Have I Been Sold Fake Quink Cartridges?

[Bren]

I'm normally a Sheaffer guy so haven't purchased Quink before, but I fell for the curves of a colleague's Urban and had to buy one.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parker-Quink-Refill-Cartridges-Permanent/dp/B003C1O212/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t appears to show a hologram on the box, but the pack I was sent doesn't have a hologram. There is something of the same size in the same position, but it is a pretty poor attempt at reproducing a hologram. Are they fakes?

 

Cheers folks.

[Tangster]

I don't recall the last pack of parker cartridges having proper hologram sticker, just a sort of printed rainbow thing. I could check by popping into a rymans or some other stationary store when I'm next out and around if you'd like?

[dcwaites]

You may simply have current, but slightly older stock that was distributed before the hologram began to be attached to the packaging.

 

I don't know of anybody producing fake Quink ink or cartridges.

[VivienR]

I brought a converter, and that has the same, it's not exactly like a hologram, just something that closely resemble it. Also brought a box of five cartridge from a trusted seller, officially selling Parker stuff, in store, and that box not had any hologram or something that is close to it, like, what you linked.

[Robinkeys]

My question is: why the heck would somebody want to fake Quink? Penman Sapphire, I get, but why Quink?

[Jerome Tarshis]

There are those who would say the right question is, Why would anyone want to buy Quink? I am not one of them, but a quick look around FPN will find quite a few members who don't seem likely to buy Quink. But the ink does sell in substantial quantities.

 

A larger question is why anyone would want to fake modern Parker pens, or indeed why Parker would want to make them. My fellow FPN member pajaro has taken more than one position on that point.

[Tangster]

There are those who would say the right question is, Why would anyone want to buy Quink? I am not one of them, but a quick look around FPN will find quite a few members who don't seem likely to buy Quink. But the ink does sell in substantial quantities.

 

A larger question is why anyone would want to fake modern Parker pens, or indeed why Parker would want to make them. My fellow FPN member pajaro has taken more than one position on that point.

People don't fake modern parkers much. More like the old 45, 51, etc

 

I personally like quink, the black and permanent blue often find themselves in a pen.

[inkstainedruth]

I personally like quink, the black and permanent blue often find themselves in a pen.

I would love to be able to get my hands on permanent blue in bottles, but none of the sellers I found on Ebay (mostly in the UK) were willing/able to ship to the US. All I can find in the US is either Blue-Black (of which I've too many scans of to make me remotely interested in it); and the Washable Blue is just awful IMO I'm not wild about Quink Black, but I use it as a tester ink in vintage pens.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[whych]

... I'm not wild about Quink Black, but I use it as a tester ink in vintage pens.

The new formula black, both the washable and permanent are more like a grey, unlike the old style in that had Solv-X, which IS black.

[Tangster]

The new formula black, both the washable and permanent are more like a grey, unlike the old style in that had Solv-X, which IS black.

When did the formula change? My bottles of black are from ~2008.

[Mike 59]

Hi, The last bottle of black Quink I bought (2013) and the most recent Quink Flow ballpoint refills have the printed on logo, which looks as if it's a hologram, from a distance, but isn't.

The square logo is 15mm across, has a diagonal rainbow pattern, and the words, " AUTHENTIC PARKER INKS & REFILLS" with the halo symbol in the centre.

The words are not easy to read, but the letters in the yellow part of the logo are clearest.

These refills were bought from very well known stores in the UK, I don't doubt they are genuine.

Hope that helps.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Mike 59

[basterma]

The changes from Solv-x relate to EU safety regulations. Apparently the process used to make the ink with Solv-x presented some sort of problem with respect to EU workplace/chemical handling safety rules.

[Ursus]

I ordered some bottles of ink a few days ago and they (some Germans) sent me cartridges. Now, that's what I call faking!

[jacquesdubois]

The US blister packs don't have the hologram. Bought some very recently like this from Staples:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Parker-Permanent-Fountain-Cartridges-3011031PP/dp/B0017DAAUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392171057&sr=8-1&keywords=parker+black+quink

 

Maybe you got one of those somehow?

 

Of course, you can always use Aurora or Lamy cartridges too, if you want real fake Parker cartridges.

[Runnin_Ute]

The US blister packs don't have the hologram. Bought some very recently like this from Staples:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Parker-Permanent-Fountain-Cartridges-3011031PP/dp/B0017DAAUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392171057&sr=8-1&keywords=parker+black+quink

 

Maybe you got one of those somehow?

