Pens of Note

Waterman Opera

 

The Opera is part of the Waterman Man 100 line, a line issued in 1983 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the company. Using the Man 100 style, in 1985 Waterman issued the Opera. The pen has a vintage look with body treatment that emulates a chasing pattern used on hard rubber pens, a style common to the 1920s and 1930s.

I bought this pen on August 31, 1991. My wife Karen and I, on a trip to London, England, went to the impressive pen department in London's Harrod's Department Store. The pen department was located on the lower floor and I must say I had never seen an extensive outlay of pens.

The purchase of this pen is one I will never forget. The sales person was very skilled and illustrated the important of "the closing". It was a costly pen, $350 CAD, and as Karen and I talked back and forth about things like, do I really need it, she listened to the conversation and simply said, "What colour of ink would you like with your pen?" I have told this story many times to illustrate the importance of closing a conversation or sale. I replied Blue ink, and the pen was mine.

So here I am, over thirty-three years later, still using and enjoying this pen. The style is classic, the build of the pen top notch. The pen looks as good today as it did when I purchased it.

Some comments on the pens is that it is heavy. Metal inside with a resine body. No heavier than similar constructed pens and I have liked the weight of the pen.

The pen is fitted with an 18 kt gold, number six size, two toned nib. The nib and the nib unit is interchangeable with the nibs used for the Man 100 line. IK have found the pen to have a very smooth writing experience. Being able to interchange the nib sections has meant that over the years this pen has been a Medium, Broad or Stub - every writing option I would want.

 The pen sits at 5.75" long and uses a cartridge filler system. I must admit, while I like the ink capacity of piston fill pens, there is nothing easier to clean than the cartridge ink filling system.

The pen is resin with an inner brass body, the exterior has an engraved scalloped chased design to emulated the look of chased hard rubber pens common in the 20's and 30's. The trim is gold plate.

When I look at some of the pens being produced in 2023 I question how they will look 30 years from now. Will they be considered a fad or will they have the classic never out of data date. This year I acquired a Leonardo Auduce Art Deco in black. A beautiful black pen with gold trim. When I place this pen by my Waterman Opera, they both say classic.