Parker "gold" Nibs... What The Heck?

[TassoBarbasso]

Hi all,

 

I was having a look at my Parker Sonnet's two tone 18k gold nib the other day and I noticed that in the part of the nib that fits inside the section, there are points where the yellow gold colour disappears and a different colour emerges, seemingly like steel. I immediatey thought that the nib must be a fake, only plated in gold and rhodium, but actually made of steel, and the gold plating is coming off showing the underlying steel...

 

But.

 

1) the pen was bought from one of the world's most reputable sellers;

2) the nib doesn't stick to a magnet, so it's probably not steel;

3) I found this page (http://www.fivestarpens.com/duofold-centennial-nibs.html) where you can see a whole load of Parker nibs that show the same thing: a dark metal body that looks like steel, with yello gold and rhodium/platinum plating. The website is, apparently, quite reputable.

 

So the question is: did Parker use some strange, steel-looking 18k white/grey gold alloy, only to later plate it in yellow gold? And if so... why? Amd how did they get a gold alloy that looks so much like steel? Why not just using solid 18k yellow gold? Or are ALL these nibs fake?

[mitto]

Could the base metal be 18k white gold?

[TassoBarbasso]

  On 7/15/2017 at 1:51 PM, mitto said:

Could the base metal be 18k white gold?

Yeah, that's what I also think, but why? Surely it's easier to do yellow gold+rhodium plating, than white gold+yellow gold plating+rhodium plating. Then there's the issue of the colour: it's not your usual white gold colour. It's more like steel.

[mitto]

I have also seen yellow gold 14k parker nibs turning white after being polished.

[TassoBarbasso]

  On 7/15/2017 at 2:02 PM, mitto said:

I have also seen yellow gold 14k parker nibs turning white after being polished.

Intriguing. So they probably do use a white gold base. How strange. Are you sure your nibs were genuine?

[mitto]

A 14k parker 45 nib.

 

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/monthly_02_2017/post-117288-0-18635100-1488274090.jpg

[joss]

You can try polishing away the 'steel' looking spots (which are hidden in the section anyway) and the gold base layer should emerge there.

[TassoBarbasso]

  On 7/15/2017 at 2:50 PM, joss said:

You can try polishing away the 'steel' looking spots (which are hidden in the section anyway) and the gold base layer should emerge there.

Why would I do that? The steel looking spots are underneath the yellow gold. Polishing in that area would only remove the yellow gold

[RocketRyan]

Even 18k is 25% something else, it's probably easier to let the alloy be the colour it ends up and plate it. Especially when they come in 3 colour combinations

[TassoBarbasso]

  On 7/15/2017 at 4:43 PM, RocketRyan said:

Even 18k is 25% something else, it's probably easier to let the alloy be the colour it ends up and plate it. Especially when they come in 3 colour combinations

Yet most other pen manufacturers just make the alloy yellow, and then plate only the parts they want in rhodium. I'm just trying to figure out the reasoning behind Parker's choice. It doesn't seem very practical, after all, since it adds a whole manufacturing process. Though whay I mostly care about is to have some kind of confirmation/proof that these are indeed solid gold nibs.

[Joane]

Do you have a photo of your Sonnet nib? Judging by the Duofold photo, they probably make the white gold the basic nib because the arrow feathers are embossed and, being somewhat raised, might tend to have any plating rub off over time. With the highlighting yellow gold indented, it is better protected from wear. The Sonnet nib might have different configurations and a photo would help.

[RocketRyan]

I can't imagine it would be worth trying to get away with it for a company like Parker. If I had to guess, I would imagine you are only getting about £20 worth of gold, the cost is probably in the tooling of it.

[joss]

  On 7/15/2017 at 4:03 PM, TassoBarbasso said:

Why would I do that? The steel looking spots are underneath the yellow gold. Polishing in that area would only remove the yellow gold

 

The nib is 18 karat gold, obviously. Polishing will rule out whether the base is yellow or white gold.

[Dutchpen]

Parker sonnet nibs are solid 18ct yellow gold (except the steel and gold plated versions). There are some pens with a solid 14ct gold nib.

The base material is yellow gold. All 'silver' looking parts on the nib are rhodium plated.

 

The spots you see are probably spots of rhodium (if your pen is real).

 

The base of duofold nib you found on the web is also rhodium plated. This is because the nib is covered with a sticker to prevent the whole nib to be plated. It is dipped in a rhodium bath and then plated. The sonnet nibs are plated in the same way (almost all brand do this).

 

I can perform the rhodium plating on nibs (two tone and full plating myself and when I re-plate a nib I have to polish off the old rhodium completely first. It always turns yellow after polishing, Sonnet nibs too.

 

 

 

Fake sonnets have a gold plated steel nib which might turn silver when polishing off the gold plating.

[Dutchpen]

You can check out Dutchpen.com for a example of a duofold nib that has lost it's plating partially and is re-plated with rhodium (two tone style).

You can see that the base material is yellow gold.

Edited July 15, 2017 by Dutchpen

[mitto]

Nice to know the process of plating of the twotone Parker gold nibs. Thank you, Dutchpen.

[Chrissy]

  On 7/15/2017 at 7:11 PM, Dutchpen said:

You can check out Dutchpen.com for a example of a duofold nib that has lost it's plating partially and is re-plated with rhodium (two tone style).

You can see that the base material is yellow gold.

 

Thank you for the information Dutchpen, and I checked out your site.

[TassoBarbasso]

  On 7/15/2017 at 5:39 PM, Joane said:

Do you have a photo of your Sonnet nib? Judging by the Duofold photo, they probably make the white gold the basic nib because the arrow feathers are embossed and, being somewhat raised, might tend to have any plating rub off over time. With the highlighting yellow gold indented, it is better protected from wear. The Sonnet nib might have different configurations and a photo would help.

Here you can see a couple of pictures of the nib, but they are not very clear I'm afraid. Poor light conditions. Have a look at the base of the nib, you should be able to spot the steel-looking parts.

 

- https://imageshack.com/i/pnhmF4Ugj

- https://imageshack.com/i/pntrazPDj

[Joane]

  On 7/16/2017 at 2:58 AM, TassoBarbasso said:

Here you can see a couple of pictures of the nib, but they are not very clear I'm afraid. Poor light conditions. Have a look at the base of the nib, you should be able to spot the steel-looking parts.

 

- https://imageshack.com/i/pnhmF4Ugj

- https://imageshack.com/i/pntrazPDj

 

Thanks very much for the photos. My post is probably irrelevant now as Dutchpen has put forth an explanation of the process from experience. Just as an aside, at first I was not too impressed by the Sonnet because it's not my favourite pen shape but after writing with it I now really love this pen, with the gold nib. It is a very responsive nib and provides an enjoyable writing experience and well formed result. Enjoy your pen!