Parker IM Rollerball Pen | Matte Blue | Fine Point Black Ink | Gift Box

Writes well. Looks good

Perfect pens

Firstly this is a nice pen. It feels solid, writes well, and the lid clicks on smoothly. My only issue is that when writing with it on 90% of surfaces I've tried more ink than expected it absorbed. I don't get this with other Parkers I have. My writing is small and delicate and I'd compare the output to the medium Parker fountain pens.

A quality pen at a sensible price. Can recommend this product and supplier

Nothing special, but I love the pen.

Lovely pen. It's been one of my favourites to date and I've had hundreds over the years

I received the metallic 'premium warm silver colour golden trim' matching the 'lacquer black golden trim' version my husband has been using since the summer, hence I have several months of testing this pen range..During my student years some 30 years ago, I used nothing but Parker pens because they could cope with fast scribbling when taking notes in lectures. More recently, I have almost given up using pens in favour of the keyboard and found that those few ballpoint pens I do have, either dry up or become blotchy through lack of use. In contrast, this Parker pen is completely forgiving: if not used for a few weeks, the ink still flows freely with no need to shake the pen, scribble on scrap paper to get it flowing again or wipe any clogged ink with a tissue.In common with all Parker pens I have used, this pen is high quality both in its design and construction. Although the pen inner is plastic, it has a strong and durable brushed aluminium outer casing with an engraved criss-cross pattern to the upper silver section while the lower gold section is smoothly brushed. It is supplied with a medium stainless steel nib and blue 'Quinkflow' refill - other colours and thicknesses are available but this is always my preference. The ink flows smoothly and consistently and with never any scratchiness.At 95mm wide where held, it is broader than the 'stick'-type ballpoint pens making it naturally easier and more comfortable to hold than the thinner types, particularly when used extensively or for older people or more arthritic hands. It's a good weight - feels substantial without feeling heavy and is well-balanced. Despite so rarely using a pen now and finding them a little awkward to hold, it has just seen me hand-write the annual batch of Christmas cards and letters to distant relatives with no discomfort.The pen arrives smartly presented in a sleek gift box, strapped to a flocked and padded card base and is accompanied by a multilingual warranty card making it ideal to offer as a reassuring, traditional but modern, quality gift.

When it comes to pens, Parker have a great reputation. Does this IM Writing Rituals Rollerball justify that reputation? Well, I'd say just about, but there's room for improvement.The pen comes in an attractive slipcase box. There's also a secondary sleeve over it to keep the box pristine, which is great if you plan to give the pen as a gift. The box has the Royal seals of approval printed on it, which is always nice to see. Upon removing the pen from the box, you can feel that it's good quality. The barrel feels substantial and weighty, though not overly so. The pen has a lovely metallic blue finish, with shiny chrome trim on the cap and barrel. There's the trademark Parker arrow clip on the cap, also in chrome.When I removed the cap, I expected to find the ink refill already fitted, but it's empty. This leads me to my only major gripe with this pen - there's only one ink refill included. Given the price of the pen, I would've expected at least two to be included in the box. Feels a tad stingy on Parker's part.That aside, the pen feels nice in the hand and writes nicely. The black ink is rich and dries instantly, so there's no smudging (good news for lefties!).It seems like a bit of a rite of passage to, at some point, own a fancy pen, even in the digital age. Yes, this is relatively expensive, but it's a nice thing, and it writes well. I think it's probably more of an item that you'd gift to someone, rather than buy yourself. Based on that, I would like to have seen Parker add a little bit more value for money by including at least one more refill, and perhaps include a little dedication card to place inside the box. It's a very nice pen though.