What Parkers Have Joined Your Collection Lately?

[thx1138]

No, the blue pen has a gold cap and the cobalt pen has t he cap seen there- sort of dk grey to black.

[TheRedBeard]

16 hours ago, thx1138 said:

No, the blue pen has a gold cap and the cobalt pen has t he cap seen there- sort of dk grey to black.

Thank you, great  I have known that but got confused with a colour on the photo. 

[The Pen Paladin]

I’ve added quite a few Parker 45’s; my latest obsession; My favorite being the addition of the three versions of the GR and CT Flighters.  What tremendous pens - and they’re still fairly affordable and easy to find!  I have also added the newest iteration of the Black Parker Duofold Centennial GT and two Parker 61 sets: One set is a Caribbean Green First Edition with liquid lead pencil and the other is Surf Green with Heirloom Cap and matching liquid lead pencil.  

[jchch1950]

3 hours ago, The Pen Paladin said:

 two Parker 61 sets: One set is a Caribbean Green First Edition with liquid lead pencil and the other is Surf Green with Heirloom Cap and matching liquid lead pencil.  

An excellent catch. Congratulations.

[fireant]

I bought a Parker BCHR Lucky Curve last month at our pen club meeting and picked the second one out yesterday at this month's meeting. The second/third pictures are the early Parker Duofold Lucky Curve and fits my hand very nicely. It's my Xmas gift so I don't get to play with it until December.

[christof]

I recently bought a humble english Parker "51" and recognised that it was fitted with a funny 18 carats nib:

 

 

This was probably made for the french market.

[Mercian]

2 hours ago, christof said:

This was probably made for the french market.

 

Interesting.

 

Is it as stiff as its 14k counterparts are?
Actually, then again, with it being positioned so snugly against the shell of the grip-section when in-use, how could one ever tell...? 🤔

[christof]

I have not tested the nob yet. Will do soon. But your question reminds me of another nib of a Parker 61:

 

 

This nib is 18 carat too and has in fact a soft touch on the paper.

[Sheptonian]

A lovely early Newhaven P61 Custom Insignia set with a slightly unusual engraving. I bought these for spares but they are too good for that.

 

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

I don't understand the people who get the heebie-jeebies about engravings on pens.  I think they're interesting, and always want to try to find out (if I can) anything about the previous owner. And if the C-worders turn up their noses?  It often means that I can get a nice vintage pen at a better price.  Sorry now I didn't get back to an antiques mall in the next county south before they went to online only -- I was able to track down the name engraved on a Wearever pen a guy at a flea market GAVE me (he claimed he couldn't sell it!) and found the name was that of a jewelry store in the same building back in the late 1940s or early 1950s.  I thought the people in the antiques mall would be amused but didn't get back down to the place in a timely fashion.
The only pen with engraving that I'm NOT happy about is a little ringtop I picked up a number of years ago for cheap at an antiques mall northeast of me, which has the initials "MN" (IIRC) in big black letters on the barrel (and the pen & cap are an off-white material, so the lettering is VERY "in your face").

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[Sheptonian]

33 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

I don't understand the people who get the heebie-jeebies about engravings on pens.  I think they're interesting, and always want to try to find out (if I can) anything about the previous owner. And if the C-worders turn up their noses?  It often means that I can get a nice vintage pen at a better price.  Sorry now I didn't get back to an antiques mall in the next county south before they went to online only -- I was able to track down the name engraved on a Wearever pen a guy at a flea market GAVE me (he claimed he couldn't sell it!) and found the name was that of a jewelry store in the same building back in the late 1940s or early 1950s.  I thought the people in the antiques mall would be amused but didn't get back down to the place in a timely fashion.
The only pen with engraving that I'm NOT happy about is a little ringtop I picked up a number of years ago for cheap at an antiques mall northeast of me, which has the initials "MN" (IIRC) in big black letters on the barrel (and the pen & cap are an off-white material, so the lettering is VERY "in your face").

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

 

I know what you mean. I used to be very sniffy about engraved pens until I landed a Parker 105 engraved, "Eddie", and started wondering who Eddie might have been. As the pen was a P105, it was just a little too late to be a reference to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, I think..

I still don't have that many pens with personal engravings - perhaps half a dozen or so - but occupied cartouches are no longer the deterrent that once they were. I would probably balk at anything that was too "in your face" but I suppose that that would depend on the pen itself. Otherwise, as you say, generally an engraving delivers a more attractive price. 

[inkstainedruth]

2 hours ago, Sheptonian said:

 

I know what you mean. I used to be very sniffy about engraved pens until I landed a Parker 105 engraved, "Eddie", and started wondering who Eddie might have been. As the pen was a P105, it was just a little too late to be a reference to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, I think..

I still don't have that many pens with personal engravings - perhaps half a dozen or so - but occupied cartouches are no longer the deterrent that once they were. I would probably balk at anything that was too "in your face" but I suppose that that would depend on the pen itself. Otherwise, as you say, generally an engraving delivers a more attractive price. 

A few years ago I had a conversation on the topic with a guy who had a table at the Commonwealth Pen Show (I don't remember the guy's name, but he lived in the town where my husband's younger brother had been postmaster).  He said he once acquired a pen with a name on it, and was able to track down info about the former owner, and it had belonged to some woman who'd been a nurse during WWII.

