Is it worth it? The Parker Jotter Originals fountain pen

[mr T.]

At the moment I see some local online pensellers selling the Parker Jotter Originals fp for around € 10,- . At first sight, for that amount of money, it sounds like a good deal but I can't find any (reliable) reviews of this pen. In the past, the Parkers fountain pens I bought or got as a present were a bit of a hit and miss. Have a Sonnet that had out of the box the problem of drying out quickly, have a Frontier that has a loose cap issue, had a Reflex fp that cracked and became unusable within a year, had an I.M. that didn't write at all and still have a Classic that had to be sent back to Parker for repair.  The Parker lifetime warranty doesn't exist anymore and as far as I know, the Jotter Original fp is made in China. Is the Parker Jotter Originals worth buying? Has the Parker Jotter Originals fp any issues with cracking, feeds or nibs? How is Parker quality control nowadays?

[Olya]

Parker fountain pens are a bit shoddy these days.... At least in my experience, there's the famous drying-out issues across the line (in my case, the new IM and older and new Sonnets), the Jotter (old and new) and Vector don't suffer from that, but both are incredibly slim. The new Vector XL also should work well, as I have the Waterman Allure and the Allure and Vector XL are the same pen.

 

My main problem with the Jotter is the slimness, when capping it frequentliy "hitting" the inner cap and yes, cracking.

Namely, the barrel is made of plastic so thin, my new Parker Jotter Original cracked in several places in the threading and I do not over-tighten when threading pens (barrel or cap), I was astonished when I heard the creaking and checked the threads and couldn't believe the cracks I saw.

 

The writing experience is good though, the nib is smooth.

 

If the thinness doesn't bother you and you're keen on a Jotter fp, I would stick with the metal Jotters, which also now come with variously coloured barrels.

 

I find Waterman better than Parker, at least I haven't had any dry-out issues with W as with P (considering they are owned by the same company and go so far to even bring out the same model (Allure/Vector XL (and the Allure has been part of Waterman's catalogue for a long time, don't understand why Parker didn't give it another name, it looks nothing like the Vector!)).

 

So I'd either stick with Waterman or go with a German or Japanese pen, I am biased I suppose, because I mainly use German and Japanese pens. At 10€ the pickings are slim, if the lack of a clip and smiley face on the nib don't bother you, I'd go with a Kakuno, excellent nib, girthier than a Jotter, doesn't dry out over night (or half a day), the plastic is thicker (i.e. no cracking) and takes a con-40 or con-70.

The Platinum Prefounte is more "adult looking", a good writer, has the slip & seal (no drying out for at least 1 year), but is a demonstrator and in my experience a very dry writer.

[jchch1950]

The price difference between the Parker Jotter and the Vector LX is quiete small. The Vector LX is a good pen,no big problems with drying issues,uses standard Parker cartridges and you can chose some nice colours .

[afishhunter]

Glad I saw this thread. I was thinking of getting a Jotter FP to pair with one of my Jotter ballpoints. 

 

[inkstainedruth]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:33 AM, jchch1950 said:

The price difference between the Parker Jotter and the Vector LX is quiete small. The Vector LX is a good pen,no big problems with drying issues,uses standard Parker cartridges and you can chose some nice colours .

I've seen the Vector LX pens advertised by sellers on eBay and was wondering what the difference between them and the standard Vectors were (other than the size).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mr T.]

On 8/12/2022 at 1:12 PM, Olya said:

Parker fountain pens are a bit shoddy these days.... At least in my experience, there's the famous drying-out issues across the line (in my case, the new IM and older and new Sonnets), the Jotter (old and new) and Vector don't suffer from that, but both are incredibly slim. The new Vector XL also should work well, as I have the Waterman Allure and the Allure and Vector XL are the same pen.

 

My main problem with the Jotter is the slimness, when capping it frequentliy "hitting" the inner cap and yes, cracking.

Namely, the barrel is made of plastic so thin, my new Parker Jotter Original cracked in several places in the threading and I do not over-tighten when threading pens (barrel or cap), I was astonished when I heard the creaking and checked the threads and couldn't believe the cracks I saw.

 

The writing experience is good though, the nib is smooth.

 

If the thinness doesn't bother you and you're keen on a Jotter fp, I would stick with the metal Jotters, which also now come with variously coloured barrels.

 

I find Waterman better than Parker, at least I haven't had any dry-out issues with W as with P (considering they are owned by the same company and go so far to even bring out the same model (Allure/Vector XL (and the Allure has been part of Waterman's catalogue for a long time, don't understand why Parker didn't give it another name, it looks nothing like the Vector!)).

Thank you for your reply. It is good to know that the Jotter Original fp has issues with cracking and that many modern Parkers still have issues with drying-out quickly. The problem with ink evaporation can be solved by the user/owner but is for new pens out of the box in my opinion unacceptable.  So it seems that nowadays Quink inks are only Parker products that are still worth buying. The Waterman Allure/Graduate is a more expensive, alternative option. 

 

On 8/12/2022 at 1:33 PM, jchch1950 said:

The price difference between the Parker Jotter and the Vector LX is quiete small. The Vector LX is a good pen,no big problems with drying issues,uses standard Parker cartridges and you can chose some nice colours .

The Vector XL could be interesting.  It is basically a copy of the Waterman Allure, partly made of metal and is, where I live, about €25,-. But is it a 'real' Parker?  

[DaveQuail]

I was gifted a new 2022 Parker XL recently. Inked it with Parkee Quink Black ink. After using it for a few weeks, it has been consigned to my redundant pen drawer. I found it very underwhelming, compared to my Lamy Safari's, Sheaffers and Pilots. I found it "cold" Not much tactile feel and virtually no nib feedback. Not an engaging pen IMHO. It is made in China.

[mr T.]

On 8/27/2022 at 7:24 AM, DaveQuail said:

 Not an engaging pen IMHO. It is made in China.

The fact that the Parker Jotter Originals fp, the Waterman Allure and the Parker Vector XL are made in China is in my opinion problematic in itself.  As a brand, I associate Parker with 'made in the USA', 'made in the UK' or 'made in France', not with 'made in China'. I associate modern Waterman pens with 'made in France'.