Parker "Relaunch" Party In New York

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about Parker and the "Relaunch"
of Parker Pens including the Jotter. This was Tuesday night in New York at
Museum of Arts & Design. Here's the link

Geoffrey Parker was there and mentioned his Jotter book to be published in 2011.

Enjoy.

I really want Parker to succeed as a brand. It has such a rich and important history. I hope this redesign takes some of the successes from the past, such as the true 51 (instead of the 100) and the laminations of the Vacumatic. They also need to leverage modern manufacturing techniques to get the prices down. These "limited edition" Duofolds can probably be sold for $100 and make a couple of hundred percent margin, so better to do that than to try to build a mystique around them that doesn't exist and charge high prices.

Very interesting read, that article. I'm gonna take the author's advice and hold onto my Jotters. I've got about a half dozen of them in various colors, a few still in their boxes.

So after reading this from the article:

[Says] Penny McIntyre, Parker's group president for office products: "We have redesigned the entire Parker line," she told me at the party,adding something about, "high equity associated with brand," whatever that means. And what is to become of my beloved Jotter? "We've redesigned the Jotter. It's gorgeous. We've elevated its status."

and feeling a bit disturbed, I went and visited Parker's website (parkerpen.com). Welp, I don't think I've ever visited Parker's website before, and I gotta say that it's one of the most ambitious websites I've ever been to. But one stark fact came across to me, and it is this: the Parker Office Products people are so cool, they're monochrome. If you don't like a black or chrome finish, then you are pretty much SOL. I wonder what they have against color? Even the Jotters aren't available in color anymore. Instead it all seems to be about patterns and textures. Some nice looking pens, sure, but it just seems to me they're trying to appeal to a crowd that spends more time texting than writing text. There is little, if any, homage to the Parker tradition. I think that they should have at least one reasonably priced model that does this -- that states "vintage." Instead, the closest they get to their fountain pens of yore is the Duofold, which is hardly economical. And they should at least offer the Duofold in some traditional Parker colors. Honestly, not only do I think that it does not bode well for the future at Parker, but I think that they don't even realize that it doesn't.

JMHO