Although we're primarily a fountain pen club, we also welcome fans of other writing instruments. I've been a ballpoint fan all of my life, and this particular model caught my eye after I read about it on Tony Fischier's excellent Parkerpens.net site:
(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)
It's the Parker 'Dimonite', and it was only produced for three years (2002-2005) so I don't think it's as well-known as many other Parker models. Because of its relatively short production run, 'Dimonite' pens and pencils seem to be a bit harder to find and/or go for a premium on the secondary market (very late addition to this post---the pens were apparently sold in the United States as the Parker 'Infusion')
I acquired the Violet and Ochre ballpoints (the top two pens in the photo above) on eBay for a reasonable price from German eBay seller Rolf Thiel ("missing-pen" on eBay) a few months ago. I
loved the design, the weight & feel of the pens (they remind me of their
successor, the original Parker 'Urban' ballpoint) and that lovely dark brushed metal trim, so I kept an eye out for the other colours...
One day while trolling eBay, I saw that Shawn Newton of Newton
Pens was running another set of charity auctions for his Newton Pens scholarship fund , and one of the auctions was for a 'Dimonite' ballpoint and mechanical pencil set in
Carbon. I put in a low bid and (as the lone bidder) I won it! The set arrived, safe and sound from Hot Springs, Arkansas
in the Parker box shown in the top photo (very late edit to this post: I've seen photos of this same Parker box used for this pen set, so I believe it is the original box for the set; initially I thought it wasn't, so I'm correcting my post now :)
The 'Dimonite' lineup of writing instruments consisted of a
ballpoint, pencil and gel pen (no fountain pens, unfortunately) and was
available in five different finishes--Violet, Ochre, Carbon, Prussian
Blue and Blue Mint. I love how the dark metal trim complements the Violet and Ochre pens shown above...
Side note: the model name 'Dimonite' is a reference to Parker's patented gold-plating process of the same name that was introduced in the early 21st century. The plating is an alloy comprised of 50% gold and 50% titanium that was used on some Parker 'Sonnet' and 'Insignia' writing instruments.
(It's not the patented Parker "Dimonite" finish, but I love that dark, brushed-metal trim...and yes, the metal trim is darker on the Ochre and Violet pens than on the Carbon set...)
At 34 grams, the 'Dimonite' isn't a light ballpoint, but I love its heft and balance. It's solidly made of matte plastic and heavy, brushed stainless steel. According to my measuring tape, it's 13.4 cm/5.25 inches in length -- longer than a Parker 'Jotter' ballpoint, but slightly shorter than the 'Jotter XL'. One little feature of note - it does make a rather loud clicking noise when you click it; you can actually hear the spring inside the barrel compressing and decompressing!
The mechanical pencil has the same weight & length as its ballpoint counterpart and features a retractable nose cone (so it won't accidentally poke you when the lead is withdrawn). It also has a retractable eraser hidden in the clicker, which lessens the chances of losing the clicker cap when you want to use the eraser. The pencil takes 0.5mm leads and the 'Dimonite' pens take Parker (or "Parker-style") ballpoint refills or Parker Gel refills.
Many thanks to Shawn of Newton Pens and Rolf of missing-pen.com for their excellent customer service, and to Tony
Fischier for his write-up on the 'Dimonite' model (and other Parkers) on his Parkerpens.net website. Update: Earlier today, I ordered a 'Dimonite' ballpoint in "Blue Mint", so only one more colour (the "Prussian Blue") to go! ;)
~ Photos and review by Maja ~
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