The Best Parker Fountain Pen?

[pajaro]

Quite a spread. Truly a matter of opinion.

[Erik Dalton]

My first choice is a P-51areo, followed by a P-75. I stay away from Vacuumatics only because I dont like to mess with the latex sacs. But recently I got very lucky and acquired a refurbished 1947 Vacuumatic with a new sac and rare broad nib. The pen is on its second filling, and has been in everyday use since it arrived. I am absolutely in love with this pen.

I humbly apologize to Vac lovers for not appreciating these pens.😞

Heres a pic.

[Runnin_Ute]

My favorite Parker's is the 45, followed closely by the 51 (mine is a Special). The Worst Parker I have ever tried is the IM. Mine like to hard start, but aren't bad writers, although it's been a while since either has been used/filled. I have 5 or 6 45's including a desk set from 1968. Big wide nib on the 51 although I am unsure what it really is.

[mitto]

All my parkers are my favorites except for those that do not write.

 

'Do not write' in the sense that they need parts to be restored.

[Dr. Saleem Ali]

Well,Parkers are well-made pens and popular among fp enthusiasts .Difficult to vote for the favourite as it is very individual.I can pick up Parker 75s esp those made in France Numerous nib sizes n finishes and affordable too.They make "modern"classics IMHOP..

[mitto]

+1

[friedrichwild]

i love my parker 45 flighter. DURABLE fountain pen, easy to clean, easy to carry, easy to swap out the nib, comfortable in the hand for a lot of users and at a very reasonable price. Mine used to have a medium nib (which was very good) but i changed it with a wonderful italic fine which writes like a champion.

[mitto]

i love my parker 45 flighter. DURABLE fountain pen, easy to clean, easy to carry, easy to swap out the nib, comfortable in the hand for a lot of users and at a very reasonable price. Mine used to have a medium nib (which was very good) but i changed it with a wonderful italic fine which writes like a champion.

The P45 came with a variety of exotic nibs ranging from obliques to stubs and italics. And the metal body (Flighters, Coronets, Insignias, Harlequin 80s, TXs and the clipless Ladys) are really substantial up market pens.

[friedrichwild]

The P45 came with a variety of exotic nibs ranging from obliques to stubs and italics. And the metal body (Flighters, Coronets, Insignias, Harlequin 80s, TXs and the clipless Ladys) are really substantial up market pens.

thank you mitto. I really love this pen. i think that it is one of my best fountain pens overall (including some faaaar more expensive ones).

Edited November 16, 2017 by friedrichwild

[dojocho]

The favourite: the Newhaven Duofolds of the 1990s. Robust, reliable, beautiful Art Deco design, attractive and sturdy materials, wide variety of colours, numerous nib choices and the nibs/sections are interchangeable from one pen to another. They write beautifully and feel good in the hand. Can't ask for better, imho.

 

Tis!

[pajaro]

I see the beat goes on, and the most expensive will be touted. I probably would too if I had spent that much.

[banjomike]

i love my parker 45 flighter. DURABLE fountain pen, easy to clean, easy to carry, easy to swap out the nib, comfortable in the hand for a lot of users and at a very reasonable price. Mine used to have a medium nib (which was very good) but i changed it with a wonderful italic fine which writes like a champion.

 

 

I just inherited a 60s Parker 45 I never knew my father owned. It had been sitting in a catch-all drawer of his for at least 50 years, and I was going to just make a keepsake out of it, but after about a week afterward, out of curiosity, I decided to give it a flush and try inking it just to see if it still worked.

 

It has a plastic sac converter in it that is still functional, and I filled it with some Pilot irushizuklu ink, and gosh!

What a fine writer it is! It has a steel nib, a medium, but on the finer side of medium, and writes very smoothly and nicely.

 

The blue body was quite oxidized and dull, so I polished it with some guitar cleaner, and it shined right up. The ink is the same shade of the blue.

Ironically, I never liked the ink much. I got it along with a pen I bought last year as a freebie, but never cared for it until I used it in this pen. The pen's flow and feed fit the ink perfectly, and it it's proper saturation on paper, the ink looks much better to my eye than it ever did on any of the other pens I tried it with.

 

The pens are still quite affordable used, I think, and while I won't pack this one around, another would make a good pocket pen.

 

My Dad's been gone for over 30 years now, and I'm sure he would be pleased to see it in use once more. The drawer was filled with things he liked so much he never used them, and things he liked so much he used them up and couldn't throw them away.

