Parker IM Achromatic black review

 It is true, I noticed that many lovers of fountain pens are not so enthusiastic about the Parker fountain pens anymore. I often hear that they are old-fashioned, not innovative enough... I have to admit that from my youth I was always in possession of a Parker Jotter ballpoint pen. There is certainly no doubt that this is a winner and still comes in special editions and colors. So Parker always meant something to me. 

It is a bit of a pity that they continue to focus on their old established values without really releasing new pens. This gives the other brands the opportunity to seduce the pen lover with new ideas and products. This probably partly explains why Parker is lagging a bit behind. Let's just hope that soon Parker surprises us with a new stunning fountain pen.

As far as Parker fountain pens are concerned, I am also in possession of a number of them and I must also admit that they are not that breathtaking (note that I don’t own the Duofold). 

One of my more recent acquisitions is the Parker IM which I want to discuss further here.

I bought this pen because I like the black dark design of it. At Parker they say this pen is dedicated to young professionals, which I’m not. In general this pen is a smaller pen. The body and cap are covered with a matte black paint. This paint feels good. Other parts such as the ring around the cap, the clip, top of the cap and bottom end of the barrel are in a PVD coating that gives it a shiny touch. The PVD coating is there to protect them against corrosion, wear and tear. The combination of the matte body with some parts in the PVD coating gives this pen an adorable look. And to suit all this, the section and steel nib are also in a shiny black finish.

The clip on the cap is the typical Parker clip with arrow shape. The clip has for many decades been very useful, but keep in mind that the clip breaks off easily. When you look around you will notice that there are many Parker caps with broken clip.

The cap is a snap-cap. It really closes very nicely and gives a nice click. The ring around the cap mentions the Parker brand name. The black shiny section gives a nice grip without offering any additional ergonomics. The cap posts very well on the back of the pen in a very nice and secure way. This is an example of how it is supposed to be!

The section with plastic threads screws into the barrel. Here I noticed that the plastic of the section wears off. This is a minus.

The nib on my Parker is a steel medium. It has the PVD coating and looks nice. The nib performs well. The nib is rather stiff and does not offer a lot of line variation. In general I like the writing performance of the Parker IM. For inking up this pen you must use Parker’s cartridges or converters because they don’t support the standard international ones.

The pen comes in the typical Parker cardboard box and includes a Parker long cartridge.

May I conclude and say that this Parker IM Achromatic is a quality pen that perhaps suits well in a business environment without being too much of an eye-catcher. You can trust it. Be aware that for people with larger hands this pen could be too small, but posting the pen is a good alternative.