Waterman Apostrophe Ballpoint

If you’ve read this blog before, you probably know that I’m not super keen on ballpoint pens as daily writers. However there is a time and a place where the ballpoint is the perfect and most convenient pen and that was why I purchased this Waterman Apostrophe.

There’s a lot of sentimental attached to this particular pen, I purchased it while I was doing my PhD to use in my lab-book as my one good pen (I know, how naïve!) and it made me feel grown up and professional and it gave me that little bit of extra confidence in a daunting environment.

Being a wet lab, the pen had to withstand liquid and be able to write on less than fabulous paper, so I purchased a ball point. At the time, I didn’t know all that much about pens, only rollerballs, gels and I had a Lamy Al Star Fountain pen at the time, so a ballpoint was a pretty standard choice.

I haven’t picked this up in many years, but on using it, the ballpoint isn’t as stiff as I thought. As this is a traditional ballpoint (not hybrid like the Jetstream), I thought this would be a strain to use after years of using fountain pens, but its not too bad. Maybe a touch more friction than the Jetstream. Having said that, this is quite a wide ballpoint, whereas the Jetstream is a lot finer, so if you prefer a finer line, you will probably experience more friction.

Unfortunately, unlike some other pens that can take a more “standard” style refill, this Waterman only takes the Waterman branded refill. This means that only the ballpoint shown here can be used. I’ve tried to hack it to accept the Uniball Style Fit gel refill using a 3D printed adapter and sadly it doesn’t fit. I’ve also tried the Monteverde gel refill for Waterman, but they have been a bit temperamental and don’t work consistently – by that I mean it gets caught in the pen body somehow. It’s a real shame because it means that this pen doesn’t get used much anymore. Ballpoints just don’t make it into my rotation anymore.

I still love this pen and it holds sentimental value to me, but sadly it just doesn’t get used anymore. I really hope that more refill options become available someday, but sadly I don’t think this will happen and it will stay relegated to the bottom of my drawer.