Duofold Centennial Fountain Pen, Classic Big Red Vintage, Medium Solid Gold Nib, Black Ink and Convertor (1931376)

I purchased this Parker Duofold Centennial Big Red with a medium nib after already owning the Chevron Blue in fine. Needless to say, I already like the Parker Duofold line, and the Big Red does not disappoint. I like that you have the option of using an ink cartridge or converter, although I intend to use the converter with this pen given the limitations on ink options with Parker's proprietary system, which does not accept standard international ink cartridges. When the Big Red arrived, I inked it up with Diamine 1864 Blue Black using the supplied cartridge converter. It was easy to fill and began writing well immediately. The writing experience is outstanding, as the nib glides smoothly on the paper, as you would expect with a gold nib. I would call this a wet nib in medium, as it lays down plenty of ink. The Big Red feels very light-weight for it's size, especially compared with the Chevron Blue model, which has a metal body. I think that will make the Big Red comfortable for long writing sessions, and I had three pages down in a Leuchtturm 1917 B5 notebook before I even realized it. Overall, I'm quite pleased with my purchase and feel I got great value for what I paid for the Big Red. I will note that the barrel and cap of the pen are closer to a burnt orange color than red to my eye, but I like the color. The Big Red is not as elegant looking as its Chevron Blue brother, but color combination and styling definitely delivers a vintage vibe.

This pen blends classical elegance with functionality. It is a little heavy, but that is how I like my pens. It glides across the paper no inconsistencies in the flow of ink.

Well made, fountain pen that worked out of box w/o issue. The red is a great color - not showy, but different. The barrel is plastic "resin", but the pen section has metal threads. This also results in being more heavier towards the nib. The pen writes well unposted, and the nib is well aligned.

An exceptionally good value in a fine fountain pen. A lovely, smooth writer and comfortably balanced when used unposted. The pen is a bit too long when posted, but wasn't really designed to be used that way. Puts down a nice moderately wet line with real character, especially when using Parker's own Quink inks. Arrived nicely packaged in the appropriate Parker box with converter and two ink cartridges.

Parker Duofold Centennial has been the pen of my dream for many years. Finally, I was able to get my dream pen "Duofold Centennial Big Red" after many years of saving! I am extremely happy with my purchase. I like its appearance, construction quality, and its nib. My pen came with a medium nib but I exchanged it for a fine nib through the Parker Nib Exchange program. The fine nib gives me lots of feedback, which I cherish. The nib looks gorgeous. This will be my daily writer for many years (or decades) from now on. By the way, the Parker service was beyond what I had expected. It was a truly white-glove service. My email exchange with Parker U.S. (for the nib exchange program) was absolutely professional and the turnaround time was just a matter of hours! Again, I am very happy with my purchase.

I actually bought the Duofold on a whim, because it's one of the last Parker writing instruments still made in Not-China. Pros: - It comes with a #6 size 18k gold nib. The nib is stiff as a nail, with virtually no flex. This is by design; the name "Duofold" comes from this fountain pen's ability to write on several pieces of paper simultaneously when you have carbon paper in between the papers/forms you're writing on. Ballpoints do that better, but at the time, they weren't invented yet. - It comes in a small variety of colors and finishes. Styling is reminiscent of the 1920s and 30s, when fountain pens were still widely used. Big Red versions have an engraving on the side of the barrel reminiscent of how many pens were labeled in the 20's and 30's. - Nostalgic appearance. Cons: - Ink flow is poor using Parker Quink ink. When using the converter to draw up ink out of the inkwell/bottle, the whole nib is submerged while filling the converter. This leaves the nib super-saturated until you have written several lines of extra thick, wet lines, and this is perfectly normal with ALL fountain pens filled in this manner. After three to four lines of writing, the ink in the feed is exhausted, and you should be drawing ink from the converter. The feed is responsible for allowing air to get back up into the converter after a drop of ink has left the converter...if air doesn't get back into the converter, no more ink will come out. And that's the problem with this pen. 1/3 to 1/2 of a page is okay, and then...no more ink. You have to "push" more ink from the converter down into the feed by screwing the diaphragm of the converter down towards the nib, carefully, to avoid a drop of ink falling on your document. And then resume writing with a super-saturated nib & feed, watching the line get lighter and lighter as you write, until, once again, no more ink flows from the tip of the nib. When there was lots of ink available, the nib was smooth. However, since the nib was starved of ink most of the time, there was a lot of feedback. - Price! This pen's MSRP puts it in the same range as Pelikan M800, or ST Dupont Line D, which also come with a #6 gold nib. It's more expensive than most Pilot Custom or Custom Heritage pens, all of which are better writing pens. Or, if you want to come over to "The Dark Side", there's a Chinese pen that looks virtually identical, costs $25 or less, and, using a #6 stainless steel nib, writes better and more consistently than the Duofold...using Standard International cartridge/converters. Bottom Line: I would not recommend buying this pen (mine went back to Parker for a refund). For that much money, you can buy two or three pens that write better than the Parker. With the similarity to the aforementioned Chinese pen, I would not be surprised if the parts (minus nib and feed) are all made in that Chinese factory and assembled in France. You're not getting vintage Parker quality, you're getting a modern pen, made with modern materials and modern manufacturing techniques at a price 20 times higher than what a better performing (and identically appearing) Chinese pen costs. If you want the "Real Deal", you'll have to go to pen shows (or eBay) and get a pen made in the last century, otherwise you're just getting a too-expensive ordinary pen with expensive branding.

When I was a teenager, I used to go with my dad to his office on the weekends to do my homework there while he was working on the next deal. His business partner was a fountain pen aficionado, and one time he let me use his Parker Duofold, and ever since then I've wanted to have one myself but never felt I should splurge on one as I think they are very expensive. Funny I should feel that way because a few years back I did plurge, and I went for a Monthblanc Meisterstuck instead. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the Big Red was for sale for less than $300. Still a lot of money, but I just had to take advantage. I have to say that it does not feel as solid or heavy as I remember, maybe the material for the red (well it's more orange than red) is lighter than other versions. Either way. this is a great deal for a Duofold, and I've actually come to really like the funky color. The medium nib writes fantastic, I'm very happy with it. This is my go to pen now, I find myself looking for things to write, and taking more notes than I'm used to. This pen is on par with the Montblanc, neither one is necessarily 'better' than the other, just a little different feeling when using it.

I returned sonnet silver couple days ago due to terrible ink floe issue. Basically, it stops writing after couple lines after fully filled. This one is not different from that sonnet silver. It stops wrting. I am 100% with Matt Armstrong, az he mentioned, a pen company cannot make a pen thag writes, get out of the business and do something else. I am very disappointed at these modern Parker pens. Not just fountain pens, even jotters stop writing after several pages of writing. I am using levenger easy flow ballpen refil instead of parker refil. It seems those glorious days are gone for the Parker brand. Please do not sell pens that don' t write. One star is for Amazon's great customer service. This pen does not even deserve a single star. So, Parker pen, where are you now and what are you doing really? I will never buy Parker pens again.