As I wander through my stash this month, I rediscovered my Caran D’ache 849 Fountain Pen. At one point, I had two (one pink and one green) but I have only been able to find the green one.
These pens are soft hex shaped barrels with a snap cap. The cap can be posted but make the pen ridiculously long. The nibs are unusual and custom Caran D’Ache nibs. They are an unusual shape with the hexagon “logo” embossed on the nib and a slit but no breather hole. Sleek looking.
Both models I have (or had) are EF nibs that I love though I have had to have one or the other tuned. But as a result, I love the nibs. I use them with cartridges since they are long enough to hold two cartridges, one in use and one in the barrel for a quick replacement. This makes them great for an office environment: snap cap and two cartridges for quick ink swap. These conveniences are what made me fall in love with them in the first place. The day-glo color makes the pens easy to spot in a bag, case or on your desk but there are navy, black and white options if you want one that’s not so flashy.
I did have a fuss at one point and swapped out the nibs with some cheap Delike and PenBBS nibs but I switched the nib back and it works fine. (Insert eye roll at me here).
The nibs have an interesting stub-ish quality to the writing that I love with all my heart. I hope I find the pink one again. It was my original Caran d’Ache and I have a little sentimentality about it.
Sadly, Caran d’Ache has not added new colors or patterns on the barrels since the original release of these pens. They release a bunch of 849 ballpoints every year with custom colors, wraps and special designs but the fountain pens have been neglected. They did release an all-black version complete with a black nib but the price for this model is almost twice what I originally paid for the 849 fountain pens but is has been NINE YEARS!
My advice to you is to dig into your collection and refill a pen you loved at one point but haven’t used lately. Give it another try. Maybe its as good as it ever was or maybe its not for you anymore? Either way, you will be able to determine if its a pen forever or a pen whose time has come to move on.