Is My Parker Jotter Fake?

[Conor_31]

So I have a red Parker Jotter (ballpoint) and I'm wary it may be a replica. I bought it from eBay for I think £4 and it came in a plastic gift box.

A few reasons I think it may not be authentic is that-

 

1. The engraving on the back (not the "Parker" name under the arrow clip) is what appears to be roman numerals. I believe it says I - II. Both engravings on the pen are quite detailed and slightly deeper than another black Parker Jotter I have says "Made in France."

 

2. The spring can come out of the pen body which on my other Jotter doesn't happen.

 

Can I also add that I don't know if my black Jotter is authentic either as, even though the barrel is black, the ink is blue. Also the engravings are pretty shabby and not as detailed as my red one.

Both pens feature the refill twist action where the refill, when clicked, will rotate.

 

Thanks to all that can help! Here's some pics

 

 

[Mike 59]

The letter codes on the other side to the clip, mean your Jotter was made in 2014. It's in the range of datecodes that Parker use, one letter for each year, from the range QUALITYPEN.

So Q was 2010, U was 2011 and so on.

The spring can come out, there is nothing in the pen to keep it fixed inside.

The quality of the engraving or stamping does vary a great deal, from sharp to almost unreadable.

The colour of the barrel doesn't have any connection to the ink colour, new pens can have black or blue ink refills, it's possible to get other colours and gel inks as well.

The 'Made in France' is correct also.

The price you paid is well under the RRP, but I bought a claret/red Jotter just like yours for £4.50 in a well known stationer's shop in UK, totally genuine pen in a half price sale, it doesn't happen very often. Mine has a datecode of IL meaning 2013.

Your refill should have the word 'QUINKflow' , it's the standard 'new' ink supplied in all the ballpoints made by Parker.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Mike 59

[Conor_31]

Yes my refill is QUINKflow ink from Parker. Thank you very much for your reply and help.

I don't want to bother you again but would you happen to know why both pens have different designs/engravings? Does this mean they were made in a different place? Is it that my black one is fake? I did see a few comments on Amazon about the black one claiming it was fake but a far majority said it was real. I find it hard to believe a counterfeiter would take such time and produce such an inexpensive pen for a measly profit however it's also one of the most iconic pens in the world.

 

I'm not sure I made this clear also but the red one doesn't actually have a place of manufacturing on it (the black one says "made in France but has no date, the red one has a date however no place of production).

 

Thank you if you can help even more than you already have

[Mike 59]

I would think if you have a 'Jotter' without PARKER just under the clip, then that's much more likely to be a fake.

Parker have used a few different 'badges' over the years, one was like a P, and one was like an oval with an arrow straight through the centre, this is a good way of knowing the date the pens were made.

From around 1980 many Jotters were made in UK stamped 'Made in UK', before 1980 they used 'Made in England' and the threads inside the pen were brass.

Many Parker pens were/are made in USA of course, and are stamped 'Made in USA'.

Since 2010 'Jotters' have been (mostly) made in France, and are stamped with 'France' and will have date codes.

The stamping varies a lot and is just down manufacturing issues, I would imagine. It's useful to have a close look with a 10x magnifier, as some stamping is very faint.

New pens are supplied with black or blue Quinkflow refills, normally medium width.

Don't be surprised what is faked, even fakes have been copied, but it's hard to see the point in making copies of cheaper pens.

Might be worth reading this page of the parkerpens.net website;

http://parkerpens.net/jotter.html

Edited September 14, 2014 by Mike 59

[Conor_31]

No both pens have Parker engraved on it but on the reverse side, my red one has the date of manufacturing but not an actual place. My black one has "made in France" but no date. Were they both made in different places? Or is one simply older?

[Conor_31]

May I also thank you for your help with my questions.

[Mike 59]

If you want to try to get the date of manufacture then all the clues are on (and in) the cap.

Is the thread inside the cap brass or white or black plastic?

On the top of the click button is there a letter P or is the button plain metal?

To the left of the word PARKER is there a letter P or an oval with vertical arrow in the center?

Where there seems to be no date code, it's possible there is an I which is very faint.

The Jotters I own all have country of manufacture, e.g. England , UK or France, but just as many were USA and other counties too.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Mike 59

[Matlock]

I have been told that Jotters are now being made in India with no country marking. Can anyone confirm this?

