Is My Newly Arrived Parker 51 A Fake

[jarodzz]

Hi, guys.

 

I just got a new vintage parker 51 arrived, my 3rd.

It is a EF Nib, previously I got 1 Medium, 1 Fine.

 

The pen looks it is gentle-used, but after soaking and flushing it, it fails at its test drive.

It is scratchy and provides a very poor ink-flow.

 

So I compare it with the previous 2, find that:

1, the barrel material is different from my previous 2, new one is ruff, previous one is shinny,

2, the font of the barrel is different. new one is larger, but lighter, previous one is smaller but deeper,

3, there is no "Made in USA" on the barrel.

 

Funny thing is, I got all 3 pens from the same ebay seller, at the same price.

 

Now I would like your advice to tell whether it is a fake or not.

And if it is, is it possible I somehow return it to the seller? Or at least got some of my payment back?

 

Thanks for your help

 

 

[jchch1950]

Maybe your new pen needs a nib repair.But if the barrel has a different material you should send it back.

[corniche]

Hi JarodZZ,

 

Pictures of the cap and barrel would help. It could be one of the later MK. III models; which weren't made out of Lucite, but the thinner, more brittle plastic that the 45s and 21s were made from. It might also be an Argentinean edition.

 

Sean ⚜

[jarodzz]

Thank you.

It does need some Nib work, I am considering whether to do it myself.

 

Comparing the Nib size, about half of my F nib, it's gonna take some work to smooth it and increase the ink flow. I never got luck to increase ink flow on a hooded Nib though.

 

Maybe your new pen needs a nib repair.But if the barrel has a different material you should send it back.

[jarodzz]

Thank you.

 

The cap is almost identical, that's why I did not take photos of it. But the sac does feel softer compare to my previous 51.

 

 

Hi JarodZZ,

Pictures of the cap and barrel would help. It could be one of the later MK. III models; which weren't made out of Lucite, but the thinner, more brittle plastic that the 45s and 21s were made from. It might also be an Argentinean edition.

Sean ⚜

[Aislingean]

Parker made pens in various factories all over the globe. There were plants in Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Mexico, USA, Pakistan, India and some claim China
The same pen models do show differences depending where they were made or assembled.
The sac shrouds vary tremendously however the body plastics were I believe produced to a standard specification and only vary when the hard acrylic known as lucite was phased out in favour of a softer styrene based material
The difficulty is that there are thousands of repaired or modified pens in the world which remain 51s but are not as originally produced.
That does not make them fakes it just makes them different!
Get your nib sorted and enjoy/

[inkstainedruth]

The issues with the nib might be something as simple as the width. I have a couple of 51s (one 51Vac, and one Aero) with EF nibs, and in both cases the nibs were scratchy and I had to have a little nib work done on them to open up the tines. Now they're both great writers. And the EF nibs make for stingy but smooth flow so if I have to do a LOT of writing (such as times when I am doing research and have to take copious notes) I don't have to refill as often -- especially with the 51 Vac.

But I'm with corniche on this one -- having photos of the barrels (especially of the imprint) would be helpful.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[jarodzz]

Thank you for your suggestion.

That sounds like a plan indeed.

 

Parker made pens in various factories all over the globe. There were plants in Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Mexico, USA, Pakistan, India and some claim China
The same pen models do show differences depending where they were made or assembled.
The sac shrouds vary tremendously however the body plastics were I believe produced to a standard specification and only vary when the hard acrylic known as lucite was phased out in favour of a softer styrene based material
The difficulty is that there are thousands of repaired or modified pens in the world which remain 51s but are not as originally produced.
That does not make them fakes it just makes them different!
Get your nib sorted and enjoy/

[jarodzz]

Thank you.

I tried. But the detail are really hard to capture by phone.

All I can say is that my original 51 has "Parker Pen CO. Made in USA" imprinted on barrel.

The new one doesn't have that.

 

I am trying to fix the Nib myself though. Returning a FP to Italy sounds quite some work.

