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Or not ~~ interesting, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. This custom "51" features the following: Four “quick change” threaded cap top jewels: 1) a Solid Gold Crown – ideal to have on the pen in your pocket when going to see the dentist – this one is also of course known as the Crown Jewel; 2) .45 solid lead – ideal for high caliber meetings; 3) 9mm Brass Jacket suitable for lower caliber meetings or casual writing; 4) 146/9 Mont Blanc White Star - ideal for highly pretentious meetings with status conscious individuals or groups… etc. The stainless steel cap has been bead blasted and strongly resembles titanium. The war time Vermeil Blue Diamond clip is bent in such a fashion that it would hard if not impossible to duplicate – it is definitely crooked… but, I have not ever found it to be dishonest in any respect. The hood or shell is dark blue and the barrel is black – reminiscent of two-tone cars in the ‘50s & 60’s. The filling unit and blind cap are oversized slightly. The longer than standard ink pump rod is brass and is housed in one excellent red anodized bushing. The added vacuum pressure sort of supercharges the filling system. The end of the rod contains a silver disc with the Parker Halo encased in translucent red plastic from the Parker Model Shop – the same exact red plastic used to make the Parker T-1 red jewels – it took way too long to make but that’s just hindsight. The nib is an 18k 61 nib which was made in the UK. Don’t know the reason why but 51 and 61 nibs made in the UK are just better writers and smoother than those made in the US – just a fact. Like it – Love it – or Hate it – you’ve got to at least agree it’s interesting…? Life’s too short to always take Pens too seriously. ralph prather

Or not ~~ interesting, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. This custom "51" features the following: Four “quick change” threaded cap top jewels: 1) a Solid Gold Crown – ideal to have on the pen in your pocket when going to see the dentist – this one is also of course known as the Crown Jewel; 2) .45 solid lead – ideal for high caliber meetings; 3) 9mm Brass Jacket suitable for lower caliber meetings or casual writing; 4) 146/9 Mont Blanc White Star - ideal for highly pretentious meetings with status conscious individuals or groups… etc. The stainless steel cap has been bead blasted and strongly resembles titanium. The war time Vermeil Blue Diamond clip is bent in such a fashion that it would hard if not impossible to duplicate – it is definitely crooked… but, I have not ever found it to be dishonest in any respect. The hood or shell is dark blue and the barrel is black – reminiscent of two-tone cars in the ‘50s & 60’s. The filling unit and blind cap are oversized slightly. The longer than standard ink pump rod is brass and is housed in one excellent red anodized bushing. The added vacuum pressure sort of supercharges the filling system. The end of the rod contains a silver disc with the Parker Halo encased in translucent red plastic from the Parker Model Shop – the same exact red plastic used to make the Parker T-1 red jewels – it took way too long to make but that’s just hindsight. The nib is an 18k 61 nib which was made in the UK. Don’t know the reason why but 51 and 61 nibs made in the UK are just better writers and smoother than those made in the US – just a fact. Like it – Love it – or Hate it – you’ve got to at least agree it’s interesting…? Life’s too short to always take Pens too seriously. ralph prather

today I got a nice set there are however problems: 1) the treading in the plastic ball point mechanism is poor and slips through, half the time the ball point ends up in two parts 2) the treading of the black plastic of the section is even worse (item 6 in the line up). The cap gets stuck and the section loosens. The black plastic section part looks worn. any idea why this made in England gold plated 61 set is so poorly manufactured? are there any fixes? or is the only option getting parts?

This is my old student Parker, which has turned up at the back of a drawer after I put it aside in about 1980 in favour of inferior means of writing. I thought it was gone forever. Among other things I hand-wrote my entire PhD, 110,000 words, with this. The Parker Penography website shows it to be a Parker 61 (I think?), which would fit with a purchase date at the start of the 1970s. Is it an Insignia? This seems to be the nearest but the photos on the Parker website aren't that good. The converter was long gone so I have bought it a squeezy rubber one off ebay. Can anyone tell me anything more about it? There is a tiny shield on the cap (photo herewith) which has I and IO in the top spaces I2 and CT in the middle, and R and G in the bottom ones. The arrow was lost some time in the 1970s, and the tip of the section broke aff as well. I don't want to buy a new section and nib, since these are the originals, but can anyone tell me whether I can get hold of a new arrow to insert, and if so, where from? In the photo the whole end of the section looks pretty dirty, what is the best way to clean it? Thanks for any help anyone can give. Peter

