Parker IM Fountain Pen Review
The Parker IM in Deep Gun Metal is eye candy. I have the same feeling about the Taupe version. HOT. Writes like a dream. What more could you ask for?
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My Short Video on This Fountain Pen
Parker IM Fountain Pen Design
The first thing you’ll notice when you open the parker box is the Deep Gun Metal Finish on the IM and a design that just screams STYLE. A crosshatch pattern is chiseled into the body of the pen deeply so you can drag your nail along the finish and feel the grooves but it’s still comfortable.
The derby cap is pronounced, at 7mm tall by itself. The pen clip descends from under the derby cap.
The pen has a high gloss finish, chrome trim and the awesome parker arrow clip. The pen clip, shaped into the Parker arrow is a statement in and of itself. It is eye-catching and large enough to have the fletching (feathers) of the arrow engraved as lines in either side of it.
Moving down the pen you’ll see a thin cap band engraved with Parker and the arrow piercing an oval that is their trademark. The other end of the pen terminates in another metal disc about the same width as the narrow cap band.
Pull off the cap (yay!) to find a brushed metal section that looks elegant and refined and leads down to a stainless steel nib that is same as the Parker Urban, at least in appearance. It is much thinner than a traditional shaped nib, measuring in at 3mm wide at its widest point. It is average or a little longer in length at 12mm.
Performance
The Parker IM taught me something in the initial inking. I plugged in the cartridge and wrote and wrote, then scribbled, then shook the pen (not recommended) then finally checked to ensure the cartridge was seated well (it was.) Then, I finally touched the vent hole to a paper towel to force some ink down and only then did it reluctantly start writing. Whew!
What I learned was PATIENCE! Instead of plugging a cartridge into a brand new pen and immediately attempting to write, plug the cartridge in, put it cap down in a cup and walk away for 30-45 minutes to let gravity fill the feed with ink for the first time.
The Parker IM performs similarly to the Urban on papers since they seem to share the same rigid stainless steel nib. It writes on anything although, inexplicably, the IM I tested had a thinner line than the Urban even though they were both marked medium nibs. (I’d prefer this particular pen in a medium myself for a thicker line.)
The pronounced derby cap I mentioned earlier adds a little heft, but just enough to make the pen feel elegant, not so much to be annoying. The weight overall is well-balanced in the Parker IM and I prefer a slight heft in my fountain pens, too much and it makes writing less enjoyable.
The only drawback in this pen was that the barrel lightly unscrewed from the section as I used it during a longer writing session. I didn’t realize it except for a barely audible tinny sound that I later identified as the metal-on-metal threads moving against each other as it loosened up.
The metal section is heavier than the body, so the weight rides against the paper, a feature I loved about this pen. The cap is made of brass, and you feel a slight bit of weight from the oversized cap tassie, but it was still very comfortable to write with posted.
Parker IM Writing Sample
Cap Fit
The cap clicks on audibly, and posts securely on the back. Because of the unique chiseled finish, the inner cap seats extremely well on the body of the pen. So well, it even allows you to shake the pen side to side, turn it upside down, and roll it around without the cap loosening up.
After removing the ink, I even shook the pen upside down and stopped it with force (kind of like when you’ve shaken a ballpoint pen hard to try and move ink to the ball) to try and force the cap to fall into the box and it wouldn’t, LOVE THAT!! There just aren’t many pens that can do that.
I love Parker for this; they make pens for posters. All Parkers I’ve reviewed so far post securely. Thank you Parker, on behalf of all of us posters!
So many pen manufacturers make pretty pens (a.k.a. desk-drawer queens) that you have to set the cap on the table to use because it’s beautiful, but WAY too heavy. Parker makes pens for people who write… imagine that? Okay, enough of my passion for posting and my soapbox love affair with Parker.
Parker IM Maintenance
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As far as maintenance is concerned, you won’t have much cleaning to do between inks because the IM has a small nib, so the feed doesn’t hold as much ink as a standard size nib. When you flush out the nib and feed, there is less ink to clean out so it’s faster and less of a mess.
Parker IM Overall Value
The Parker IM is gorgeous. The chiseled finish that you can feel, the deep gun metal high-gloss shine, the cool arrow clip. It’s well balanced and it writes smoothly. The only improvement would be a solid gold nib, but you’d need to pay more. The IM is a bargain and a great value for the price.
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