Where Are Parker Models Made

[RegDiggins]

It occurs to me that now both Parker USA and Parker UK are non- existent ,most of the production is in France. However there are constant assertions that Parkers are now made in China. If this is the case does anyone know if they are date coded and if so are they aligned with French production. I assume we are talking about lower end production as Sonnets are made in France, maybe jotters etc. maybe made in the orient.

[sciumbasci]

IIRC all of the production is made in France. The licensed models are all made in India by Luxor and should not be exported.

 

The Chinese versions are fakes.

[thx1138]

Parker IM, Urban and a few others are made in China by Parker.

At Nantes (France) they still make the high end and jotters.

[Biber]

So where is all the outrage that production, even if partially, went to China? Look at how Cross has been treated for moving production to China.

[Joane]

So where is all the outrage that production, even if partially, went to China? Look at how Cross has been treated for moving production to China.

 

 

Re Parker, it's more of a sinking feeling of loss than outrage on my part, the downfall of a beloved pen manufacturer. I don't buy the China production and just hug my earlier Parkers closer and appreciate them every time I use them.

[thx1138]

I have a few Chinese IM and Urbans. No writing on pen to show origin.

Boxes have made in china as Australian laws say that country of origin must be shown.

To balance that up I have a few hundred parkers made in USA, UK, France, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina.

Edited October 21, 2017 by thx1138

[welch]

I have bought a couple Sonnets and a modern Duofold. I wish they were still made in Newhaven, but French production is good. For mass-market fountain pens, it must be hard to compete unless a pen is made in a place like China. Incidentally, it's great news that the Jotter goes on (and on, and on).

[mitto]

I believe the Vectors are also still being produced in France beside in India by Luxor.

[inkstainedruth]

This is why most of my Parkers are vintage or older-model pens. I have an Urban and it's a piece of junk -- and at this point the warranty on it has run out. Ironically this was a *replacement* sent by Parker (under the extended warranty) when the converter they sent me (after I sent the first Urban in for repairs) got stuck in the barrel; the NEW pen didn't reset the warranty, BTW. I have a bunch of mostly UK-made Vectors (with one US-made NOS one -- it was still in the blister pack when I bought it; oddly enough, the pen has an F nib in it but the packaging said it was an M...). I've seen a bunch of the Luxor Beta pens on eBay, and a number of the French-made Vectors but don't have any so I don't know about the quality of either.

Most of the rest are US made, I believe, except for one of the 51 Vacs and one of the 51 Aeros.

Remember -- these days Parker is part of the Newell-Rubbermaid conglomerate....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Joane]

"Remember -- these days Parker is part of the Newell-Rubbermaid conglomerate....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth"

 

Who could forget, alas?

[lastmohican]

I prefer a part of the "lower model" production in China than the end of Parker pens, like Delta or Omas...

[Waltz For Zizi]

This is why most of my Parkers are vintage or older-model pens. I have an Urban and it's a piece of junk -- and at this point the warranty on it has run out. Ironically this was a *replacement* sent by Parker (under the extended warranty) when the converter they sent me (after I sent the first Urban in for repairs) got stuck in the barrel; the NEW pen didn't reset the warranty, BTW. I have a bunch of mostly UK-made Vectors (with one US-made NOS one -- it was still in the blister pack when I bought it; oddly enough, the pen has an F nib in it but the packaging said it was an M...). I've seen a bunch of the Luxor Beta pens on eBay, and a number of the French-made Vectors but don't have any so I don't know about the quality of either.

Most of the rest are US made, I believe, except for one of the 51 Vacs and one of the 51 Aeros.

Remember -- these days Parker is part of the Newell-Rubbermaid conglomerate....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Don't you find it heavy? In almost all your posts you say you don't like heavy pens, like Pelikan m600, lamy 2000. Isn't the parker urban heavier than those two I mentioned? If so, what made you buy it?

[RegDiggins]

When I started this topic I had recently seen a so called Parker from China. There was no marking of any kind on the pen no date code no country of origin,not even a Parker logo. In fact the only reference to Parker was on the lid of the cardboard box and all the other print on the box was in Chinese characters.

 

The very poor quality of the pen and for that matter the very flimsy cardboard with which it was surrounded screamed fake so no danger of misleading anyone,

but I have yet to see a genuine Parker pen from China . Which is why I asked if anyone has seen one. Plenty of fake Parkers on offer on Chinese sites but none with any markings except on the box. Does anyone know if Newell or their parent conglomerate have ever had any production in China ??

