REVIEW: PARKER IM FOUNTAIN PEN + GIVEAWAY!

 

In the 1900's, Parker used to be one of the brands to beat, with amazing pens - coveted to this day - like the Vacumatic, Duofold, and the Iconic Parker 51 (the latter actually making its return soon!). But the market has changed since then, and nowadays, Parker is no longer in the prominent position they once had. Especially among pen enthusiasts and collectors, their modern pens receive fairly little attention - understandable, as Parker has been focused on the low-to-mid tiers (like the quintessential, Parker Jotter), and especially recently directed their focus at a business-y 'young professionals'-type of audience. The really iconic models from back in the day are mostly gone nowadays, with the exception of the Duofold (which I reviewed HERE), although it seems to remain more in the background.

That's not a knock on Parker's business model, it just shows that they cater to a different, wider audience, not just the more avid enthusiasts like me and you. In fact, it's Parker's status as 'that one pen brand everyone knows' that makes their entry- and mid-level pens quite interesting to review. After all, pens like the Jotter and Parker IM are so prevalent, chances are that these have been, or will be, the gateway pen into the hobby for a lot of beginning pen enthusiasts! 

So let's take a look at the Parker IM, then. These pens were sent to me for review by Parker themselves. This model has been a fixture within Parker’s collection, with surprisingly little changes throughout the 10+ years of its existence. The IM today, still looks and feels very familiar to the IM I used to write with in high school back in 2009 or '10. 

The design of the IM represents a fairly simple and straight shape, with subtle tapers towards the chunky, unadorned finials that end in a flat top. 

The ballpoint mimics that design for the most part, down to the 'center band' that breaks up the transition from the straight barrel towards the strongly tapered, glossy plastic section. Parker went through a complete rebranding a few years ago, and that brought along a few minor changes to the design, such as the two thin lines in the center band, but mostly saw the introduction of new colorways and finishes. 

The standard version of the IM comes with a plastic section now

The most prominent change to the IM is the separation of the collection in two distinct tiers: the standard versions, and the 'premium' versions. While the IM that I had in high school (I lost it, unfortunately) had a brushed metal section (thus making it a fully metal pen), the standard IM now comes with a plastic section with plastic threads. Credit where credit is due: the plastic section shows no injection moulding marks, and is nicely polished. But the threads look like they could be a weak point in the design, and show some wear from threading into the metal barrel threads after a while. If you want a metal section, you have to bump up to one of the Premium finishes. The Premium IM looks quite different from the regular versions, finished with a geometric pattern engraved on the cap and barrel, it has a bit more, ehm, 'pizzazz'... but also comes at a rather substantial uptick in price. I'd keep my recommendation with the more subdued finishes of the standard versions.

In general, the IM is a very business-appropriate pen. The design is sober and unobtrusive, and the different colorways (with the exception of the more elaborate Premium finishes) are mostly subtle and dark tones that would work well in any professional environment. In that regard, Parker caters perfectly to its target audience, but perhaps they're not exciting enough for real pen-addicts? Talking about finishes, the pens that were sent to me are part of the latest 'Achromatic' collection. In their effort to modernize the brand, these black and grey matte finishes with sleek black PVD trims, fit right in. The black-on-black Achromatic is my personal favorite, for a very modern and unassuming look. 

L to R: TWSBI Eco, Faber-Castell Loom, Pilot Metropolitan, Parker IM ballpoint, Parker IM fountain pen/rollerball, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000, Lamy Studio

From the size comparison shots, it shows that the IM is not a particularly large pen - at least the fountain pen and capped rollerball aren't. With a capped length of just 13.7 cm/ 5.39", and 11.8cm / 4.65" uncapped (the rollerball is a few mm longer when uncapped, measuring 12cm/ 4.73"). The section isn't too long and allows your grip to move forward towards the nib, which makes it a bit less obvious that the pen is really quite short. In this instance, posting the cap is actually a very valid way to create a more full-sized pen (although it may scratch the matte finish of the barrel in the long run). Posting transforms the IM into a 15.4cm/6.06" long pen, which is comfortable and not too long, and the balance remains very centered in the hand. The section is on the thinner side, tapering down to just 9mm/ 0.36" towards the front. It does transition quite nicely into the barrel, with a minimal step that's not at all bothersome in my grip. 

The ballpoint is a slightly different story, as it isn't particularly small at 13.6cm/ 5.36" closed, and 13.8cm/ 5.49" open, the barrel has a comfortable diameter a little over 11mm/ 0.44", though it tapers down rapidly if you hold it closer towards the front. 

