Your Rarest Parker Pens And Your Favorite!

[Emver]

My favourite one doesn't officially exist.  And for the same reason, it must also be the rarest!

 

The closest one which actually does exist, is probably the most common variant of the Parker 51 - black with the Lustralloy cap

and aeromatic filler.  It's the smartest, classiest, most elegant and most practical version of what is unquestionably the most beautiful

and most iconic fountain pen ever built.  In my opinion it still looks as fresh and modern as the day it was introduced, and the fact that

there are still so many around in near perfect condition is testament to its quality and durability.

 

Unsurprisingly, none of the subsequent Parker models designed to maintain sales in that sector of the market managed to quite capture

the original purity of the 51 design.  Perfection can't be improved upon!  All those little changes in shape or additions of jewels or gold arrows

just detracted from the simplicity and understated elegance of the original design.

 

But one later pen in the same family did have a feature I really do like, and that's the beautiful nib of the 65 model.  So my favourite pen, if it existed,

would be a black Parker 65 with a Lustralloy cap and a Parker 51 barrel.  

 

Strangely enough, in direct contrast to the 51, the black with Lustralloy cap seems to be a rare combination.  My own 65, although in almost mint condition

is grey with a gold cap.  It's pretty but it doesn't do it for me in the same way as the black / Lustralloy combination.  The later 51 barrel seems to fit so maybe soon I'll build my ideal pen.

[XV107]

This one might amuse...

 

Some years ago, I was idly browsing ebay and found this 'Parker Fountain Pen', sale price something like £20.00. The photos looked promising, thus:

 

Now, being a suspicious sort of fellow, I was thinking 'too good to be true', and indeed, the third photo confirmed all was not as it seemed... You will have noticed the... er... rather unusual nib unit.

Anyway, I was quite taken by this Parker that apparently isn't, not least since it looked like the sort of pen that I could take with me when work took me to wandering over the battlefields of the First World War, and if I carelessly lost it on the edge of a farmer's field, it was no great loss at £20.

Of course, upon receiving it (and discovering it does take a Parker cartridge),  I had to write with it and... it was quite nice, so I got through the cartridge and put another one in and... by the time I was next sent off to take some officers around the Somme battlefields to consider how one plans (or doesn't) a battle, there was no way I was going to risk losing it and it remained safely at home.

I have to say that it's a nicely executed 'Duofold' - the cap cheerfully interchanges with a 1989 Duofold international, and the nib and feed are similarly happy if you put them into a section which will take a convertor, although the barrel is a fraction thinner than an International barrel, so the section of my 'Duofold' won't swap into a Duofold International barrel.

Anyway, that's my rarest 'Parker', whatever it actually is - but I like it!

[Heinkle]

13 hours ago, XV107 said:

This one might amuse...

 

Some years ago, I was idly browsing ebay and found this 'Parker Fountain Pen', sale price something like £20.00. The photos looked promising, thus:

 

Now, being a suspicious sort of fellow, I was thinking 'too good to be true', and indeed, the third photo confirmed all was not as it seemed... You will have noticed the... er... rather unusual nib unit.

Anyway, I was quite taken by this Parker that apparently isn't, not least since it looked like the sort of pen that I could take with me when work took me to wandering over the battlefields of the First World War, and if I carelessly lost it on the edge of a farmer's field, it was no great loss at £20.

Of course, upon receiving it (and discovering it does take a Parker cartridge),  I had to write with it and... it was quite nice, so I got through the cartridge and put another one in and... by the time I was next sent off to take some officers around the Somme battlefields to consider how one plans (or doesn't) a battle, there was no way I was going to risk losing it and it remained safely at home.

I have to say that it's a nicely executed 'Duofold' - the cap cheerfully interchanges with a 1989 Duofold international, and the nib and feed are similarly happy if you put them into a section which will take a convertor, although the barrel is a fraction thinner than an International barrel, so the section of my 'Duofold' won't swap into a Duofold International barrel.

Anyway, that's my rarest 'Parker', whatever it actually is - but I like it!

 

That's a reasonably rare pen - looks like the outer metal part that should cover the inner workings of the feed has become logged into the barrel thread. Condition is extremely good for £20!

[XV107]

2 hours ago, Heinkle said:

 

That's a reasonably rare pen - looks like the outer metal part that should cover the inner workings of the feed has become logged into the barrel thread. Condition is extremely good for £20!

 

Never thought of that! I'll take a closer look at the threads to see if the covering's been stripped off the section. Thanks.

 

Edit - And indeed it had: applied a bit of (gentle) heat to the barrel thread, carefully screwed feed in, carefully screwed it back out and it had turned into a proper Duofold International section. 

Given that I'm sitting at a desk where there are er... a few Duofolds in front of me (well, 15 if we're being honest. The rest are in another room) collected since 1990, you might have thought that the question of whether the section parts had simply become separated and jammed might have occurred to me - but because I bought it in the assumption that it wasn't a 'proper' Duofold, being sold at a silly price (for a real Duofold) and was thus a nice little curiosity, I'd never thought about it logically and asked 'is it the pen which is wrong, or is there something wrong with the pen?'

 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I'm very grateful (although the nib may be a little nervous about giving up its diet of Parker blue-black and me running some Diamine Oxblood through it now I can fit a converter in...)

[TheRedBeard]

15 hours ago, XV107 said:

This one might amuse...

 

Some years ago, I was idly browsing ebay and found this 'Parker Fountain Pen', sale price something like £20.00. The photos looked promising, thus:

 

Now, being a suspicious sort of fellow, I was thinking 'too good to be true', and indeed, the third photo confirmed all was not as it seemed... You will have noticed the... er... rather unusual nib unit.

