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Pen Pit Stop : Parker Sonnet SE18 Atlas / Journey Welcome to the Pen Pit Stop. Here you will find reviews of pens that already have some mileage on them. More specifically, these reviews are of pens that are in my personal collection, and that have been in use for at least a year. I thought it would be fun to do it this way – no new & shiny pens here but battered vehicles that have been put to work for at least a year. Let’s find out how they have withstood the ravages of time. The fountain pen that enters the pit stop today is the “Parker Sonnet Atlas / Journey”, a 2018 Special Edition. The Parker Pen Company is a manufacturer of luxury pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. The Sonnet model was introduced around 1994. It was designed by Geoff Hollington of Hollington Associates in London, who describes it as: “The Sonnet was intended to be ‘the classic Parker’, a truly timeless product, with a really well-proportioned cigar shape, clear but updated arrow clip, a generously sized nib and state of the art writing experience.” Much more and definitely interesting information about the Parker Sonnet can be found at parkerpens.net/sonnet.html. The Atlas is a special edition pen from the 2018 “Discover the Uncharted” series. This is a collection of unique pens that celebrates man’s curiosity and desire to discover the unknown – a mindset that embodies the intrepid nature and passion for travel of founder George S. Parker. Each pen is inspired by the experiences of travel: “Stratum / Explore” is etched with geological forms on the polished steel cap with rose gold-plated accents and grey lacquer barrel. “Metro / Challenge” is inspired by city maps, laser engraved with street patterns on the black matte cap trimmed with palladium and anchored with a black lacquer barrel. “Impression / Reflection” is engraved with passport and stamp designs on the polished steel cap, trimmed in gold plate with a black matte barrel. Personally, my preference went to the Atlas design which is based on a map of the world. With a distinguished deep blue lacquer barrel, reminiscent of rolling oceans, the look is completed with delicate brass map lines. Completed with a sterling silver cap, laser engraved with a pattern inspired by a view of the Earth from the poles, this pen has a true premium feel. The model designation on this pen is unobtrusively engraved on the side of the cap, and states “Parker France IIE”. The “E” designates the last digit of the production year. The numbering scheme used takes the word QUALITYPEN, and designates the numbers 0..9 to each of these letters. So E=8, meaning that this pen was produced in a year ending on a 8 (and more specifically in Q3 of that year). That fits with the release year of this special edition pen – 2018. Pen Look & Feel This is an elegant, slender fountain pen with a very classic feel to it. I particularly like the interplay of materials and engraved geographic patterns, that give the Atlas its distinctive looks. Parker produces lots of other pen models, none of which appeal to me. But for some reason I’ve always liked the look and feel of the Sonnet, flaws and all. And yes, I mean that ill-designed cap with its breather-hole that lets air in. As a result, water evaporates from the feed, increasing the ink’s saturation. It’s not that the nib dries out – never had a problem with that – but the first few lines of the day always write a lot darker and more saturated. After these first few lines, the normal ink colour and behaviour re-appears. Annoying, but a fingerprint feature of the Sonnet. The Atlas documentation states that the cap is made from Sterling silver. For years I’ve had my doubts. But while preparing for this review, I examined the cap very carefully with a magnifying glass, and lo-and-behold, there is a silver mark present! Well hidden, right under the arrow shaft of the clip. The pen has a push-cap mechanism and can be used unposted or posted (and it posts securely). I actually prefer to use this pen unposted (posted, it feels a bit top-heavy to me). The pen is very comfortable in the hand. When using it unposted, care should be taken when putting it on your desk – being completely round, the pen has a tendency to roll away. The 18K gold nib (AU 750/1000 purity) on this particular pen is a Fine, but one that writes very wet and leaves a very saturated line (especially when you compare it with the rather dry-writing Lamy Safari). I like this nib a lot. The pictures above illustrate the size of the Parker Sonnet in comparison with a standard Lamy Safari. Capped, both pens are roughly equal in size. I prefer to use both pens unposted – the Parker pen is a bit smaller than the Lamy but is still really comfortable to use. The posted Parker is a bit too large for my taste and feels top-heavy. Pen Characteristics Build Quality : the pen is well build, and still looks great after almost 6 years. The pen also has some weight to it (owing to the metal parts used in its construction). I had some fears that the engraved map pattern on the barrel would deteriorate with time, but that hasn’t happened. Overall the pen has aged gracefully. Weight & Dimensions : about the same size as a Lamy Safari when capped. Uncapped and unposted it is definitely a smaller pen, but still very comfortable in the hand. This is also a slender pen, especially compared to the much bulkier Lamy Safari. The pen has some heft to it – it is substantially heavier than a Lamy Safari, with most of the weight concentrated in the cap (making the pen a bit top-heavy when posted). Filling System : this is a cartridge convertor pen, that uses Parker proprietary cartridges. My pen came with a Parker convertors. But you can just as easy syringe-fill Parker Quink cartridges with your bottled ink of choice. Nib & Performance : the rhodium-plated 18K gold nib is well-proportioned for the size of this pen. In size, it sits right between a Lamy Safari and a Pelikan M200 nib. The F-nib on my unit writes like a dream and produces a wet and well-saturated line. Replacement nib units in different sizes can be found online (just do a Google search on “Parket Sonnet nib replacement”, and be sure to take a look at S.B.R.E.Brown’s excellent disassembly line youtube video for the Parker Sonnet. Price : I paid a solid 380 EUR for this pen, which is fairly expensive. But I still consider it a reasonable price for a special edition pen with an 18K gold nib. And more importantly, I really like the Atlas design, and still find it a joy to write with it – that is enough justification for me. Conclusion My Parker Sonnet Atals is a slender and elegant pen with a distinctive “geography-themed” design, that really speaks to me. I love writing with this particular pen – it always make me feel a bit of an armchair explorer, day-dreaming about these adventurers from the early 1900’s when the world was a lot bigger with lots of unexplored corners. I use this pen on a regular basis and never get tired of it. This one is definitely a keeper.