Discoloured Gold Trim on Parker Sonnet Ballpoint Pen

[StuartOswald]

Sadly, the Parker Sonnet Ballpoint Pen, Prestige Chiselled Silver with Gold Trim has started to discoloured after a mere 3 months of very occasional use.

 

Am attaching a photo that I managed to take of the issue (it was tricky given how shiny it is). In real life the issue looks much worse.

 

The discolouration is only applicable to to the parker logoed ring on the cap all other surfaces on the pen are fine - it's just appeared all around the the top edge of what I thought was a gold trim part of the pen.

 

I have next to no experience of this. Perhaps it is normal or easily remedied. I would be very grateful for any advice.

 

If Parker offer a solution, why would the same not happen to a placement or repaired part?

[StuartOswald]

Anyone? Any suggestions?

[Ken-D]

Hi,

Did you ever resolve the discolouration issue with this pen? I have the same discolouration developing on two Sonnet fountain pens.  Both have sterling silver caps.

 

I have contacted Parker for any service remedy.  If I hear from them I will add it here.

 

Cheers....

Edited September 11, 2024 by Ken-D

[Beechwood]

Let us know of the result from Parker and I wish you the best of luck, I had to start legal proceedings against Parker on a faulty Sonnet before they would assist, their comment was 'we cannot repair this Sonnet'.

 

A word of caution, the Sonnet is copied by the thousand, if there is any doubt about its provenance then you may want to think about the next step.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ken-D]

Thanks for the reply Format.

 

Yes I'm all to aware of the number of fake Sonnets on the market and I did buy both of these pre-owned.  Providing proof of purchase will be an issue if it comes to that.  Both would be out of the two year warranty anyway.

 

The one I have added images already of the pen which is by far the worst.  I have captured an image of the hallmark on the cap and the date code, but I don't have a reference against which to judge the hallmark and have not bee able to decode the date code.  In my ownership this one is only lightly used.

 

The second pen is not as bad.  I have captured the details of the pen in some images.  Yes, this is the Diamond Jubilee edition.  Some problem with hallmark and date code.  Odd that the discolouration is developing from the points on the engraving?  In my ownership this has only been inked once to test.

 

I had a response from a pen specialist, who I won't name, which was: "It looks as though the discolouration is simply due to wear and tear."  Perhaps not such a specialist after all!

 

I had an auto response from Parker.  I'll update this if / when I have more.

 

Cheers,

Edited September 12, 2024 by Ken-D

[Beechwood]

The quality of the work, the engraving, looks the work of Parker. at least on the second pen.

 

I have just looked on ebay to see what is happening on Parker Sonnets, the Cisele pattern in particular, the market is flooded with fakes from around £20, all at first glance are passable as Sonnets, There are clear signs of wear on your Cisele that I haven't seen on a genuine pen and you need to be certain in your own mind that you are dealing with the real McCoy

 

Another FPN person did a very good review on this subject

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/353689-fake-sonnets-on-the-internet/

[Claes]

Also check whether the nib is magnetic...

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

[Ken-D]

Thanks all, really appreciate you taking time time to reply.

 

It's been an interesting day reading more and more about Parker, including a post on refinishing a Cisele ballpoint.  As I was disappointed with the microscope view of the Cisele cap I decided a quick wipe with CapeCod was warranted, and as I was doing that I figured I might as well lightly rub the cap band while I had the cloth in my hand.  See below. This is the same cap.  The position of the Parker marking on the band can be checked against the images earlier in the thread.  For a couple of reasons I don't want to do this frequently, and I'll wait for Parker before trying the second, more special, pen. I also want to understand what caused this in the first place when the pen has just been in storage.

 

Below is the nib from this pen.  Having read and examined the whole pen and read again and examined again, I'm satisfied enough this one and my others are kosher.... unless some knows different!

 

Many thanks for motivating me to try a basic fix.

 

Cheers. 

[Beechwood]

I agree with you, it looks genuine Parker, the engraving looks right.

 

Forgive me being English the phrase Cape Cod was new to me, looked it up and for others I see that it is a metal polishing cloth used in the jewelry trade. It looks to have done a very good job on your pen. I can understand that you might not want to use this cloth on a regular basis, I think that others just use a soft yellow Sunshine Cloth.

 

I cannot help you with regards to what could have happened in storage other than, perhaps the pen was put away with some grease on the band or in humid conditions, difficult to say. 

 

However, good result. Parker have used the Cisele pattern for decades, always a favorite of mine.

 

 

[Beechwood]

Probably an opportune moment to remind those who are new to the hobby that the Parker Sonnet is widely copied, eBay has hundreds for sale that are sold and described as Parker Sonnets and  difficult to tell from the real thing with just a photograph.

 

I may be a cynic but unless you have some very solid proof to the contrary I would assume that any Sonnet on Ebay has a very good chance of being a fake.

 

It would not be so bad if the fakers took the basic Parker design, improved it, put their own name on it and sold it, precisely what Hero did with their 616 when they copied the Parker 51 (although they didn't improve it), Hero sold the 616 in lots of 10, 10 for less than $10 and you were lucky if one in 10 worked. 

 

 

[Ken-D]

1 hour ago, Format said:

Probably an opportune moment to remind those who are new to the hobby that the Parker Sonnet is widely copied

Yes, one of the things I have been reading about today.  I did buy a 'genuine' Parker Sonnet from China on eBay a couple of years ago for ~£5 posted.  I knew what I was buying so wasn't that surprised it didn't work, but the cap and barrel are half decent.  Some people, though, will buy these in bulk, repackage them and try to sell them on as the real-deal at £100+

 

I'm pretty confident at picking out a fake watch prior to purchase, and with the money involved caution is absolutely required.  The prevalence of fake pens astounded me when I started.