The Parker Pen Company is a manufacturer of pens, founded in 1888[1] by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. It is currently owned by Newell Rubbermaid.
Parker Sonnet fountain pens and Parker Sonnet rollerball pens are ranges of pens made by the Parker Pen Company.
Rollerball pens are writing instruments which use ball point writing mechanisms with water-based liquid or gelled ink, as opposed to the oil-based viscous inks found in ballpoint pens. The characteristics of these less viscous inks, which tend to saturate more deeply and more widely into paper than other types of ink, give rollerball pens their distinctive writing qualities. Some people refer to them as "inky" pens.
Close up of an extra fine rollerball pen next to something written with it.
The rollerball pen was initially designed to combine the convenience of a ballpoint pen with the smooth "wet ink" effect of a fountain pen. Gels usually contain pigments, while liquid inks are limited to dyestuffs, as pigments will sink down in liquid ink (sedimentation). It is the thickness and suspending power of gels that allows the use of pigments in gelled ink. Using pigments (the same pigments that are used in paint) yields a greater variety of brighter colors than is possible in liquid ink. Gels also allow for the use of heavier pigments with metallic or glitter effects, or opaque pastel pigments that can be seen on dark surfaces.
A rollerball pen has four main advantages over a ballpoint pen:
* Less pressure needs to be applied to the pen to have it write cleanly. This permits holding the pen with less stress on the hand, saving energy and improving comfort.
* The inks usually have a greater range of colors due to the wider choice of suitable water-soluble dyes and/or to the use of pigments.
* They usually tend to write finer lines and more clearly than ballpoint pens do.
* The greater viscosity of gel ink increases the likelihood of intermittent (as opposed to consistent) inking of the ball, producing "skipping" where the flow of ink randomly ceases. The amount of skipping varies widely with the pen. Conversely, liquid-ink rollerballs flow extremely consistently, and skip less than ballpoints do.
Manufacturer: N/A
SKU: 9900004
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