Parker Urban Premium Fountain Pen Review

[rhianova]

I received my Parker Urban Premium in Metallic White, M nib, last Christmas, and have been using it regularly for close to a year now. Right now it's inked with a mixture of Diamine Yellow and Pelikan Brilliant Red. These are my thoughts on how I feel about the pen!

 

Appearance and design

 

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk80/hockairu/randoms/IMAG0128.jpg

 

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk80/hockairu/randoms/IMAG0129.jpg

 

The Parker Urban Premium is a beautiful pen. I love the streamlined hourglass shape, the lovely pearly white finish. The crisscrossed lines on the barrel and cap add a touch of elegance to the look. Being made of metal, it feels well built and has some weight to it, but not so much that it causes hand fatigue easily. The clip is an unusual, arrow shape, and it feels quite tight. However, one thing I'd like to mention is that the pen scratches very easily, despite the care I've taken to keep it looking as new as possible. You can see the big paint chip on the cap and little scratches on the end of the barrel.

 

The grip is made from shiny black resin that tends to pick up fingerprints easily. The pen posts, but posting makes it top heavy so it's not something I usually do when planning to write for long periods of time. Unposted, the balance is alright. The nib is unusually small - one of the smallest nibs I own.

 

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk80/hockairu/randoms/IMAG0121.jpg

 

 

Filling system

 

The Parker Urban Premium uses a c/c filling system. The converter that comes with the pen is solidly build and holds a decent amount of ink. What I especially like about it is that, instead of having to twist to draw in ink, all you have to do is pull up a plunger (I'm not very sure how to describe it, so I'll just post a picture below). There also happens to be a little ball bearing in the converter that you can shake when ink gets stuck at the top.

 

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk80/hockairu/randoms/IMAG0124.jpg

 

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk80/hockairu/randoms/IMAG0126_1.jpg

 

 

Performance

 

The nib is a steel, M nib. The medium writes slightly narrower than the other mediums I have. It is quite stiff, with no flex or line variation. However, mine is very smooth, reliable and wrote perfectly out of the box. I have yet to experience any skipping or hard starts. Flow is somewhat drier than my other fountain pens.

 

 

Overall impression

 

Despite some minor minus points, all in all I'd say the Parker Urban Premium is a pretty reliable pen with a fantastic design. I'd recommend it to anyone who's looking to get an eye-catching yet functional pen for a reasonable price.

 

Thanks for reading my first review! (:

Edited October 15, 2014 by rhianova

[jay.is.here]

nice review.. n nice handwriting

[cambookpro]

I had the same pen in the ebony chiselled finish, but unfortunately it was stolen so I replaced it with the matt black version.

 

I think it's one of Parker's better modern efforts - the design is absolutely superb. Not absolutely blown away by how it writes but it's certianly not bad. Pretty good considering its 'market price'.

The only thing I don't like is that the grip seems to scratch and tarnish really easily. After about a week, I had this line round the grip area, possibly from the cap. Other than that, it's pretty good.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, it's the most reliable pen I own. Absolutely perfect for students. Hadn't used it for two months while it was in my bag, picked it up and it wrote perfectly from the very first letter.

Edited October 15, 2014 by cambookpro

[rhianova]

nice review.. n nice handwriting

 

Thank you very much

 

 

I had the same pen in the ebony chiselled finish, but unfortunately it was stolen so I replaced it with the matt black version.

 

I think it's one of Parker's better modern efforts - the design is absolutely superb. Not absolutely blown away by how it writes but it's certianly not bad. Pretty good considering its 'market price'.

The only thing I don't like is that the grip seems to scratch and tarnish really easily. After about a week, I had this line round the grip area, possibly from the cap. Other than that, it's pretty good.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, it's the most reliable pen I own. Absolutely perfect for students. Hadn't used it for two months while it was in my bag, picked it up and it wrote perfectly from the very first letter.

 

Hm. Mine doesn't seem to have the scratches and tarnish marks on the grip, lucky me. But the rest of what you said is spot on

[inotrym]

Thanks for the review. I like almost all of the finishes of this model (both standard and premium, including the new ones that were recently released).

Unfortunately the nib is keeping me off this beautiful pen. I like the crisp lines of Pilot Fine nibs and I am not sure the Urban will feel the way I would like it to.

Adding the fragile finish problem(paint chip? on a pen that's less than a year old and taken care of? ouch...), I think I'll hold on.. for now, at least..

That said, I can still admire it from afar.

 

 

ps. that's a nice orange ink and a clever way to get rid of the Pelikan (not really) red.

[RockFL]

Excellent review. Your findings are consistent with my experiences with this Parker pen. I received one for Christmas 2013 (an Urban Premier luxury brown) which was a smooth, reliable, comfortable writer right out of the box. The finish was chipped and scratched within a month. I had a coupon for an online retailer, so I ordered a roller ball version hoping the barrels would be interchangeable (they are). I will admit I don't use the fountain pen often due to the fragile nature of the finish, but when I get up the nerve to ink the pen for use at home I am reminded how buttery smooth the nib is and how comfortable the writing experience is.

 

A shame about the premium finishes, because this is really an excellent writing instrument.

[Amberjack]

Nice review. Interesting ink combination!

 

I'll just add that I bought the 'Mandarin Yellow' finish version of this pen and love it.

 

Always wanted a 1930s Mandarin DuoFold but for various reasons never ended up with one. That said, this pen is not the same yellow as the 1930s version but a 'tip of the hat' to that famous pen. In fact, this 'Urban' is a beautiful, deep, shimmering yellow gold, reminiscent of a favorite Christmas tree ornament. Rather, I'll say that I found the partially shrouded medium nib firm without much flex (alot like the IM line, if you're familiar) and very smooth with Pelikan Edelstein Amber (a nice color match for this pen). The Urban is all metal, but is quite light and easy on the hand. It posts well but non-posters will find it fits their hands too. Overall this is a great pen from Parker and could easily sell for more. So far I haven't experienced any finish wear on the pen and in fact, it may not even be paint at all. Not sure.

 

If the IM is the masculine, the Urban is the feminine. Smooth and curvaceous.

 

AJ

[VivienR]

I have two Urban, not the Premium, just the "simple" ones, although their only difference is their appearance. I can confirm, the section wears awfully quickly. Despite these drawback, its a pretty solid performer. But that section wear makes it a bit questionable. After one month intense use, its can look like a few years old pen, specially if I compare for Sonnet, I use my sonnets much more intense, and there are no worn in the section, sadly they have less color options in advantage for Urban's.