I'd dearly love to track down the descendants of the person who'd owned one of my favorite pens, the Red Shadow Wave Vacumatic -- just to be able to say that the pen still works after all these years (I did have the diaphragm replaced a few years ago, but originally all it needed was a good flushing out, and I ran it for three years with NO maintenance other than refilling it with Waterman Mysterious Blue as needed...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Lithium466]

I once bought a used Parker 45 and tracked (virtually) the woman whose name was engraved on the cap. Very successful carrier, but terrible pen owner! She (or the person that used that pen last) let some kind of blue black IG ink leak in the cap and corrode the outside of the stainless steel cap and a part of the clip 😱 I wonder what ink it was.

(I say tracked but that was just typing a name in LinkedIn, although I did hesitate trying to connect for a split second)

 

[Mercian]

3 hours ago, Sheptonian said:

I know what you mean. I used to be very sniffy about engraved pens until I landed a Parker 105 engraved, "Eddie", and started wondering who Eddie might have been. As the pen was a P105, it was just a little too late to be a reference to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, I think..

 

Perhaps the first owner was a massive fan of Iron Maiden...? 😉

[Mercian]

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

The only pen with engraving that I'm NOT happy about is a little ringtop I picked up a number of years ago for cheap at an antiques mall northeast of me, which has the initials "MN" (IIRC) in big black letters on the barrel (and the pen & cap are an off-white material, so the lettering is VERY "in your face").

 

Maybe the pen came from a very proud Minnesotan? 🤷‍♂️

[Just J]

I recently picked up a wad  of Vintagers on eBay, which included 3 Esties, a Shaeffer's & a Shaeffer, and what I believe is a P-51.  I've never taken a P-51 apart to explore so, 1st question: other than eyeballing the written line how does one find the nib width?  Are there any physical markings?  And secondly, can the Aerometric refill system ("Press ribbed bar 3 times...", if it matters) be replaced by a converter? 

 

[Glenn-SC]

Interesting on how people are “happy” to get personalized pens until they don’t like the personalizations.  
I avoid personalized pens unless I know the person who had the personalization  done.  Yes, I am a proud Collector and am able and prefer to buy unaltered pens.  
The only engraved pen I have was bought from that woman’s daughter.  They were both very sweet people and I am proud/happy to own Ruth’s (Yellowstone “51” with a script “R” engraved cap) pen.  

[Mercian]

1 hour ago, Just J said:

I've never taken a P-51 apart to explore so, 1st question: other than eyeballing the written line how does one find the nib width?  Are there any physical markings? 

 

There aren't any physical markings; not even on the nib.
At least, that is true for my "51" that was made at Newhaven in 1954, onto which I paid a restorer to put a replacement nib (from 1955).
I believe that it's also true for the "51"s that were made in Janesville.

 

My experience is that one has to make an educated guess based on how wide one perceives the line written with the pen to be.

The same is also true of e.g. my 1980s Sheaffer Triumph 444.
I bought it from someone who was selling it as a 'Fine', but if that's true than it's a very 'big-boned' 'Fine'!

Maybe Sheaffer's nib grades were based around their pens being "built for comfort, not for speed"? 🤷‍♂️

 

I have read on here that the nibs on the "51"s from Janesville WI tend to be a little narrower than the equivalently-marked nibs on the "51"s from Newhaven; but I only have two "51"s, and both of mine are from Newhaven, so I cannot say whether or not that rumour is accurate.

 

1 hour ago, Just J said:

And secondly, can the Aerometric refill system ("Press ribbed bar 3 times...", if it matters) be replaced by a converter? 

 

Sorry, but no. It's built-in.

 

Although Parker did (briefly) make a c/c version of the "51", I believe that the 'guts' of the two 'sub-species' of the beast are not interchangeable in that manner.

And one certainly cannot dismantle a "51" to remove its 'aerometric' filling system and then simply stick a Parker cartridge or converter in to the pen.

 

Btw, shouldn't the stamping on the metal sac-shroud say "Press ribbed bar 4 times" (or 6 times for the earlier models), rather than 3?

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Driften]

2 hours ago, Just J said:

I recently picked up a wad  of Vintagers on eBay, which included 3 Esties, a Shaeffer's & a Shaeffer, and what I believe is a P-51.  I've never taken a P-51 apart to explore so, 1st question: other than eyeballing the written line how does one find the nib width?  Are there any physical markings?  And secondly, can the Aerometric refill system ("Press ribbed bar 3 times...", if it matters) be replaced by a converter? 

 

 

There is a replacement brass connector that changes the Aerometric to cartridge/converter. There was a review on YouTube (InkquiringMinds) where he showed the install and was going to order more. 

[thx1138]

In my small experience with chalk marked pens, where the nib size is known, the US pens run at least a full size smaller than the Newhaven pens.

A US medium is a UK fine, a UK medium is a US broad, sometimes even approaching a US BB. A UK broad would be something like a US humongous or so.

For me, the UK medium nibs are near perfect. It took me about ten goes to get a medium Newhaven 51. I kept getting stubs, broads, and italics instead.