 

The issues with the nib might be something as simple as the width. I have a couple of 51s (one 51Vac, and one Aero) with EF nibs, and in both cases the nibs were scratchy and I had to have a little nib work done on them to open up the tines. Now they're both great writers. And the EF nibs make for stingy but smooth flow so if I have to do a LOT of writing (such as times when I am doing research and have to take copious notes) I don't have to refill as often -- especially with the 51 Vac.

But I'm with corniche on this one -- having photos of the barrels (especially of the imprint) would be helpful.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Inkysloth]

Thank you.

I tried. But the detail are really hard to capture by phone.

All I can say is that my original 51 has "Parker Pen CO. Made in USA" imprinted on barrel.

The new one doesn't have that.

 

I am trying to fix the Nib myself though. Returning a FP to Italy sounds quite some work.

 

It could be a UK-made pen - these usually say Made in England on the barrel, just under the clutch ring. The mark can be quite shallow and hard to spot, or even rubbed away completely.

[Erik Dalton]

I wouldn’t fret the smaller details/differences. As others have said, these were made under license in many places across the world and each put a little twist on their pens. It does not look like a counterfeit from what we can see. Better pics of the nib/feed, hood, barrel would help a lot.

Sounds like the tines on the nib might be out of alignment. Many times you can get them to go back where they belong with just some gentle pressure from your fingernail. Don't be afraid to give it a good overnight soaking or two.

Poor ink flow can be from several things. Try to re align the tines, soak it and give us some more pics. Then maybe we can help you get it working better.

[pajaro]

My experience with EF Parker 51s is that the flow is often stingy, and I had to do as Ruth wrote and work on the nib for better flow. This often happens with EF nibs, and often they just need flossing to remove gunk from between the tines. You have to be careful with the brass shim, though. I accidentally knocked off the tipping from the EF nib of a Parker 75 recently.

[jarodzz]

Thank you.

 

I did open the pen up, and tried to fix the Nib. So far, it's no luck. I will give it another try, later.

 

My cup of tea for a FP Nib is European F or Japanese M nib, smooth and a little on the wet side. I did try some variations, a vintage Montblanc 22 EF, a Pilot 74 FM, now a new P51 EF. The experience of handling all these 3 nibs is almost the same, I just can not get the ink flow and the smoothness to work at the same time. If the flow is good, the pen gets scratchy, if the pen writes smooth, the ink flow goes poorly.

 

My problem is that when working with the nib itself, it is very hard to tell the status of the Nib, I have to put it back in the pen to write, then take it apart to continue the process. The back and forth slowly eats up all my patience. Therefore, all 3 pens stays out of my rotation forever.

 

I am not sure if a EF Nib can be smooth and wet at the same time. Maybe it is a mission impossible.

 

 

I wouldn’t fret the smaller details/differences. As others have said, these were made under license in many places across the world and each put a little twist on their pens. It does not look like a counterfeit from what we can see. Better pics of the nib/feed, hood, barrel would help a lot.

Sounds like the tines on the nib might be out of alignment. Many times you can get them to go back where they belong with just some gentle pressure from your fingernail. Don't be afraid to give it a good overnight soaking or two.

Poor ink flow can be from several things. Try to re align the tines, soak it and give us some more pics. Then maybe we can help you get it working better.

[jarodzz]

I am sorry to hear that. It does frighten me every time I cross the tines to try to fix the ink flow. Flossing in my case is not the root cause, I did it and nothing changed. Though I flossed with a think plastic thing, nothing like a metal.

 

My experience with EF Parker 51s is that the flow is often stingy, and I had to do as Ruth wrote and work on the nib for better flow. This often happens with EF nibs, and often they just need flossing to remove gunk from between the tines. You have to be careful with the brass shim, though. I accidentally knocked off the tipping from the EF nib of a Parker 75 recently.

[Glens pens]

The real test would be to remove the nib to see its orig or not.