[Mike 59]

I believe that Luxor pens in India are making many of the Parker range under some type of agreement or licence, maybe for their home market, but I could be wrong there.

I can't comment about markings as I have not yet seen one.

It would be interesting to know more about this, as some of their designs are variations on the pens I know, some ranges have been unavailable to us in the UK for several years.

http://www.luxor.in/pens

Edited September 15, 2014 by Mike 59

[Conor_31]

The thread inside the barrel is white plastic on both my pens. Both caps are also plain with no symbol or logo. Both pens also the Parker oval and arrow next to the Parker name.

Does this mean my pen is real after all? I assume so now you have helped me identify key things about the pen which I did not think off.

[Mike 59]

It's likely that both of your pens are genuine, and if no country marking, then we might have to guess it was made in India by Luxor, but it's still genuine Parker.

If it was made in UK or France or USA it would be marked so. The datecode 'I' is this year, that is correct.

With the 6 Jotters I have, they are marked either 'Made in UK', 'Made in England' or 'France', but not 'Made in France'.

The quality of the stamping varies greatly, and it makes you think it could be a fake, but the weakest one I have is coded 2013, and was bought in a very well known UK high street shop in the latest Parker packaging, I have no doubt it's genuine.

 

[Dutchparker]

The jotter looks like it's made by luxor in India, the date codes and parker imprint is a little deeper dan other jotters. On ebay you see a lot of sellers selling luxor parker pens, including the parker 45 refresched (called in India the parker galaxy). Also the parker vector steell has been made in the colours black, blue and red. The quality is a bit lesser than the UK made, but quite good pens.

[Conor_31]

I had a closer look and my black one does just say "France" and there is a date code next to it which I did not see before. I bought a Stainless Steel Jotter today and the engravings are the same as my black. I now assume my red one was made in India, hence the different engravings.

 

Thank you all for your replies and assistance.

[zuhandensein]

I bought a Parker Jotter for my girlfriend. I paid £2.59. It is exactly the same as the one described by the OP. But I think there are three details that have not been mentioned here:

 

1. This Jotter does not feature the Parker logo on the top of the button.

2. The first and last letters in the word "PARKER" are bigger than the ones in the middle. This is probably normal, but I was surprised because in other Jotter "made in UK" that I have they all have the same size.

3. The arrow engravings are also less deep than the ones in the UK one.

 

I do not know if this is a fake one, but looks worse than the old one...

 

Luckily this was not a real gift, but the inevitable end of a joke: I saw a horrible ballpoint in the table and immediately said that in our apartment I would prefer not to see such kind of instruments, that "it is OK if you want to use ballpoints [she is left-handed], but pleeeease not of this kind"... She said it was from work, that she does not want to buy a expensive one just for using it at work... I replied that they give Jotters "for free" on eBay, that I could get ten of them for her. She said she wanted one in red. etc. (and of course, I also bought a Cross Century, which was the one she was looking for, since she lost another one some months ago).

 

Anyway, sorry for the anecdote.

Edited January 24, 2015 by zuhandensein

[welch]

I have an older Jotter that has a very gentle point on the button. Have another with the "arrow piercing the oval" logo. Both say "made in USA" on the cap, and both have brass threads inside the cap.

 

Only conclusion: Parker has made these pens for a long time and there are many variations. The amazing thing is that the oldest and the newest Jotters will take any Parker-formatted refill. One of the all-time great pens.

 

(Just thinking: Parker has had three of the "hall of fame" pen designs: (1) Parker 51, (2) Parker T-Ball Jotter, (3) Parker-45)

[zuhandensein]

 

(Just thinking: Parker has had three of the "hall of fame" pen designs: (1) Parker 51, (2) Parker T-Ball Jotter, (3) Parker-45)

 

I consider the jotter the 'absolute' classic ballpoint. A perfect example of 'standard' design: not expensive nor cheap, not sophisticated or extravagant design, nor with the typical disregard towards elegance of cheaper pens. It has the best of both worlds. I think it is a pity that some nice details (logo on caps, clear engravings, brass threads etc) are missing in the new ones produced recently.

 

By the way, sorry... I see now that some of the points I introduced in my post were already mentioned before in the thread.

[pvector]

there is of course a jotter look a like, but yours is the genuine article it appears. just the made in france one