Parker Duofold Centennial Fountain Pen, Classic Black with Gold Trim, Fine Solid Gold Nib, Black Ink and Convertor (1931381)

Beautiful orange color, nice thick section, good weight, the cap posts well, the nib is gorgeous and writes a fine to medium line, i bought the fine point, the nib works, no skipping or hard starts, high quality product, comes with a converter, comfortable to hold, i got it for an incredibly low price ($225 USD), this is everything you want in a flagship pen, smooth nib, posts well, thick comfortable grip section, easy to fill with bottled ink, from top to bottom is a professional looking elite pen that can used in the office, school or in your scriptorium, keep it somewhere safe or with you at all times and never lend it to anyone for any reason, it's your pen protect it at all costs

The pen arrived in a beautiful gift box that proudly displayed the pen. First time touching the pen, it is just pure class and luxurious. I love the gold on ivory color combination. I did a close inspection and the craftsmanship is flawless; not a single faulty with the pen. I immediately installed the included cartridge and the pen started to write immediately without any issues (Parker also included a converter installed in the barrel). The “ace” design of the nib is gorgeous and timeless to say the least. Of course the writing quality is superb and smooth. Mine is the Fine nib and its line size is exactly the same as my Sailor Pro Gear 21k. Note that this pen is big and I don’t post the cap when writing; this will only make the pen too big and awkward. I probably won’t write with this pen everyday but it will forever be in my collection.

Every once in a while a really great deal comes along. To wit, the Parker Duofold Centennial Big Red is such a deal.In the world of high end, high quality fountain pens, this Big Red is a fantastic deceptive sleeper. IMHO, today Parker is thought of in a historical aspect as a legacy brand. Indeed, the word “vintage” finds its way into the title description for this particular fountain pen. Worry not - Old School Rules!You would be hard pressed to find a better writing fountain pen than the venerable Big Red. Color me definitely impressed!The Big Red in particular takes attention to detail to an even higher level. When writing with nib to paper, the Big Red’s barrel engraving is viewable for reading - not hidden underneath, not obscured on the side - but, aligned up and presentable as you’re writing. Very cool!Other than writing, fit in the hand is most important to me, and here the Big Red really excels. The Big Red’s grip section is stellar, contouring down to a moderate flare at the end. Brilliant! For comparison, the flare at the end of the grip section on my Sailor Realo 1911 and Pelikan Souverän M805 are less pronounced, and my Aurora Optima is more pronounced. The Big Red hits the sweet spot.I have been writing up a storm since receiving mine.In person, the aesthetic of the Big Red reminds me of a beautiful MB Hemingway I missed out on years ago.It’s your loss if you don’t pull the trigger on a Big Red; I am pleased as punch I did.

I ordered a Parker Duofold (from a different vendor), and ordered its Chinese clone, the Jinhao 100, around the same time, both with a Medium nib. I had the opportunity to test both pens, compare and contrast the two. The Duofold exhibited all of the things I expected from a cheap Chinese pen: skips, hard starts, inconsistent ink flow, and a line that looked more like a broad nib. I wasn't totally surprised, because plenty of reviewers have said the same thing about the Duofolds they received...so, THAT Duofold was returned for a refund. The Jinhao 100, however, turned out to be a very good, smooth writing pen, with an Asian medium-fine/western fine line, so it'll stay in my collection. But I couldn't leave well enough alone, and I wanted to give Parker a chance to redeem themselves.I ordered the pen with a fine nib this time, and kept my fingers crossed...and was blown away! The fine nib writes a generous fine line and is super smooth with Parker Quink ink on 90gsm copier paper. This Parker pen writes as well as my Pilot Custom 823 and Diplomat Aero pens. The nib is bouncy, and with a little (!) pressure, you can get some line variation. Keep in mind, the Duofold was designed to make copies using carbon paper before ballpoint pens were in everyone's hands, so it needed to be pushed hard enough to make a carbon copy without splaying the tines. And the new version of the Duofold holds true to that design spec.I'm glad that I gave Parker a second chance, and that I was very lucky to get a pen with a perfectly tuned nib.

The pen looks pretty but there was ink spilled, so it means the pen is used.

Has a bit of scratchiness to it even though the flow is good. The cap doesn't post too deeply, but at least it does post. And when you post the cap onto the back of the pen, it is very, very large. Add to this that it does not even have an integrated filling system! But to its credit, it did ship with a converter for bottled ink and two ink cartridges.While I know it's a "Parker", I would personally recommend getting it only if you absolutely love the style or must have a Parker Duofold. For me, I think it is not worth the money at all. For a fountain pen, it should be much smoother. I have extra fine points that are cheaper that write a lot smoother and which feel more comfortable.It is like Montblanc, very overpriced for what little you get. But if you do get it, you will get a comfortable-to-hold fountain pen that performs very well and which looks very beautiful. However, as I have already mentioned, it is not a good value given the wide array of other pens on the market in this price range or even lower.

It does not look expensive.