Could anyone help verify if my Parker Sonnet is real or fake ?

[BMmeat]

Just bought this Parker Sonnet and im trying to understand if it is real or fake, im new to pens.

https://imgur.com/a/y6Z9ew5

Thanks for any help

[welch]

My rule: a Sonnet should sell for $75 or more if its on EBay. A new Sonnet will sell for more than $100 from a pen shop. If a "Sonnet" is offered for $15 or so, say, from EBay, and especially if the seller is in China, then it is a fake.

 

A Sonnet nib unit should unscrew, or at least those I bought new up through 2010. 

 

Back about 15 years ago, people here on FPN posted photos of Chinese fake Sonnets that had sloppy work, such as misaligned logos or crude feathers on the clip. The fakers must have gotten better, so those tips might no longer be useful.

[Wil D]

The 18K Sonnet pens downhere are 360-560 euro. The most expensive I can find is the Cisele Silver GT. Its nib looks a bit - not the same - like yours. But yours has a golden barrel?

[Wil D]

The 18K Sonnet pens downhere are 360-560 euro. The most expensive I can find now is the Cisele Silver GT. Its nib looks a bit - not the same - like yours. But yours has a golden barrel.

 

There was also a gold one: Cascade Gold. But the nib is not the same as yours. This one is from 1997.

[Sheptonian]

On 5/15/2024 at 10:13 PM, BMmeat said:

Just bought this Parker Sonnet and im trying to understand if it is real or fake, im new to pens.

https://imgur.com/a/y6Z9ew5

Thanks for any help

 

As Welch said above, 

On 5/16/2024 at 5:28 PM, welch said:

My rule: a Sonnet should sell for $75 or more if its on EBay. A new Sonnet will sell for more than $100 from a pen shop. If a "Sonnet" is offered for $15 or so, say, from EBay, and especially if the seller is in China, then it is a fake.

 

A Sonnet nib unit should unscrew, or at least those I bought new up through 2010. 

 

Back about 15 years ago, people here on FPN posted photos of Chinese fake Sonnets that had sloppy work, such as misaligned logos or crude feathers on the clip. The fakers must have gotten better, so those tips might no longer be useful.

 

The thread that Welch mentions is an excellent one. It is very informative but presumably also read and understood by the fakers. To what extent it might have influenced their fraudulent designs who is to tell. The broad principles outlined in the FPN thread still remain relevant when looking closely at potentially fake Sonnets IMHO.

 

So far as which Sonnet design your pen is you might find this information helpful: Parker Pens Penography: SONNET .

 

 

[thx1138]

Please post a good photo of the clip and of the feed.

[thx1138]

Oh, a good photo of the underside of the tipping would be handy.

[Claes]

One interesting test is to check if the nib is magnetic 🙂 

IF it is magentic, then it sure is a fake.

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

 

[thx1138]

On 5/17/2024 at 12:28 AM, welch said:

My rule: a Sonnet should sell for $75 or more if its on EBay. A new Sonnet will sell for more than $100 from a pen shop. If a "Sonnet" is offered for $15 or so, say, from EBay, and especially if the seller is in China, then it is a fake.

 

A Sonnet nib unit should unscrew, or at least those I bought new up through 2010. 

 

Back about 15 years ago, people here on FPN posted photos of Chinese fake Sonnets that had sloppy work, such as misaligned logos or crude feathers on the clip. The fakers must have gotten better, so those tips might no longer be useful.

 

I qgree that very cheap sonnets are almost guaranteed to be fake. Unfortunately many sonnets selling at or near retail prices are also fakes.

 

The situation on fleabay is so bad that I just assume that fleabay sonnets are fakes.

I am then looking for features which confirm or deny that assumption. 

 

Some of the sellers of expensive fakes are well known and well regarded fleabay shops. They have missed the fact that the pen is fake. This is partly due to the fairly significant advances made by the  counterfeiters in making their pens look more genuine. For this reason I will no longer make detailed posts on identifying fakes.