Parker Sonnet Dark Red With 18K Gold Nib

[David Paul]

Feb 4 while visiting the National Bookstore in the Mall of Asia (off Manila Bay) I purchased a Dark Red Parker Sonnet fountain pen. From seeing the pen advertised in the at pen stores in the U.S. or selling on Ebay I expected the nib to be gold plated. I was surprised when I returned home and examined the nib to find that it had 785 18K inscribed on the nib. The price I paid ($133.04) was about the same as I would have paid here. Anyone know why pens sold overseas would have a genuine 18K gold nib and pens sold in the U.S. would be gold plated? The pens are manufactured by Parker in France.

[frenchguy86]

From what I know, Parker sonnet where made to battle the other pen makers over the ''gift market''. In doing so, nibs are not limited to one market but they do offer a wide range in price and models. Sonnet exist with steel nibs, gold plated nibs, gold nibs, dual tone gold nibs etc...

 

A part of the history of the line is covered here:

http://www.parkerpens.net/sonnet.html

Edited March 1, 2014 by frenchguy86

[pajaro]

I have two pens like the one you bought. One had a gold plated nib, one an 18K medium italic. I put a two-tone fine 18K nib in the first pen. I would think the gold plated or steel nibs are offered to keep the price down. Those nibs are functionally as good as the 18K. Some of the steel nibs are pretty good.

[Florida Blue]

That does seem odd. The dark red Sonnet (the current version at least) comes with a gold plated steel nib in the USA. $133 seems like a good price for a brand new Sonnet with an 18kt gold nib and that shade of red is nice.

[pajaro]

The shade of red is the same as my Montblanc 144 red pens, so they all look good in the pocket together. The look is enhanced by a transparent pocket protector, a white one being decidedly too outre and the black one being nerdy beyond words.

 

If you have issues with the nib drying overnight, try laying the pens horizontally instead of vertically, nib up. That seems to work better.

[shuuemura]

I saw some Parker Sonnets (dark red and black versions) that had 18K gold nibs at Winner Pens Collection in Hong Kong as well, so it isn't too uncommon to find Sonnets with gold nibs outside the USA.