The Pen I Bought Myself When I Finally Made Partner

I made partner at my firm in January. It had taken eleven years, which is not unusual in my field, and it was the professional milestone I had been working toward for most of my career. I am not someone who marks occasions with purchases. I do not buy myself things to celebrate. I had been telling myself for years that a good pen was an indulgence I did not need, that the cheap ballpoints I had been using for fifteen years of professional life were perfectly adequate, and that spending serious money on a writing instrument was the kind of thing other people did.

My name is Victoria Osei. I am a forty-three-year-old solicitor from London, and I made an exception in January. I bought myself a pen.

The Decision

I had been thinking about a Waterman for a while. Not actively, not with any urgency, but in the way you think about something you have decided you will have one day when the occasion is right. The Waterman Hemisphere had been on a list in the back of my mind for about three years: the gloss black finish, the chrome trim, the reputation for a smooth and consistent line. A rollerball rather than a fountain pen, because I wanted something I could use every day without the maintenance that a fountain pen requires.

Making partner was the occasion. I found the Waterman Hemisphere Rollerball Pen in Gloss Black with Chrome Trim at ALTOE. The spec was exactly what I had been thinking about: gloss black finish with polished chrome trim, fine point, high-quality black ink, gift box included. At £116.79 it was the most I had ever spent on a pen, and considerably less than I had spent on other things that mattered less.

I ordered it on the Friday evening after the partnership was confirmed. It arrived Monday.

The First Use

I opened the gift box on Monday morning before I left for the office. The pen was exactly as I had imagined it: the gloss black barrel, the chrome trim at the cap and clip and nib section, the weight of it in my hand. Waterman pens are known for their balance, and the Hemisphere lived up to that: it sat in my hand at the right point, neither too heavy nor too light, in a way that cheap ballpoints never do.

I used it to sign the partnership documents that afternoon. I am aware that this is slightly theatrical. I do not care. The occasion warranted it.

The ink flow was exactly as described: consistent, fluid, no skipping, no variation in line weight. The fine point produced a clean, precise line that was noticeably better than anything I had been writing with before. I wrote a full page of notes in a client meeting that afternoon and was aware, for the first time in fifteen years of professional life, of the pen I was using.

Six Months On

The Waterman Hemisphere is the pen I use for everything. Not just for significant occasions, for everything: meeting notes, annotations, signing letters, the daily writing that makes up most of a solicitor's working life. The ink flow has been consistent across six months of daily use. The chrome trim has not tarnished. The gloss black finish has not scratched despite being carried in my bag every day.

The refill is straightforward to replace, which I have done once in six months of heavy use. The gift box it came in is on my desk, which is not something I would have predicted but which turned out to be a piece of packaging worth keeping.

Several colleagues have asked about the pen after seeing it in meetings. Two of them have bought Waterman pens as gifts for people marking professional milestones: one for a colleague making partner, one for a daughter graduating from law school. Both reported that the recipient was genuinely pleased, which is the response you want from a gift that is meant to mark an occasion.

My mother, who is not someone who notices pens, picked it up from my desk during a visit and said it was a beautiful object. I told her it was a Waterman. She said she did not know what that meant but that it felt expensive. I told her it was, and that it was worth it, and that I had been telling myself for fifteen years that I did not need one.

The Verdict

If you have been telling yourself that a good pen is an indulgence you do not need, you are probably wrong. The Waterman Hemisphere Rollerball in Gloss Black is a well-made, beautifully balanced writing instrument that makes daily writing noticeably better and that looks exactly right in a professional context. It is the kind of object that marks an occasion properly, whether you are buying it for yourself or for someone else. I should have bought one years ago.

Find the Waterman Hemisphere Rollerball Pen – Gloss Black with Chrome Trim at ALTOE. Listed in Latest Products, Office Supplies, Office Instruments, Writing & Drawing Instruments, Pens & Pencils, Pens, and Rollerball Pens.

Mark the occasion properly. Buy the pen.

— Victoria Osei, London