Parker 51 Colour Identification Help Required (Nassau Green?)

[FarmBoy]

If you find a wrong color aero, make sure it is not an Ariel Kullock pen.

This too.

[KZ900]

How about this comparison:

 

These are Green Not Dove Gray or Navy Grey. And they have been in a dark drawer since they were made. And the colors are the same for both pens.

 

http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr1/RussJackson/71d59253-a2c9-4ca3-99cb-7565a539dbe3_zps5bd0ctw8.jpg

 

http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr1/RussJackson/aeb98ed7-2d4f-467a-b372-3c0cafd7ec56_zpsh9mcurnk.jpg

Edited November 9, 2015 by KZ900

[pajaro]

This is Parker 51 you are discussing. It had a long run, and some pens were repaired after their color stock was exhausted. So, if you have a dove gray Vac 51 and the barrel cracks and you send it to Parker after the dove gray stock is exhausted, you will likely get a navy gray vac. Parker tried to please and do what it could.

[KZ900]

As far as I know, no one has seen a P51 Aero in Dove, Cedar, Cordovan, Buckskin, Nassau, or Mustard. Collectors would be very interested in any such a pen if one existed.

 

 

You are quite right. I, too, havent seen 51 Aeros in Vac colors.

 

 

This is Parker 51 you are discussing. It had a long run, and some pens were repaired after their color stock was exhausted. So, if you have a dove gray Vac 51 and the barrel cracks and you send it to Parker after the dove gray stock is exhausted, you will likely get a navy gray vac. Parker tried to please and do what it could.

 

 

This is Parker 51 you are discussing. It had a long run, and some pens were repaired after their color stock was exhausted. So, if you have a dove gray Vac 51 and the barrel cracks and you send it to Parker after the dove gray stock is exhausted, you will likely get a navy gray vac. Parker tried to please and do what it could.

 

I was replying to the above quotes as well. The picture shows a Parker 51 without jewel along side a Parker 51 Aero. Both are in Nassau Green. They are both the exact same color.

[pajaro]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was replying to the above quotes as well. The picture shows a Parker 51 without jewel along side a Parker 51 Aero. Both are in Nassau Green. They are both the exact same color.

Those look gray. Must be the lighting.

 

Some of the navy gray pens changed color into a green. That's one possibility.

 

Sometimes Parker people are reputed to have made oddities. Nassau green 51 aero made out of a leftover blank? Kullock or other aftermarket aero barrel made out of a leftover Nassau Green blank?

[Florida Blue]

How about this comparison:

 

These are Green Not Dove Gray or Navy Grey. And they have been in a dark drawer since they were made. And the colors are the same for both pens.

 

 

I agree with Pajaro that those pens don't appear to be Nassau Green. My guess is that they are both Navy Gray as Parker did make 51 Vacs in that color in small numbers. Sometimes Navy and Dove Gray can appear greenish.

[KZ900]

Same picture. The previous picture was lightened. This is the original.

 

http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr1/RussJackson/aero%20nassau_zpsx2qctble.jpg

 

http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr1/RussJackson/aero%20nassau%202_zpsna8x6qcm.jpg

Edited November 10, 2015 by KZ900

[inkstainedruth]

This has been a really interesting thread to read. A lot more fraught with difficulty than figuring out whether a 51 is Plum, apparently....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

If you want to show up the color of a 51, sunlight is best. Artificial light, particularly flourescent light, can make the color look different from what it should be.

 

I have had a number of navy gray 51 aerometric pens that appeared green. Something caused some of these pens to change color.

 

While you can account for a Nassau green vacumatic 51, a Nassau green aerometric is harder to account for. Someone in the Parker special shops might have made one. Someone might have gotten a Nassau green blank and made one. One of the aftermarket craftsmen might have made a Nassau green aero 51. LOK (Lord Only Knows).

 

I would suppose a color changeling or changelings. Whatever made some of the navy gray aero 51s turn greenish happened in a box in the dark for me. This color change in the navy gray aero to green is seen commonly. I have no idea what causes it. No doubt an expert will be along soon.

[FarmBoy]

Note also a single jewel vac-51 in Nassau is an oddity.

 

What are the date codes?

Edited November 10, 2015 by FarmBoy

[mitto]

Three navy grey aero pens with noticeably different greenish shade for each.

 

 

Two are first year aero pens (one British, one USA made) while the third is early 50s' USA production.

[KZ900]

Note also a single jewel vac-51 in Nassau is an oddity.

 

What are the date codes?

 

 

 

There are no date codes or Parker stamp.

Edited November 10, 2015 by KZ900

[BoBoJones]

If the pens were not used enough to wear away the date codes, and no date codes are present, likely navy gray. If you still want to believe that they are nassau green, then send them to an expert for an expert opinion.

[KZ900]

If the pens were not used enough to wear away the date codes, and no date codes are present, likely navy gray. If you still want to believe that they are nassau green, then send them to an expert for an expert opinion.

 

Thanks for the input. But after several people looking at them in natural light everyone of them said Sage Green. A very difficult color to photograph.

[pajaro]

Sage green sounds like a color changeling, gray turning to green. If these pens were to be Nassau green, they might have some value. That ought to be an inducement to get an expert to look at the pens. Pens with no dates while not worn down sounds unlikely to be Nassau green, unless they are some replacement barrels. Inexpert color opinion proves nothing, because people not familiar with the 51 colors have no basis to judge.

 

If you want to press the unlikely scenario that these pens are Nassau green, and if you expect to be believed by collectors, a positive evaluation by a 51 expert would be expected. Failing that it's just a wannabe. Finding an unexpected Nassau green or another color in a pen it doesn't normally occur in is the dream of many.

[KZ900]

They came from a pen store that closed decades ago. I will have an expert look at them and get back to you.

[ANM]

While it is impossible to prove that something never happened, it's beyond any reasonable expectation for a factory Nassau green pen to be an Aerometric. Also since all Nassau single jewel (vac) 51's were made for export, it is also highly unlikely that one would be NOS from a local U.S. store.

[FarmBoy]

They came from a pen store that closed decades ago. I will have an expert look at them and get back to you.

You don't indicate where you are but I would be happy to evaluate them for you though I do not know were I fall on the expert scale.

 

If you have a Nassau single jewel vac filled 51 with no imprint it would be the only one I know of with no imprint. If you have a Nassau aero filled 51 it would be the only one I have heard of. That I know of no such pens does not preclude one or more from existing. Out of interest, which filler shroud imprint is on the aero pen? Also, while I realize nibs can be changed, does the vac pen have a date code on the nib? I assume it has a plastic filler.

 

Farmboy

[KZ900]

I sent the the Pen to a well known expert today. I will update when he responds back.

 

http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr1/RussJackson/comparison_zpsp7b2awig.jpg

[FarmBoy]

Parker supplied replacement barrels and blind caps in the Aero color as a substitute for the Dove Gray that was no longer available.

 

If I get a chance I'll take a quick picture.