Parker Duofold Centennial Photo Thread

[Heinkle]

Great collection - when are you taking out a second mortgage to acquire a 100th anniversary model?  

[Paul-in-SF]

27 minutes ago, Heinkle said:

Great collection - when are you taking out a second mortgage to acquire a 100th anniversary model?  

 

If this is directed at me (I can only assume), thank you for the compliment; the answer is never, I'm completely not interested in those materials. If I were going to buy one that is currently available new, it might be the solid color lapis, or the ruthenium metal, but really the other ones I'm interested in would come first. I can afford to wait (at least in the monetary sense) to find them. 

[bunnspecial]

Here is a Mk 1 I bought recently and just arrived today.

 

Its original box claims a medium nib, but it looks and writes like a stubby broad to my eye...

 

(I'd always assumed the markings on the back of the feed were the nib size since my other Duofolds are all Fines and have Fs there, but this particular one has the number "92" on the feed).

 

[fpupulin]

 

Code 92 means XX Broad Oblique Right.

[bunnspecial]

7 hours ago, fpupulin said:

 

Code 92 means XX Broad Oblique Right.

Interesting-thanks.

 

I thought it was writing very broad. It looks like what I'm use to on an MB BB nib. I see the oblique grind on it now, but it is very subtle.

 

With that said, the description of a right oblique has me a bit stumped. It looks like a "normal"(or what I've also heard called a left oblique) oblique in that when viewing the top of the nib, the left tine is lower than the right tine. I have several vintage Pelikan and MB Olbiques, a couple of modern MBs, and even a prize OB Parker 51. All of them are ground left tine lower. On the Pelikans and MBs so marked, it's not specified as a left or right oblique, but rather just a simple "oblique."n

 

Does Parker just reverse the nomenclature convention on obliques, or are my eyes deceiving me? I'm guessing this is a fairly oblique angle-maybe 7º or so-and not a "normal" 15º.

 

 

[fpupulin]

I don't know, with respect to your nib in particular. I was just referring to that specific number in Parker's Nib codes chart, which I copy below:

 

[bunnspecial]

Thank you!

 

With that said, first of all I was wrong on the code. It's 94, not 92.

 

This reference

 

http://parkerpens.net/codekey.html

 

is consistent with your XX Broad Right Oblique designation for 92

 

With that said, it lists 94 as a medium italic 14K, although your chart above says medium italic 18K.

 

That's not really consistent. First of all, it's 18K, not 14K. Second, it certainly doesn't look like an italic to my eye-it looks like a stub(and honestly double broad wasn't surprising to me as it looks like a typical German double broad). The line variation isn't as crisp as an italic, and I also can struggle to write well even with a CI(stubs are my limit for general writing).

 

Here it is next to a BB Montblanc 147(which is a similar sized nib)

I was stretching to see some an oblique grind on it, so I suspect that it really is a standard straight grind. I have a bunch of obliques and I tend to enjoy writing with them(in fact my main shirt pocket pen the past week or so has been an OB 149) so I'm not unfamiliar with what an oblique looks like. I don't see any typical oblique character in how it writes.

 

If my reference German pens of known size are any indication, though, I think this is definitely a BB(or an Extra B? I feel like at least my modern Parkers run consistent with German sizes) both in nib appearance and how it writes.

 

Reading the chart above, I see that Parker does(or did) offer several of what they call "right obliques" and not very many "left obliques." Their description of a right oblique being "generally suited to right handers" and "slopes upward to the right" sounds like what I know as a left oblique. Parker just seems to designate it "backwards" to most other convention. In my experience, what often called a "right oblique" is somewhat uncommon, and their range of cataloged grinds seems to support that.

 

 

[thott]

I have only one Centennial……

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas

[fpupulin]

By sure this lapis blue is one of the most striking of all the Duofold Centennials! And, today, quite a rare pen to find.

[mge01park]

I also have the blue lapis which I bought many years ago like in the late 90's at a Levenger warehouse sale and it was $99. i went on from there to get the pearl grey, the big red and the greenwich at of course higher but also really good prices. Great pens with great nibs. 

[bunnspecial]

I've been a MB nut for a while(especially 146s and 149s) and even though I'd always heard the modern Duofold spoken of highly, I'd overlooked them as too expensive and have a bad tendency to turn up my nose at C/C pens. I love Parkers, but I'd confined myself to vintage(51s and Vacs preferred, although I had a few vintage Duofolds).

My first Centennial, a French-made "Big Red" and new/unused(bought at about half retail from a seller on here-it seems like new the non-LEs can routinely be found for $300-400 with some shopping) made me fall in love with it. First of all, Parker IMO has the best cartridge design made, and the converters are solid enough as is the barrel to section joint(Parker has been making screw-off barrels for only about 70 years now, at least since the 51 Aero) that I don't mind. What really hooked me, though, was how wonderful even the F nib(and I'm not normally an F person) is. I've since added a pair of Mk 1s, a black International and now the blue marble Centennial earlier in this thread, and I'm even more hot on them.

 

IMO, these are some of the best current production or recent production pens, and I like that they're a lesser know product from a classic premium brand that many overlook.

[bunnspecial]

Also, as a side note, am I missing some significance to the "Ace" of the current nib and cap?

 

The arrows of course are reminiscent of the Vacumatic era nibs(and I have one vintage Duofold that has an arrow nib-not sure if it's original or not) and of course the arrow in general has been associated with Parker since at least the 30s. The "Banner" nib reminds me of the "Lucky Curve" banner of the teens and 20s. The ace, though, seems to not fit into Parker history as best as I can tell-do I just not know it back far enough?

[silverlifter]

5 minutes ago, bunnspecial said:

Also, as a side note, am I missing some significance to the "Ace" of the current nib and cap?

 

The arrows of course are reminiscent of the Vacumatic era nibs(and I have one vintage Duofold that has an arrow nib-not sure if it's original or not) and of course the arrow in general has been associated with Parker since at least the 30s. The "Banner" nib reminds me of the "Lucky Curve" banner of the teens and 20s. The ace, though, seems to not fit into Parker history as best as I can tell-do I just not know it back far enough?

 

Some speculation here:

 

 

 

[lionelc]

it has been a 100 years

[Heinkle]

Congrats - can you answer the much asked question about whether the gold lettering is i) just stuck on the outside of the plastic or ii) looks liable to scratch/rub off?

[Glenn-SC]

Very nice!!!!!!

[lionelc]

Stuck on lettering I think, I can feel the raised letters.  Definitely won’t be game to polish the pen.  The nib I had modified to a stub.  It’s a keeper.

[Frank C]

5 hours ago, lionelc said:

it has been a 100 years

Very nice photo. I have long liked the modern Parker Duofolds. They are well-made pens with great nibs. My Duofolds have always written well out-of-the-box. I like the looks of these 100th Anniversary pens; I guess that I'll have to keep an eye out for one on sale, now. 

[Paul-in-SF]

On 8/28/2021 at 4:31 AM, thott said:

 I have only one Centennial……

 

 

Thomas

 

And a beauty it is. This finish is on my very short list for additional Centennials (I shortened the list recently by finding a Red Jasper at a good price, although it looks like several weeks to get here). 

 

[thott]

4 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

And a beauty it is. This finish is on my very short list for additional Centennials (I shortened the list recently by finding a Red Jasper at a good price, although it looks like several weeks to get here). 

 

It is from the first quarter of 2010. I have on the pen the mark "Q.III" which means it is from the first quarter of 2010.



Sorry for the bad picture quality....

I got this information and the link from a user of a German fountain pen forum.

Data Codes - Dating a Pen, Parker


Thomas