The fountain pen and rollerball weigh 26 and 31 grams, respectively. The ballpoint is the lightest, weighing in at 23 grams total. That's not too heavy for mostly metal pens. But considering their smaller footprint, it's enough to make the IM feel solid and durable. Fit and finish are excellent on all pens. Two minor remarks I found: specifically on the all-black version, the matte black coating on the cap and barrel does tend to wear near the edges, showing the brass base material underneath. And the ballpoint has a slight rattle inside the mechanism when it's deployed, but it isn't too audible while writing.

The IM (fountain pen and rollerball) have a snap-cap. I've always liked how the cap of my old IM closed, and I'm happy to see that it still has that nicely damped and smooth action when you put the cap on, with a muffled but reassuring *clack* at the end. The cap sits on tight and secure, and there's no play or wobble to it.

The fountain pen uses Parker's proprietary refills, and requires a pretty expensive converter (not included) if you want to use bottled ink.

On the writing end, the capped rollerball (far left), and ballpoint (far right), are pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get. Parker obviously knows how to make a decent refill, and so both write quite well. The rollerball lays down a consistent, crisp, dark black line on good quality paper (rollerball refills have a tendency to feather on cheaper copy paper). The blue, 1.0mm ballpoint refill is also fairly standard-issue, with a line that's not as dark as I'd maybe like, but it's at least fairly consistent and writes without blobs or stutters. For the ballpoint, I'd be tempted to swap it out for a Parker-style gel ink refill, such as Parker's own gel refill - as I prefer gel ink over ballpoint.

The most interesting here is of course the fountain pen, so let's take a little more time to talk about that. First of all, the nib on the IM has seen quite a drastic change in shape and styling, coming from the narrow, almost tubular nib designs that Parker used to use on their lower-end offerings (The 2009 example on Parkerpens.net - a fantastic reference for old Parker models - shows what the old nib used to look like). This current version of the IM has a more normal, flared-out nib shape, and the three arrow-shaped lines engraved on the nib face offer a modern look that matches the rest of the IM's clean and simple design.

The nib - while larger than the old-style nib - is noticeably small (not uncommon for pens in this price range) but does perform exactly the way it should. The steel, black-coated nibs are nails and don't provide much character. Line widths run true to western sizes, but unfortunately, the IM only comes with F or M nib options. The nibs offer just a little feedback and are smoother than I expected (Black coatings usually add some 'texture' and create a bit more feedback). Ink flow is nicely balanced and keeps up without fault. More importantly, I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer reliability of this pen. The nib doesn't seem to dry out at all, even after a couple weeks of not being in use - I’m pleasantly surprised. 

The Parker IM is a no-nonsense pen, in a way that I'd perhaps come to expect from Parker. The design is inoffensive, business-appropriate, and - if I'm being critical - almost a bit unremarkable, if it weren't for the Achromatic color scheme that adds a modern and sleek look. I really don't have anything to complain about these pens though. They do what they're supposed to do, which is perhaps the most important aspect of a pen in this low-to-mid-tier price range! 

The Parker IM ballpoint, rollerball, and fountain pen retail for 28€/34$, 37€/45$ and 50€/61$ respectively (at our site sponsor Penworld, use discount code 'pencilcase' for 10% off your order!). While that's substantially more than I remember paying for my original IM fountain pen back in 2010, I think it's not an outrageous price, although it shouldn't be any higher (the Premium IM is an additional 30$, which is simply too much to justify for a metal section and different finish). It may be difficult for the Parker IM to stand out from the crowd in a price range where there's a lot of serious competition from pens like the Faber-Castell Loom, Lamy Lx, or even something like the more affordable TWSBI Eco, but that doesn't make the IM any less of a valid option to look into.

Now, for the GIVEAWAY...

Enter the Rafflecopter Widget below for your chance to win a full set of Parker IM Achromatic pens in black: one fountain pen (medium nib) + one rollerball + one ballpoint (total value 140$!). The prize in this giveaway is generously provided by Parker. Participating is simple: all you have to do for a chance to win, is enter in the Rafflecopter widget below and complete one or more tasks, easy peasy! The more tasks you complete, the more chances to win! This giveaway will run for one week, starting today.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RULES: Open worldwide! Giveaway ends 17/1/2021. The winner will be chosen at random, and announced in a separate post. The winner will be contacted directly via email, if he/she fails to reply within one week, a new winner will be picked. Only entries with a valid email address are eligible to win. Invalid entries are denied. Giveaway open worldwide, but please note that shipping times will depend strongly on the destination, due to COVID restrictions.

This product was sent to me by Parker so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affilate links.