 

Of course, you can always use Aurora or Lamy cartridges too, if you want real fake Parker cartridges.

Those look like the ones I recently bought (OfficeMax or Staples - forget which)

[pajaro]

There are those who would say the right question is, Why would anyone want to buy Quink? I am not one of them, but a quick look around FPN will find quite a few members who don't seem likely to buy Quink. But the ink does sell in substantial quantities.

 

A larger question is why anyone would want to fake modern Parker pens, or indeed why Parker would want to make them. My fellow FPN member pajaro has taken more than one position on that point.

 

I think the issue is larger than Parkers, because my frustration level with modern Parker, Sheaffer and Waterman pushed me to resume using or buy pens made 40, 50 and 60 years ago and stop using the modern samples that don't write to my satisfaction. Using 51 and 61 in lieu of most of my Sonnets; Touchdown Imperial, Cadet and Craftsman in lieu of Sheaffer Prelude, and to heck with Waterman Kultur.

 

I haven't been able to prove to my satisfaction that any of my bottles or cartridges of Quink are counterfeit, nor have I been able to identify any of my Sonnets as fake. They are beautiful, but when they dry out on me I feel great frustration.

 

The 51. I uncap it--so smoothly the cap slides off. The pen writes with a velvety smoothness not found in Sonnet or Frontier, and it writes every time, but, should it dry a bit, it is easily restarted in lieu of the Sonnet regime of dunk it, flush it and fill it. Parker is more like a fake company, partnering with other fake firms producing carpola. In a larger sense, they are all fake.

[Jerome Tarshis]

What pajaro wrote. But then it depends on what you grew up with. As an art journalist I might say that the most important single producer of fake Picassos was Pablo Picasso, and something similar could be said of quite a few other prolific artists. A great deal of what Parker has produced in the past twenty or more years might be considered fake Parkers, which ought not to have that company's name on the pen.

 

Mine was a Parker family, so I grew up unfamiliar with Sheaffers and Watermans. The two Watermans I own, Laureats, should never have left the factory, but after much ardent revolutionary struggle have become satisfactory writers. It was never a struggle to enjoy writing with the Eversharp Skyliner of my childhood, or various Parker 51s since then. (Among other pens. Somewhat to my surprise, my Cross fountain pens have been far more endearing than I'd thought, to look at the ads or at some of the people flaunting the pens during the 1980s.)

[jasondmillar]

I know this is an old thread, but here are some photos of Parker Quink cartridges that were included gratis on a recent purchase.

 

They look outrageously fake, especially given the cutoff at the bottom and the lopsided blister pack. The back of the pack is also completely plain cardboard.

 

Further evidence comes from the fact that I have had some problems with them not fitting exactly into the feed capillary, creating ink pooling around the bottom of the cartridge. As a result of the poor fit, I've noticed a Parker Jotter writing drier than usual and railroading. The ink used directly before this was Diamine Onyx Black and I had no such problems - the pen was even writing rather too wetly.

 

Has anyone else noticed problems with fake, or perhaps just very poorly made and packaged, Quink cartridges recently?

 

Edited October 14, 2015 by jasondmillar

[londonbooks]

I'm normally a Sheaffer guy so haven't purchased Quink before, but I fell for the curves of a colleague's Urban and had to buy one.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parker-Quink-Refill-Cartridges-Permanent/dp/B003C1O212/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t appears to show a hologram on the box, but the pack I was sent doesn't have a hologram. There is something of the same size in the same position, but it is a pretty poor attempt at reproducing a hologram. Are they fakes?

 

Cheers folks.

 

I'd return them and ask for the ones with the hologram. And have the seller pay for return shipping costs. After all, they don't match the picture - simple as that.

[martinbir]

If they were gratis then you have no complaint, but they do seem strange.

 

Firstly, has Parker ever sold packs of three? Years since I bought any but I seem to recall 5 or 10s.

 

Also the misshapen backing. Was the card cut down for easy packing? Or might it once have been part of a pack containing a pen plus carts?

 

It seems to me that if someone were to set up making fakes with all the equipment for moulding and filling and blister packing, then having a rectangular backing card would be the least of their problems. On the other hand, I can imagine someone buying a load of old stock blister-packed sets and spending evenings cutting them up to sell the parts separately.