Anyway, I was quite taken by this Parker that apparently isn't, not least since it looked like the sort of pen that I could take with me when work took me to wandering over the battlefields of the First World War, and if I carelessly lost it on the edge of a farmer's field, it was no great loss at £20.

Of course, upon receiving it (and discovering it does take a Parker cartridge),  I had to write with it and... it was quite nice, so I got through the cartridge and put another one in and... by the time I was next sent off to take some officers around the Somme battlefields to consider how one plans (or doesn't) a battle, there was no way I was going to risk losing it and it remained safely at home.

I have to say that it's a nicely executed 'Duofold' - the cap cheerfully interchanges with a 1989 Duofold international, and the nib and feed are similarly happy if you put them into a section which will take a convertor, although the barrel is a fraction thinner than an International barrel, so the section of my 'Duofold' won't swap into a Duofold International barrel.

Anyway, that's my rarest 'Parker', whatever it actually is - but I like it!

Very nice pen...

[Heinkle]

4 hours ago, XV107 said:

 

Never thought of that! I'll take a closer look at the threads to see if the covering's been stripped off the section. Thanks.

 

Edit - And indeed it had: applied a bit of (gentle) heat to the barrel thread, carefully screwed feed in, carefully screwed it back out and it had turned into a proper Duofold International section. 

Given that I'm sitting at a desk where there are er... a few Duofolds in front of me (well, 15 if we're being honest. The rest are in another room) collected since 1990, you might have thought that the question of whether the section parts had simply become separated and jammed might have occurred to me - but because I bought it in the assumption that it wasn't a 'proper' Duofold, being sold at a silly price (for a real Duofold) and was thus a nice little curiosity, I'd never thought about it logically and asked 'is it the pen which is wrong, or is there something wrong with the pen?'

 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I'm very grateful (although the nib may be a little nervous about giving up its diet of Parker blue-black and me running some Diamine Oxblood through it now I can fit a converter in...)

 

No problem, happy to help out a fellow Duofold lover. Interested to know your solution for ensuring the threads don't dislodge from the feed again. 

[Kenlowe]

A favorite of mine is this Parker 61 with a broad nib.

 

[theodore94]

I believe my two "rarest" Parkers are two that I got in just the past few weeks. The first is a Parker 33 that I bought for $300 from a used dealer. The second is a Parker 21 1/2 that I bought online from an individual for $10... it doesn't have a cap, but I'm hoping I can find one for it! I don't know a ton about them, so feel free to let me know if you have any comments or stories! (Both are being sent out to be restored soon).

 

 

[Esoterica1693]

On 6/13/2020 at 6:51 AM, Matlock said:

My favorite is my Parker 1945 51 (year of my birth). A fairly rare, but not quite a pen, is my Parker VP Holy Water Sprinkler (aspergillum).

 That aspergillum is one I’d love to find!

[Hbanger]

Hahaha I looked and I don’t have a rarest Parker, but my favorite is the blue duofold 

[pwrstang]

Probably my rarest Parker pen. Parker Classic Ambassador in solid 18k gold. It is a click pen & is fluted. Other than the 18k gold hallmark, there is no other branding or logo on the pen.

I picked it up at an estate sale and according the gentleman running it, the estate (previous owner) was a former US/French Ambassador & later real-estate mogul. I can't verify that but there was a lot of other stuff from France for sale. 

 

[david-p]

I dont think that I have any "rare" Parker pens. I have 51s, 61s, 45s and a 181. Of these, I have one 51 and two 45s that never fail to work immediately when I pick them up. They all have broad nibs. The others are far more temperamental.

 

David

[Le Vieux]

Nothing rare, but I enjoy using a few vintage Parker pens. The "rarest"  I have is a Duofold Senior Lapis, a Blue on Blue one, and a Insignia 51. Some other Senior Duofolds are present, the usual stuff. There is somewhere a 61 Insignia, but I do not count this one as rare; I do enjoy its 1.1mm nib, wet and an excellent writer. Several Vacumatics and also some 10 or 12 51's, both vacs and aerometric. I do seem to have a soft spot for a Thrift/Depression one I got several yrs ago. However, the most used on is a 49 black 51 aero, which is by all intents and purposes my go-to pen. 

 

So, no rare Parker here, just a small gathering which makes me smile every now and then.

[Max Greer]

1965 Parker Spanish treasure Is what I recently picked up! 

[TheRedBeard]

On 8/23/2022 at 3:26 PM, Max Greer said:

1965 Parker Spanish treasure Is what I recently picked up! 

True treasure, indeed  

[mitto]

On 8/23/2022 at 7:26 PM, Max Greer said:

1965 Parker Spanish treasure Is what I recently picked up! 

Congratulations. Enjoy looking at it and using it as well. 

[georges zaslavsky]

these 4 include two rare french made parkers and two rare british made parkers

The two rare french made oversize Vacumatic maxima

[Sheptonian]

OK Here goes...

 

Duofold FP Concept (1 of 3 produced):

...but it's a concept pen so non-functioning mock-up and maybe doesn't count.

 

So how about a humble Newhaven Parker "51" Aero Mk III Classic Burgundy date coded Q2 of 1981?

 

As for my favourite, it has to be this slightly scruffy late Newhaven P61 Custom Burgundy that replaced a Sonnet RB as my everyday writer a couple of years ago.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Sheptonian
Edited to add favourite (First, read the question...)

[Liuna]

My only Parker fountain pen is a Parker 45 Custom with conical tassie, made in USA, it isn't rare (as far as I know), but also my favourite. It's good to write with it and I like it's "semi-hooded" design. Beside these, I have a 45 pencil and some Jotters.
I also really love the Parker 50 Falcon, Parker 45 Lady, 45 Flighter and the the golden Lady Jotters (with engraved patterns). Never encountered any of them in real yet.