I bought the Parker Sonnet because I wanted a nicer looking pen for an upcoming business trip, and I didn’t want to take a fountain pen, and I wanted the pen to take Parker refills.
Amazon had it on sale, so I ordered the black and gold version:
The girth is medium, perhaps a bit thick for a ballpoint but medium for pens in general. Not a tight fit for most of the pen sleeves in the bags I use these days. It’s twist operated, so opening it one handed is no problem.
The clip is fairly firm, but has little reveal, so digging this out of a deep sleeve could be difficult. My current bags all have short sleeves so it’s not an issue. The clip does flex a bit side to side, which I don’t care for.
The gold section at the end and the black barrel shift ever so slightly while writing. It’s so slight that I’m still not 100% sure it’s happening, because when I try to shift them with two hands can’t detect it. Only while writing. It’s a minor thing really.
Unscrewing the two halves opens the pen for refill replacement and there is no spring or other parts coming out of either side. I like this.
I got the pen in late 2019, and I’ve been using it exclusively since then, which is why it looks a bit worn in the photo. It’s comfortable, and the mechanism operates the same as it did when I got it. Will it last forever? Hmmmm…probably not, but the nice thing about ballpoints is that I don’t feel like they have to.
So if you’re looking for a decent ballpoint that is formal in a generic sort of way, that is nice to hold this could be a good choice.
[UPDATE 1/15/2023] I don’t know if it is just the unit I got, or a chronic flaw in Sonnet ballpoints, but mine has developed a looseness between the upper barrel and the lower barrel. When the point is extended the looseness is gone but a there’s a gap that shows up (just to the left of the gold band in the photo).
Basically the threaded portion in the upper barrel is coming loose. I can send the pen back for repair, but it’s now out of warranty.