That Christmas gift to myself and the story of how I came to justify it
Let me take you back, if I may, to the balmy days of summer. August 9th, to be precise. A day like any other, but for the fact that a fellow blogger, Rupert over at “Fountain Pen Blog”, published a post about the collection of Parker 45 models which he had recently been ordering. I read this and it struck a chord with me. All at once I saw that it is not a folly to own multiple variations of one pen design, that each one brings its own unique soul to the party in your pen case. This was an important breakthrough as for some days I had been, successfully to that point, waging an inner battle against ordering yet another Waterman Hemisphere fountain pen. As I read Rupert’s words, and looked at his photographs, the battleground became a peaceful green field, bordered by a hedge full of chirruping birds with (I’m almost certain) a tiny dormouse smiling at me in a winsome way. The universe, it seemed, was fully in favour of another addition to that collection of Waterman pens.
Stepping even further back, the battle truly began in 2022 when Waterman released their special edition “L’Essence du Bleu” pens ready for the celebration of their 140th anniversary. It was love at first sight for me, as I’m sure you will understand, knowing my personal predilections. The lacquered barrels are just the kind of deep, moody blue I adore, and the shiny chrome caps are engraved with textured ripples reminiscent of the Seine meandering through Paris. Yet such beauty comes at a premium price, and this was always just a little more than I was prepared to pay. By dawn on 9th August 2023, the internal fight had reached a climax. Cult Pens had e-mailed with the final tranche of their birthday offers, including a whopping 20% off the price of Waterman pens – even the L’Essence du Bleu versions. Whilst the higher-end models such as the Exception and Carène remained resoundingly out of reach, the Hemisphere, my personal favourite, had become tantalisingly achievable. Yet I already owned three versions of this design and I could not possibly justify a fourth; could not justify, yet yearned in the very fibres of my heart. (Just for the record, here, I will accept that some hearts are carved from ancient oaks and others are smelted from iron which fell in meteor showers. Mine is knitted from red, red wool. Okay?)
Where Rupert’s blog post provided the impetus for my purchase, my attempts at some kind of vague frugality made me promise that this was still a relatively unjustifiable purchase and was made on the basis that it would be a Christmas present to myself. Being a Cult Pens’ order, it arrived within a couple of days, and I was sorely tempted to just rip it open and start using it then and there. But clever Cult Pens, clever Waterman: included in the package was a gift bag – clearly this was meant to be a gift and absolutely had to be put away for Christmas. So, for four and a half solid months this pen has sat in the bottom of my miscellaneous gifts tub waiting for its moment to shine. In all that time I didn’t even peek. Honestly, I deserve a medal. And now, here it is, in all its glory, all its beauty, ready to stand at my side for the rest of my days. I love it. It was worth the wait.
I decided to match the deep, inky blue of the barrel with Montblanc’s Midnight Blue ink, a combination which is working out just perfectly for journal writing. I’ve also returned to breaking up my journal entries with strips of washi tape thanks to a spectacularly well-chosen Christmas gift from a friend. The washi tape from Paperblanks seems very high quality and there’s plenty on each roll, plus it’s a William Morris design so it wins every which way.
So, this is a brief and (as I like) non-technical introduction to the latest pen to join my collection. I want to do a recap of the whole Clan Bluepen at some point in the New Year as that is the best way to appreciate the different shades of blue. For now, though, the year is drawing to its close and, apparently, the flat isn’t going to clean itself so I have to put in some sort of effort in that direction. I hope you all have a peaceful transition into 2024 and I’ll see you on the other side.
Pam Alison Knits 
8 responses to “And a Waterman under the tree”
What a lovely read. Thank you for the kind mention. I have to admit, I was on a vintage Parker pen acquisition streak for much of this year, resulting, somewhat embarrassingly, in about 15 pre-loved fountain pens including Parker 17, 45, 51 and 61 models!
Your new Waterman Hemisphere looks and sounds fabulous. I am impressed and a little amazed that you were able to keep from opening the gift bag for over four months! I am sure you will enjoy this extra special edition for many years to come. A Happy New Year to you.
And thank you for the unintentional penabling! I’m looking forward to reading more blog posts in 2024.
And a very Merry Christmas to you! Kudos on resisting temptation. The joy of finally writing with it was worth it, I’m sure. It is a beautiful pen. Use it in good health! My washi tape is Hello Kitty!!! 🤣
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you, too. Whilst it would be impossible to be unaware of Hello Kitty, it does fall outside my personal sphere. I think my daughter was just the wrong age for when it first hit the UK – not quite young enough to enjoy it on a child level or quite old enough to enjoy the kitsch of it as a clubber. So whilst Miffy is an enduring image which I associate with nostalgia for her childhood, Hello Kitty doesn’t hit the same mark. Funnily enough, the William Morris and Pre-Raphaelite images I’m much taken with now are the kind of things I surrounded myself with in my teenage years so they undoubtedly hit the same spot as Hello Kitty does for many folk, despite being worlds apart in looks.
What a beautiful pen. I’m jealous. I cannot recall a Hemisphere with that style cap, it is most attractive. As I have very little self control, and even less when something g new arrives, how did you ignore it for months?
The rippled cap certainly is very different and a lovely feature of the pen. I thought before it arrived that I might have to give the package to my sister to look after until Christmas, but as soon as I resisted that first temptation to unwrap it, I didn’t find it hard at all to have it set aside for Christmas. Perhaps the fact I’d been avoiding ordering one for so long meant I’d got used to that feeling of it not being within my grasp. Or perhaps I’m simply becoming more mature, though I don’t think that can possibly be the case!
Pam i wanted to write to say thank you for your blog writing over the past year. I have so enjoyed reading your reflections on those lovely Waterman pens and those even more lovely inks. Although there was an uncomfortable moment of envy around those Pilot Japaneese inks you bought this year.
Your writing feels like a personal conversation just for me and you often make me laugh out loud with your turn of phrases.
The world is a sad and painful place at the moment. So i find some humanity and warmth from your blogs and i also include dear Rupert and the lady who writes the Pen Cup. You three are doing something important. You write about pen and paper and you show us lovely garments you make, but in all of this, you and your companion bloggers remind me and other readers that we are wonderful creative human beings and there is sanity and gentleness in this world.
A year next month i started on this journaling pen ink thing and you offered kind guidance on ink and paper. I now have a thick journal which i treasure and i still write each day. So thank you for that help.
Happy new year to you Pam. May it be fillled with matching washi tape and colourful yarn.
I am so sorry that I didn’t get a chance to get onto WordPress and approve this comment yesterday. Your kind words really touched me when I read them. I’m very happy that you have enjoyed my meanderings and have found some useful tips as you delve into the fountain pen hobby. There are some very good blogs and YouTube channels for the fountain pen hobby, each of which brings a unique insight and provides at least a part of what is needed. Sometimes we need the technical information and sometimes we just need to be entertained and to turn off from the worries of real life for a while – all aspects are covered somewhere along the way.
Now you may have hit on an idea there for matching my washi tape to whichever jumper I’m wearing that day….