Parker Duofold Special Gift For Special Man
Pens do not come with any more history than the Parker Duofold. As the continuing popularity and relatively high prices on eBay attest, the Duofold was and is a classic design reflecting art deco sensibilities of the 20s. This is both a huge advantage and a huge responsibility for the modern incarnation. How well does it pass the test? User experiences of the modern Duofold are mixed. It seems to be the most popular pen for spouses to abscond with and take ownership of. Presumably this reflect the attraction of the design and the friendliness of the pen. In particular, I think the cartridge/converter fill system makes the pen more user friendly. Of course, this is also widely cited as a big minus of the modern version compared to the traditional button-filler design of yesteryear by the pen cognoscenti. Also on the minus side are reports of problems with skipping, starting, and just general balkiness of the pen. While I’ve always loved the design, these latter reports gave me pause and for several years I avoided the pen. Ironically, it was the dismal performance of a Parker Insignia that I received as a gift that changed my mind about the Duofold. That pen was such a horrible writer that I shipped it back to Janesville for retuning. I was so pleased with the speed and quality of the service that I thought the risks associated with getting a bad Duofold were perhaps not as bad as I first imagined.
An aside — why not go vintage? Given the availability of the vintage Duofolds, why not just get one of these and avoid the risk? First, if one buys over eBay, the risk is perhaps even greater than purchasing new. Risks here include expensive repairs of the filling system, nib repair, or, worse yet, physical flaws in the pen not adequately disclosed in the description. The solution is to buy from a reputable dealer, but this too is not as easy a task (at least to get a good price) as one might think. The best way to go is probably visiting a pen show, but I did not have the patience to wait for one of these to come around to my area. Bottom line — while one often hears about how much more pen for the money one can get by going vintage, I’m not sure how true this is of real prices for Duofolds. (Full retail price is not a good comparison either — I paid about half this.)
It seems like there are a fair number of folks who are well plugged into the vintage network and who will claim the reverse.
Back to the review. My choice now centered on the size of Duofold to get. After having written with various shapes and sizes of fountain pens over the years, this choice is critical. I have both a Pelikan M800 and a 600, which roughly approximate the size difference between a Centennial and International sized Duofold. I’ve discovered that for extended writing, the 600 is a lot more comfortable than the 800. [An aside: This is a hard thing to know from trying a pen out in a store. The 800 is a dream to write with for short periods but tires my hand after a few pages. Well, you're never going to write a few pages during a dip in a store. The nearest analog I can draw is with trying on shoes -- lots of shoes feel good during the quick lap around the shoe store, but not after walking for several miles.] I ended up buying the international. In fact, I wrote this review in longhand with it — no tiring and no regrets.
The style choice was obvious. The pearl and black version is the overwhelming favorite of folks on the net and to see it in person is to know why. Part of the beauty of this design, and it is not so evident from photos, are the horizontal swirls of ivory just below the surface of the pen. The swirls make a nice contrast with the verticals of the black veining that dominates the look of the pen. Together with the gold accents and the two-toned nib, the design is visually striking. The nib has strong retro stylings highlighted by the Parker arrow with a scroll labeled “Duofold” inscribed through its shaft.
I was lucky as far as the writing quality of my Duofold went. My Duofold fine nib is extremely smooth (ranking behind the Pelikans but above everything else) and has nice character to the writing (comparable to the Pelikans). The ink flow is generous without being ridiculous. Initially, the pen did skip occasionally, but this went away after running water through the pen a couple of times. The pen is well balanced with the cap posted or not and has modest heft (similar to the M600).
What’s the bottom line? As a pure writer, one can certainly do a little better for less money with Pelikans. But the pen is more than just its writing quality, the overall look and feel of this pen are gorgeous, and the history and art deco design elements just add to the appeal. It’s a pen that is likely to get oohs and aahs from non-pen folks.
http://www.internet-ink.co.uk/Parker-Pen-Reviews/Parker-Pen-Reviews.htm
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