Parker Duofold Centennial Photo Thread

[VivienR]

Recently got my new Chevron Blue, and trying to make some good photos. There is a lot to improve in product photography....

[Joane]

Three cheers for the ace nib, a beautiful design! The chevron finish also shows up very well. Youll probably want to take photos in different «poses.» Duofolds are very photogenic, in addition to writing well and being durable. Wishing you many years of enjoyment of it!

[VivienR]

Three cheers for the ace nib, a beautiful design! The chevron finish also shows up very well. Youll probably want to take photos in different «poses.» Duofolds are very photogenic, in addition to writing well and being durable. Wishing you many years of enjoyment of it!

 

Thank you, for the encouraging. Yes, its a beautiful pen and very photogenic. Most of the times I do landscape photography, and doing these kind of photos are new. Require a lot of time and patience, this one is basically the first which I willing to share and used multiple light sources for it, will fine tune my skills...

[Joane]

Always happy to see more Duofold photos.

[Niagara Falls]

My insignificant collection of Duofold Centennials

 

[jchch1950]

My insignificant collection of Duofold Centennials

 

Insignificant?

[richardandtracy]

My insignificant collection of Duofold Centennials

 

Hmm. Only the nicest looking ones Parker has produced... How could you neglect the less interesting ones?

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[wspohn]

Similar tastes - think I have five of the same ones you have. Plus sterling (which always attracts me) in factory, and both Classic Pens versions and the gold 'specimen' Presidential set which took a very long time to find. I'm a fan!

[mallymal1]

My insignificant collection of Duofold Centennials

 

Very nice.

Edited June 26, 2019 by MalcolmH

[Glenn-SC]

I would like to find a Centennial Citrine.

[encremental]

Yes, I know it looks bad, but in my defence - and as anyone who has ever held, used or owned a Centennial knows - these pens are very very moreish. Here is the whole gang, with Internationals, Demis and ballpoints in supporting roles and one recently acquired odd man out. Can you spot it?

 

 

 

And a closer look at five beauties which don't get as much exposure as some of the others. Apologies for the reflections and slightly off colour balance. As everyone says, photographing pens is not easy ...

 

 

 

 

John

[Niagara Falls]

Well, I got a Mk I in orange these days...and a most recent classic one in blue via Amazon. But why should I buy a simply black one, when there are so many beautiful colors...?

Hmm. Only the nicest looking ones Parker has produced... How could you neglect the less interesting ones?

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[richardandtracy]

...

And a closer look at five beauties which don't get as much exposure as some of the others. Apologies for the reflections and slightly off colour balance. As everyone says, photographing pens is not easy ...

 

 

Unfamous Five.jpg

 

 

John

The bottom one of the five is one I have never seen before. It is precisely the sort of thing I have been wanting Parker to produce for years & never knew about. The Kaigelu 316 Charcoal is one pen I have got as a result, and the resin looks similar ( https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/206822-kaigelu-316-charcoal/ ). Can I ask, what is the exact description/model name so I can randomly do searches to see if one is for sale anywhere?

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Joane]

Yes, I know it looks bad, but in my defence - and as anyone who has ever held, used or owned a Centennial knows - these pens are very very moreish. Here is the whole gang, with Internationals, Demis and ballpoints in supporting roles and one recently acquired odd man out. Can you spot it?

 

My Shame.jpg

 

 

And a closer look at five beauties which don't get as much exposure as some of the others. Apologies for the reflections and slightly off colour balance. As everyone says, photographing pens is not easy ...

 

 

Unfamous Five.jpg

 

 

John

 

 

Beautiful collection! Is the odd man out the Lucky 8?

[Glenn-SC]

It's #7.

[encremental]

Thanks Joane. No, it's not the Lucky 8 (although that it is the only eight sided one). However the Lucky 8 is the one which Richard is interested in!

 

 

Richard, I'm sure you must have seen it before, although the swirls don't show up very well unless light is shining directly onto the surface, so it may have looked dowdier. As a pen maker, can you see how the chamfered sides were done? Would the pen have been turned from a rod as usual and then the flat sides planed in, or could it be that the pen was injection moulded? I think the material may be the same as the black DNA, although the machine turning on that makes it hard to compare.

 

Yes, Glenn , it was #7. And of course it's one of the new Moonman 600S centennial-alikes, which really is a piece of work. Not quite the same diamond hard Parker resin, but fairly close in terms of feel and heft, and even through a 30x loupe the fit and finish is immaculate. Apart from a Cross Peerless, I've never seen such a well made Chinese pen, and certainly not for £18. You could fool a Parker fan for a few minutes with a 'hey, check out this wild prototype resin' sort of a comment, or at least until the cap came off. The nib is competent, but ordinary - although I suspect a Parker nib and feed may slip right in (it'd inked at the moment, so I haven't checked). Here it is next to a genuine Olive Check.

 

 

John

 

 

[richardandtracy]

John,

 

Thanks, I hadn't realised the Lucky 8 was made from pearlescent resin. In all the pictures I saw when it came out, the resin didn't look as attractive as that.

 

As for machining it, definitely done on a lathe then milled afterwards to create the flats (a 3 axis CNC lathe could do the job without removing it from the chuck). If the pen shows almost no pearlescense at 90 degrees to the strongest direction, then the bar is in the 'as cast' condition. If it's similar strength all directions, and the pearlescense is discontinuous or maybe not completely continuous, then the bar was cut into wedges and (probably diffusion) bonded before turning, then the joint disguised under one of the corners.

 

I have been amazed with my Moonman 600S. I don't think a Centennial nib will fit, as there are lobes on the feed to hold the nib in. When I removed my Centennial nib I was surprised at how far into the section it went and the diameter of the feed.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[encremental]

Thank you so much for that info, Richard - it is exactly as you say, darker and with little pearlescence on the faces at 90 degrees. Also the black DNA has its pearlescence evenly spread, and with so much going on in the way of 'pixelation' machining all over it that concealing a join would be easy.

 

The construction of those late resins is endlessly fascinating. Ever since I found out that the pearl & black is a 3D jigsaw and saw a diagram of the chocolate pinstripe, I have been hooked. The brown Senior (3rd down in my second original picture) was one of the three tributes to the striped 40s Duofold Seniors, and even though French made, I am sure that Newhaven had sorted the resin out with Carville Plastics before production moved. I would like to think that they would have been intended as a replacement for the checks, rather than the LEs they became. Trying to achieve that striped celluloid look makes for a very complex resin. Do you know anything about the modern True Blue? Some examples look to have the same pattern (like the Pearl & Black) but not all.

 

I'm looking forward to your review of the Moonman. I've ordered the other two, and would like to do something with the nibs if I can,

 

John

[richardandtracy]

I think I have an idea as to the way the True Blue was made. I will try it out in a cad package at some point to verify it.

 

The blank is where the clever stuff went on. If you imagine making something like plywood with 1 to 1.5mm thick layers of alternate blue and white. Cut that to 8mm wide. At the same time make splints of laminate and angle the base by about 5 degrees, then glue on either side of the first bar. Having done that, turn the whole blank on an axis about 5 degrees off the straight axis of the 8mm bar. You will, I think, get a result similar to the True Blue - but it's hard to fully visualise it without modelling it.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Niagara Falls]

Two new additions to the flock:

 

Duofold Centennial Orange, produced 4th quarter 1994

Duofold Centennial Classic Blue and Black from 2019