford pen was the very first fountain pen I bought online, way back in October 2002. It was a shiny chrome Waterford 'Marquis' that I bought from PenCity.com in Ellijay, Georgia. I still have the pen and I still use it :)

 

 My particular 'Marquis Arista Prism' fountain pen is a wonderful colour named "Caramel", so I couldn't resist snapping a shot of it next to some Hallowe'en candies. It's a yummy mixture of light orange & warm brownish tones that are hard to capture in a photo (especially with my photographic skills), and the resin has a lovely depth and shimmer, too. 

 

 
The 'Marquis Arista' model also came in Rainbow, Mocha and Purple colours, but I had my eye on the Caramel for many years, although I somehow never got around to buying it until a few weeks ago when I saw it on Amazon.ca for $50 CAD (+ free shipping from Ontario). It was a snap purchase, but I hadn't seen the pen for sale in ages, so I jumped at the chance to acquire it...and I'm so glad I did.

At 20 grams, it's a fairly light fountain pen and it's very well-balanced when posted. Unposted, it's nicely-balanced as well, likely due to the metal disc on the barrel end. As well as being an attractive pen that feels good in the hand, it writes really well. The steel nib is extremely smooth and has no start-up problems at all. The cap screws onto the barrel and I've had no drying-out issues with the pen. 

I love how the section matches the rest of the pen...

So what don't I like about the pen? Not too much, actually. If I could, I'd make the nib slightly larger so that it's more in proportion to the rest of the pen. The finial on the cap top (made of the same material as the rest of the pen) creates a rounded top to the cap, which doesn't match the flat barrel end. Normally this kind of design mismatch drives me crazy (I almost didn't buy my Laban '325' fountain pen for this reason) but I think I'm becoming more tolerant of these stylistic quirks because I didn't hesitate to buy the Waterford when I saw it.

My only real quibble is that the metal cap ring nearly fell off when I took the pen out of its box. A very small amount of cyanoacrylate  (Krazy Glue ®) carefully applied to the cap ring groove did the trick--the cap ring hasn't budged since. Aside from that, I'm very happy with this purchase from Amazon.ca.

~Pics & review by Maja