[inkstainedruth]

Don't you find it heavy? In almost all your posts you say you don't like heavy pens, like Pelikan m600, lamy 2000. Isn't the parker urban heavier than those two I mentioned? If so, what made you buy it?

 

I bought it as a (temporary) replacement for my first good pen, a Parker Vector, when I accidentally left the Vector and my journal at my brother-in-law's house one January a few years ago, and couldn't easily by a replacement. So I ended up buying one of the Urban sets (pen, cartridges, slide converter, and a bottle of Quink Black. Never was overly happy with the pen although the weight wasn't that bad. Tried to replace the converter with one of the older style twist ones, but that broke when I tried to install it. Went through the rigamarole of sending it back to Parker under warranty. It got returned with a new slide converter, and a snotty note; and although it was in a nice plastic holder, it was just sent back in a blister pack envelope. Well, a few months later, the converter got stuck in the barrel. So my turn to write a snotty note.... Including the fact that I was on an internationally web forum (i.e., here ) and that they should care more about one mouthy American broad than the entire Chinese pen market. So they sent me a shipping box (I still had to pay the insurance) and back it went to Janesville. Again, not any sort of communication until they send me a NEW Urban, with a new (slide) converter, a pack of cartridges, and a rather nice 2 pen leather case. Oh, and a cryptic work order saying "barrel defective". But the new pen had something wrong with the nib unit -- I flushed and soaked it repeatedly until there couldn't POSSIBlY be any more ink in it, and I still got ink coming over the top of the nib from the collar. At this point it's long out of warranty, and I should probably just chuck it in the trash.

I had, before all this happened, considered painting glitter nail polish polka dots on the barrel and cap -- just because.... And I'm not sure it's as heavy (unless you're talking about one of the newer Urbans) as either an M600 or a Lamy 2000. I certainly would hazard a guess and say it's not as heavy (posted) as my TWSBI 580-AL (which is now my benchmark for a pen weight -- more than the TWSBI is definitely too heavy).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: I just did a quick Google search, and found an old thread where someone said that the Urban is a little under 50 grams (although I'm not sure it that was the weight when posted). So yes, heavier than a TWSBI, but posted it balanced well (possibly because of the hourglass shape).

Edited October 23, 2017 by inkstainedruth

[Runnin_Ute]

At one time I had a 45 that was Made in Spain. Only one I have ever seen mentioned. I lost it. All my other Parkers (45, 51 Special) are USA or UK pens. I do have two IM's. No idea where they were made.

[Mike 59]

Hi, I just put my Urban on the scales, see photo.

I always liked the shape of the Urban, but I had an old UK made Vector with a very smooth nib, so I swapped the nib units over.

Also I glued the tube that the feed/nib fits inside, into the section, so that the ink cannot get around the outside of it.

[mitto]

Hi, I just put my Urban on the scales, see photo.

I always liked the shape of the Urban, but I had an old UK made Vector with a very smooth nib, so I swapped the nib units over.

Also I glued the tube that the feed/nib fits inside, into the section, so that the ink cannot get around the outside of it.

You really love your pens. The Vector can be a fun writer if one likes slim pens. I had a stepped up Vector - a UK made Profile still in its tube like packaging - that I gave away to a college student. She liked it and eversince she is a FP user.

Edited October 25, 2017 by mitto

[MisterP]

When Newhaven was closed around 2011, the machines to assemble Jotter and Vector ranges were moved to France where I believe they continue to be made. Manufacturing in low cost countries (China) only gives an economic advantage where there are low levels of Automation and high manual labour. This does not apply to the machine assembled Jotter and Vector ranges, so manufacturing in Europe continues to be viable.

 

Whether we like it or not, the build quality of the Chinese made Urban and IM was completely in line with the best that the European plants could achieve.

[mitto]

Yes, but the lack of any mention of country of origin make the Shanghai Parkers less desirable. I mean why do they feel ashamed putting the phrase MADE IN CHINA or MADE BY PARKER IN CHINA on these pens?

[Mike 59]

The first Parker pen I owned with no country marking was the Urban in the photo #16 in this thread.

It is marked with 'Q' which was 2010, and 'Parker', but that's all.

Since then I have bought a couple of Jotters (2013) a Sonnet (2015) and a Vector, (2016) and all were marked 'France'.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Mike 59