Did I Accidentally Buy A Place Vendome?

[teryg93]

I don't so much care what it's called; I just love the pen and want more of them. It was advertised as a Rialto made in the UK and it writes like a dream. I went to look for more of the same on ebay so I can have one to carry around as well as one or two to have at home, but all the Rialtos I see there have dark endcaps. The one I bought has gold endcaps. I'm attaching the only photo that came out even close to in focus. Let me know if I should take more.

Edited August 6, 2016 by teryg93

[Captivelight]

Difficult to tell from this angle which pen this is ... to check yourself have a look here to see the differences : http://www.pencollect.co.uk/parker88.htm

 

That should get you pointed in the right direction.

[teryg93]

Thanks. I don't know that I have a camera capable of doing those great closeups. The nib looks like the Parker 88 1989-1994--it says "Parker" but with no "88". It would be pre-92 because it has the colored ends. That helps. I've been looking at the Rialtos. It looks like I should be looking at the Parker 88s. I'm not sure how much difference it would make since they're all basically the same pen. This new one (to me) writes so much more smoothly than the Vectors I got. Ebay here I come!

Edited August 6, 2016 by teryg93

[tamiya]

all the Rialtos I see there have dark endcaps. The one I bought has gold endcaps.

Y'mean those flat metallic discs at the ends? Aren't they just stuck on with double sided tape?

[teryg93]

Y'mean those flat metallic discs at the ends? Aren't they just stuck on with double sided tape?

 

Yes, those. I can't tell how they're attached--they're not sitting on top of the pen, they're kind of sunk into it.

[Captivelight]

The give away for the "Place Vendome" series are the color of the plastic end cap and the shell section, which were maroon, blue and, more rarely, green - not the gold disk that sits on the end. The black plastic shell section and end cap on this pen would indicate a later 88 as would the matt green finish.

 

The gold disks set in to the end caps are normal for the 88, which, like many Parker Pens, had a flat space on the ends for personalisation/advertising stickers, hence the slight indent for the disk. The later Rialtos lost this disk and had a slightly convex black plastic piece instead. At one time Parker actually used to sell a set of stickers marketed as "Personal Touch" stickers so you could put your initial on your pen.

 

They are great little pens ...

Edited August 7, 2016 by Spikey Mike

[teryg93]

The give away for the "Place Vendome" series are the color of the plastic end cap and the shell section, which were maroon, blue and, more rarely, green - not the gold disk that sits on the end. The black plastic shell section and end cap on this pen would indicate a later 88 as would the matt green finish.

 

The gold disks set in to the end caps are normal for the 88, which, like many Parker Pens, had a flat space on the ends for personalisation/advertising stickers, hence the slight indent for the disk. The later Rialtos lost this disk and had a slightly convex black plastic piece instead. At one time Parker actually used to sell a set of stickers marketed as "Personal Touch" stickers so you could put your initial on your pen.

 

They are great little pens ...

 

Thanks for the info. I didn't get that much detail from the websites I looked at. I'm actually glad it's not a Place Vendome since those tend to list for more on ebay than the one I bought did. I need to get a couple more of these. I know it can come down to the individual pen, but as I said, this writes like a dream.

 

Now I want some of those "Personal Touch" stickers!