This one is a very special pen to me. Its my great Uncle Maurys Parker 61 with a rainbow gold filled cap and rage red body. He passed away back in 1964 due to a mess up during surgery for a basic procedure. He was a very positive influence on my Grandfather who grew up in an orphanage and later ended up becoming very a successful businessman back in the 50s-60s despite having no formal education other than service/schooling as an electrician in the Navy during WW2. My great Uncle was, by all accounts, a very smart businessman and pharmacist in San Francisco and one of the nicest and generous people you could meet. Ive heard stories of him all through my childhood despite never meeting him. I never heard a bad thing about him. Even my life over 50 years after his passing has been positively influenced by him. I first heard of this pens existence from my cousin during a family funeral a couple years ago. Ive been trying to get a hold of it ever since and I was finally able to have the pen in my possession this past week! The fountain pen came in a ballpoint set. The ball point started right up after decades of being socked away in a drawer! The line was a little light but it wrote without a skip! I was pretty amazed. The fountain pen had been stored inked and the feed had a good amount of dried ink. I soaked the nib in water and dipped the capillary cell for a while and the pen started right up. I was actually able to write with the same blue ink for a brief time as my great Uncle did back in the 60s. I only got a few sentences in but it was a very interesting moment. Writing with the same ink as a sentimentally historic family figure from decades ago. I refilled the pen with my go to Omas black for mild inks and the pen is running great with a blue/black line. I also polished the cap and pen body so the pen looks like new. I still need to do some restoration on the ballpoint though. Both caps had been heavily tarnished. It would have been very interesting to have talked with my great Uncle about the pen set. The case has the value noted at $35 for the set on the lining. Thats close to $300 today and tells me he had a commitment to fine writing instruments back when he owned the pens. This is the only fountain pen that Ive heard about that he owned. It may have been the last one he bought actually. Any others are long gone and hopefully being cared for in the fine collections of fellow enthusiasts. The Parker 61 sounds to have been very innovative at the time. Honestly I had never heard of a capillary filling system and had to do some research beyond reading the instruction pamphlet. This is the only vintage pen in my collection at the moment. A pen that fills itself, by itself?? Thats crazy talk! Even by todays standards. Im honestly amazed it was so easy to get the pen running after 50 years in storage. No replacement parts needed at all. Just some water and ink. Its a great writer and Im very pleased to have it after several years!

I've found this ad, and the seller claims it's a 61. It does look like the pictures of 61s I've seen but I've never handled one of these in real life, so I thought I'd better check with you guys. Is that a real Parker 61? Also, how likely is it that it's a capillary filler? I read somewhere that later 61 models have an aerometric filler or even a cartridge / converter filling system. The ad doesn't show a picture of the filling system. In your opinion, is the 61 better in any way than the 51?

Hi, I have a Parker 61 that writes perfectly, but the catch (isn't there always one?) is that the section has a small crack that lets ink seep through and stain my fingers when I use it. Can this be fixed? If so is it something a novice can do or should it be left to an expert?

Howdy FPN! I hope everyone's having a good day, recovering from Christmas. I have a new (to me) Parker 61 in black with a gold-filled cap coming my way for a late Christmas present to myself; and I was wondering how often is "often enough" to use it and keep the ink from drying up. So P61 users, please chime in, does it need to be used every day? Is not using it over a weekend enough time to dry one up?

Hi I am new on here and am mainly interested in Parker 61's. Can anyone help with advice on converting a capillary filler to cartridge filler? Thanks in advance Allan

I happened across this late model Parker 61 and ended up paying $32 for it. It was in great condition cosmetically, but upon filling it, I found that it leaked ink everywhere. The ink was pouring out of the bottom of the spring-bar converter, even though it seemed like it was seated fine. But let me back up for a second: for those unfamiliar (myself included), the 61 mark 3 was released in 1969 without the infamous capillary filler. Instead, it shipped with a system which was cartridge / converter, like the 45. So this pen is actually all original, and was made in England sometime between 1969 and 1983(!). Richard's Pens and the Parker Pens Penography have more information. Getting the pen apart was difficult but not overly so. I soaked the thing in water for four or five hours, and kept trying carefully to loosen it. The only sticky wicket was getting the feed / nib unit out of the hood section. I just kept trying to unscrew it gently and finally it came out. The inside of the hood was a mess, so I spent some time cleaning. In any case, the long and the short of it is that the connector was cracked. Apparently, Parker replaced the connector (which had been metal in the mk1 & mk2) with plastic, and it's known to crack. And so, without further delay, here's the offending part: http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_02.jpg This is where it fits in: http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_03.jpg And this is the full disassembly: http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_01.jpg I wasn't really sure what to do with this pen, now that I'd found the problem. So, To The Web, Batman! After a lot of Googling, I turned up a place called "Custom Pen Parts" in England. To my absolute delight and surprise, they make a replacement for this IN BRASS! And, it was $12! The folks who run the place are incredibly helpful, and "Roger" dispatched the part right away. As soon as it arrived, I rebuilt the pen. The new connector was a perfect fit. http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_04.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_05.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_06.jpg (gotta watch out to get that trim ring put back the right way) http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_07.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_08.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_09.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_10.jpg It's really quite good looking. I filled it up with Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo because it's almost an exact match. Unfortunately (and as Richard Binder mentions in his Parker 61 write-up linked above), the pen is quite fine and writes dry. It's not horrible, but definitely not to my taste. I wouldn't call it scratchy... it's still a decent pen, but I'll probably have it tuned (yes I wrote the wrong ink color here). http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_12.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_11.jpg Just for reference, here's the mk3 compared to the mk2. The differences are nominal, save the filling system. You can see the hoods are a bit different, and apparently the cap is different on the inside, but it's nothing I can really tell. http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_13.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_14.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_15.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/parker61-mk3_16.jpg In any case, I guess my summary is, yay for Custom Pen Parts! But also, I personally am quite a fan of the Parker 61. I understand people's complaints about the capillary system... but I'm not as bothered by it as others are. I think it changes the way you use a pen, and I certainly wouldn't want all my pens to work that way, but it's not a deal breaker for me. Parker 61s can be had for a song and a dance. They seem to be more popular in England then they are elsewhere, so I've had good luck finding replacement parts too. I personally think the 61 is an undervalued pen.