My bro said he used it a lot; he remembered it from when he was a kid. I think our Dad may just have run out of ink and forgot to buy another bottle. That it had a converter in it was a surprise; I would have thought he would use cartridges instead.

 

Maybe he ran out of them first and used up a bottle of my Grandmother's ink. She never used a fountain pen, but for some reason, would by ink bottles once in a while. When she passed away, she had 5 full bottles in her desk.

[pajaro]

 

 

I just inherited a 60s Parker 45 I never knew my father owned. It had been sitting in a catch-all drawer of his for at least 50 years, and I was going to just make a keepsake out of it, but after about a week afterward, out of curiosity, I decided to give it a flush and try inking it just to see if it still worked.

 

It has a plastic sac converter in it that is still functional, and I filled it with some Pilot irushizuklu ink, and gosh!

What a fine writer it is! It has a steel nib, a medium, but on the finer side of medium, and writes very smoothly and nicely.

 

The blue body was quite oxidized and dull, so I polished it with some guitar cleaner, and it shined right up. The ink is the same shade of the blue.

Ironically, I never liked the ink much. I got it along with a pen I bought last year as a freebie, but never cared for it until I used it in this pen. The pen's flow and feed fit the ink perfectly, and it it's proper saturation on paper, the ink looks much better to my eye than it ever did on any of the other pens I tried it with.

 

The pens are still quite affordable used, I think, and while I won't pack this one around, another would make a good pocket pen.

 

My Dad's been gone for over 30 years now, and I'm sure he would be pleased to see it in use once more. The drawer was filled with things he liked so much he never used them, and things he liked so much he used them up and couldn't throw them away.

My bro said he used it a lot; he remembered it from when he was a kid. I think our Dad may just have run out of ink and forgot to buy another bottle. That it had a converter in it was a surprise; I would have thought he would use cartridges instead.

 

Maybe he ran out of them first and used up a bottle of my Grandmother's ink. She never used a fountain pen, but for some reason, would by ink bottles once in a while. When she passed away, she had 5 full bottles in her desk.

 

Treasures.

[inkstainedruth]

"Best" is subjective. My favorite pen is a Plum Demi Parker 51. But the Red Shadow Wave Vacumatic Junior gets more use (it's run for over 2-1/2 years without flushing, flossing the nib, or any sort of maintenance other than just refilling it as needed with Waterman Mysterious Blue). The best nib is probably on one of the Laidtone Duofolds, a semi-flex OF or OM nib. And my Vectors are little workhorses, and great for testing inks with.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[parker51man]

Hi a very emotive subject. With the rise of the ball pen , nibs are designed to have very little flex, as the light upstroke and firmer downstroke that was taught to the pre-war generation is no longer taught. The sad fact, a lot of high end bespoke pens are using the large modern duofold nib and feed unit which makes then another wet ballpoint.

 

I love Parker, as I was involved with their adverting, have over 50 years collected most of their pens, as users, I would rather use a 20-30 generation than 85 onwards. Have I spent time working on a 100 to try and get it right. Like everything else, it's personal, Parker is a hard nib, Pelikan, is soft. It is all down you your personal choice

[Methersgate]

Hi a very emotive subject. With the rise of the ball pen , nibs are designed to have very little flex, as the light upstroke and firmer downstroke that was taught to the pre-war generation is no longer taught. The sad fact, a lot of high end bespoke pens are using the large modern duofold nib and feed unit which makes then another wet ballpoint.

 

I love Parker, as I was involved with their adverting, have over 50 years collected most of their pens, as users, I would rather use a 20-30 generation than 85 onwards. Have I spent time working on a 100 to try and get it right. Like everything else, it's personal, Parker is a hard nib, Pelikan, is soft. It is all down you your personal choice

That is a really good point.

 

I suppose that, if I were only to be allowed to choose one pen, it would be a 51 Aerometric. Its practically bomb proof, you can take it on aeroplanes, and it always starts and never floods.

 

But if I were to be allowed three, Id have a pretty Lockdown Vacumatic, with one of those wonderful fine U.S. nibs and a Newhaven Aero Duofold with a broad left oblique.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Methersgate

[mitto]

+1

The aero 51 is 'the pen' for me too.

[mitto]

Deleted being double post.

Edited May 3, 2018 by mitto

[coinlvr]

Parker 51 Vacumatic!

Parker 51 UK Aerometric or Industria Argentina 51!

Parker 51 USA it depends.

[AL01]

I'll take my VAC 51 o'er any AERO.

 

At least, IMHO, the balance on the pen is equally distributed.

 

Now I gotta look for a Vacumatic...

 

Ahhhh....