(forgive my poor English and possible mistakes)

HI all.
I bought a Sonnet (Tartan silver, ST) from somebody in internet FP club (which is in my country). He was selling about 5-6 Sonnets in variant finishes, all were new, not inked. The price was reasonble. That is, not too cheap or too expensive.. I ordered one, sent money, and received my pen today.

Since I started to use my first Sonnet, I became a huge fan of Sonnet, especially for the flexibility of gold nib. And I was expecting the same feeling from my new pen. Full of excitement, I felt the nib with my finger, and then tested on the paper (without inking it) and felt something different, strange.. It was by no means same as my old Sonnet's nib. Instead of bending smoothly a little on the paper, it was paper- peircing hard!

I remembered reading several posts about 'fake sonnets', ran to the computer, logged in FPN and Alas, I found that the box was definetely not a genuine one - there is no 'little R within circle' on the right of the 'PARKER' on my box. I don't have sharp eyes enough to tell the different in the engraving, but the 'feeling' and the 'box' is suspicious enough..

And the guarantee paper is written in only 2 languages ;Chinese/English. This adds my suspicion.
I've seached and read almost all the posts about 'fake sonnets' and I am getting sadder..

Question : Has anybody heard of 'genuine sonnet in a fake box' or 'garantee written in Chinese and English'?
As I am not an expert, I'd like to get ready to explain the seller the reason in case of refund. (I hope it's possible...)

From your description, I fear you could have a fake. Need to see a good closeup of the nib to be sure, the engraving is a dead give away.

Sorry

Jim

I hope it is not a counterfiet.

I think you should take some close-up pictures of your Sonnet to let us see...

Think you should have a read to this: http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/P...onnetClones.htm

Maybe you should prepare yourself a good brandy in advance...

I'm really sorry to read this Aloofy. The Sonnet is propably one of the most counterfeited pens in the world (that's why I buy my Sonnets brand new from a reputable dealer) and much of what you've mentioned points to the conclusion that your pen is counterfeited as well.

Regards
Undersköterskan

One quick thing to check: Test the nib with a magnet. If it's attracted by the magnet, then it's steel and certainly a fake.

Skip

Thank you everyone for the kind words.

Apart from its true authencity, I don't think I can love this new pen, so I asked the seller a refund. Not sure he would give me a refund, but I will do what I can do. Fortunately I have some basic information about the seller - cell phone number, home address, etc.

Of course I tried the 'magnet test'. The nib wasn't magnetic. But I also heard that fakers are improving their skill.

Lesson learned. I should be more catious next time.

But you still hvnt confirmed that its fake.

You're right, I haven't confirmed whether it is fake or not. But even if it is not *fake*, I think it's possible that this particular one has some problems. At least, the nib gave me totally different feeling from that I knew before...