PARKER Jotter Ballpoint Pen, Waterloo Blue with Medium Point Blue Ink, Gift Box (1953191)

Good packaging Good shipping Good deal

This is now my favorite pen! Perfect size and feel (I hate a large pen or pencil). Smooth gel cartridge. It is close to perfect. My matching fountain pen is also a new favorite.

I love Parker pens. They write really well and the shape is easy to grasp. Refills are easy to find, in different degrees of fineness and color. I think the Parker is an excellent value. For the money, you get a high-end pen.

It was good when it arrived... but once it fell and it started to act up a bit....

The pen is mightier than the sword but it may be easier to find the right sword. For eight years I’ve been writing exclusively with a Uni-ball Signo Bit stick pen. It’s an unassuming, affordable plastic stick pen in the sea of the same but it writes nicely and, until recently, it was readily available from eBay for about $1.25.When the ink in my second-to-last Signo pen expired, pushing me below the minimum re-order quantity, I knew time was of the essence to replenish my pen inventory. I’ve purchased about dozen boxes of these pens from eBay so naturally I visited eBay for a resupply but I could find no Signo Bit pens matching what I had! I searched other sites on the Internet and still no luck. I shopped several local brick and mortar stores where I found many related pens: siblings, cousins, but not the real thing. I reluctantly concluded I was not going to find my pen - a pen I’d been calling the “World’s Greatest Pen”.My new mission was to to find an affordable, competent replacement pen which equalled or surpassed the writing experience of the World’s Greatest Pen. I followed my father’s advice “Let your fingers do the walking.”, an allusion to the 1962 Yellow Pages advertisement. For those who may not know what I’m talking about, the Yellow Pages was the business section of the ancient device known as a telephone book. A telephone book was a list all telephone numbers of individuals and businesses. Before the Internet the telephone was a key research tool.I was surprised to discover numerous pen-related blogs, many of them recommending the Uni-ball Jetstream RT. The Uni-ball website says the Jetstream RT offers smoother writing and quick-drying ink. The latter is a boon for lefties whose hand trails the pen during writing and often smears the fresh words while accumulating an unsightly ink stain giving the writer the appearance of an unwashed orphan from a Charles Dickens’ novel.I purchased a package of two Uni-ball Jetstream RTs from a local office supply store. I hurried home and began writing these words as I wanted to tell the world I had found my new World’s Greatest Pen. However the Uni-ball Jetstream RT was a disappointment. They skipped and they did not write smoothly. In fact they were so bad I had to resort to my last Signo World’s Greatest Pen to finish this story. I returned the Jetstream RT pens and received a refund which I used for the next candidate pen.Enter the Zebra JIMNIE GEL, a pen also praised on blogs although not as highly as the Jetstream RT. The JIMNIE is no pretender. It is a cheap, clunky stick pen with no imagination wasted on its design. It seems to be a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of what was probably a great pen. Maybe, even a copy of my beloved Signo Bit and former World’s Greatest Pen? The JIMNIE GEL writing experience, the ink on paper, was similar to the Signo and if I closed my eyes I could smile (but not write legibly) until I realized I was holding cheapness. The JIMNIE was not acceptable.As I continued my search, sifting through the bloggers celebrating the usual suspects of affordable pens: Uni-Ball, Pilot, and Zebra, etc., I found another group of bloggers talking about the Parker Jotter pen. Hmmm? This is a pen I had encountered before and had some limited experience with many years ago. I had forgotten about the Jotter but the clever name seemed to be perfect for an affordable, general purpose pen.I bought a Parker Jotter pen with a black satin and stainless steel barrel and I am pleased. It is affordable, classic, and, most importantly, it writes nicely. I am sold. I’ve since purchased additional Jotters in various colors. The Parker Jotter was exactly what I was looking for and I have found my new World’s Greatest Pen. Maybe the Uni-ball Signo Bit pen, as good as it was, was nothing more than the penultimate pen for me?p.s. Waterloo Blue, how cool is that?

Just right! Buyer beware of the Non-France/India Jotters that are much cheaper. But this is the France version and it is perfect.Has a stylish, classic yet contemporary look with a feel that matches.Light enough to carry everywhere, but with enough heft to feel like something substantial and able to take on a little more than jotting. . The clicker is very nice and adds to the pens versatility and ease and pleasure of use. This feels like a QUALITY pen. ONE thing I will say is that this isn't the best pen for prolonged writing sessions. I like it for Jotting and notetaking, but for prolonged sessions I need my Parker Sonnet with the Schmidt Easyflow 9000 refill..Material on the lower half is an excellent quality, doesn't feel cheap, and provides good tactility. Better than expected. Has decent grip. ****However not all the variations of the Jotter have this more grippable bottom half . I bought the Street Black CT which has it and it is a favorite pen, but I also bought the Premium Oxford Grey version and couldn't stand writing with it since it was so slippery with a polished lower half.Quinkflow ink that comes with the Jotter is one of the better ballpoint inks I've used. Very smooth and precise with minimal pressure, excellent for my arthritis, but works very well for those that use more pressure and don't want excess smoothness. Definitely a "staple" for high quality ink.Works with Fisher Space Pen refills which I recommend if you're writing in the rain, have it in extreme temperatures, abnormal conditions, or in high altitudes or anything adventurous like that. Fishers aren't as smooth as Jotter's Quinkflow, but they will be dependable in abnormal conditions and any condition at that and anytime.For those who prefer Gel refills and those like the Pilot G2 (and even if you don't prefer the Gel inks) the Parker Gel may suit your needs. However these are hit or miss and often a package contains Gel refills that write like dried up Gell pens (Those ordered from Amazon: May have been sitting around too long... IDK). I love the way they write if they work but the percentage of my Gel refills that didn't was not good, BUT......for those that want that effortless writing the Schmidt Easyflow 9000 M refill for the Jotter is the way to go. No pressure needed and provides a smooth effortless dark Gel-like line without skips. They are easier to write with than the Parker Gels, which will skip unless you write with more pressure, which will suit some people, so I don't want to write them off, but for those who prefer effortless writing, the Schmidt is worth a try. There is no smoother, easier flowing refill.With all the different types of refills that fit the Jotter it is a truly versatile writing instrument that offers the most for the value. It doesn't just feel like a good pen for the money. It feels like a quality pen in general that comes with excellent ink to start with (if contains the composite lower half rather than all metal).I couldn't recommend the Parker Jotter more, and I highly recommend trying out the Schmidt 9000 M refill... And the Fisher Space Pen refills if your adventures take you out of the typical writing climate. And there are probably other refills out there to experiment like the Monteverde and others.Has made for a great gift for others as well!

It's the pen I remember my grandma having. When I was a little, pens felt substantially more serious a writing instrument than a pencil, then I grew up using cheap ballpoints (looking at the garbage pentel puts out like the g2) and that went away.It feels great. The ink and writing however is mediocre and totally outclassed by the uni jetstream light touch that dropped last year.The jotter is a bygone era pen.

Perfect tool to write with. Not too fat or thin. Just the right size.