Very Late Parker 21?

[Bristol24]

I recently acquired a Parker 21 that, from the photos, gave me the impression that it might actually be a Parker 51 with a '21 cap.  I made that initial judgement via photos over the Internet, not by personal inspection.  What caused me to think it might be a Parker 51 was the clutch ring.  In the photos it looks much like a '51 clutch ring.  The other two 21s that I own both have the clutch spring in the clutch ring itself with no "fingers" or other form of clutch inside the cap other than the inner cap.  This pen's cap has a three fingered "clutch" of some sort and the clutch ring on the barrel is actually below the surfaces of the barrel and shell so the friction to hold the cap in place is between the fingers in the cap and the plastic of the shell.  This pen is obviously un-inked but it has the scratches that would indicate a life getting bumped around in a drawer.  The barrel has no imprint anywhere but the base of the cap shows it being a Parker 21.  While I have not inked the pen, I did "write" with it dry on paper and was impressed with the nib's smoothness.  The cap looks as though it must have had a jewel at some point.  Does anyone have any information about this version of the '21?  If it is, indeed, missing a jewel on the cap, does anyone have an idea where I could find one?

 

Thanks,

 

Cliff

[bsenn]

It appears to be a Super 21. See info here http://www.richardspens.com/ref/profiles/21.htm

 

All the Super 21s I have seen have a convex conical tassie on the cap. Yours is cooler.

 

The clutch ring is plastic.

[Bristol24]

  On 7/29/2022 at 9:09 PM, bsenn said:

It appears to be a Super 21. See info here http://www.richardspens.com/ref/profiles/21.htm

 

All the Super 21s I have seen have a convex conical tassie on the cap. Yours is cooler.

 

The clutch ring is plastic.

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Yes, I agree that it is a Super 21.  My other two 21s are Supers but have the spring clutch ring and no fingers inside the cap.  They also have the conical tassie you mention.  This cap almost looks as though there should be something in the recess.  Thank you for mentioning Richard's site.  That was the first place I consulted when I got the pen. I've yet to find photos of other 21s like this one and I'm hopeful someone really into Parker 21s will be able to enlighten me.

 

Cliff

[Bristol24]

A quick follow up:  I did find photos of other Parker 21s with the same style of cap but the are greatly out numbered by photos of Super 21s with the conical tassie on the cap.  The pen I have must be the last iteration of the Super 21.  Does anyone have information to confirm this?

 

Cliff

[Number99]

There was a 21 FP with a cap top tassie very similar to this pen in the same lot as the target FP that I won yesterday.

 And that 21 is my first non-junk 21 FP. (or junk…)

 I'm interested in the progression of this thread.

 

 A search of the net revealed a high probability of a 21 Flighter FP having a similar captop tassie.

 

 I learned that on Parker 45s and 75s such cap top tassie were changed to dimpled type to accommodate discs showing medallions, owner's initials, ink color, etc.

 It was around 1970.

 It's very interesting that such a change was made in 21 before this one.

 

 I am looking forward to receiving the pen.

 

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by Number99

[bsenn]

  On 7/31/2022 at 9:19 PM, Number99 said:

A search of the net revealed a high probability of a 21 Flighter FP having a similar captop tassie.

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Thanks for the tip. I checked my 21 flighter and it does have the dimpled tassie.

[Number99]

I received the pen.

 They look the same, but my pen cap has a slightly stronger hairline finish.(It has the same texture as the 45 CT cap.)

 Also, there are 4 finger springs in the inner view of the cap, so it may be a different version.

 

 I came across a discussion page on another pen forum.

 Here are 1959 and 1960 advertisements for the Canadian Super 21.(However, the former may be 1958 because the 61 jet flighter is drawn as a new model.)

 

 The ad is a painted representation, but the cap top tussie looks like a cone, so you can guess that the change has not been made in Canada yet.

 

 Since this type of cap top tassie is also recognized in the 21 Flighter released in 1958 (?), there is a high possibility that this pen is a late version of the Super 21.

 

http://fountainpenboard.com/forum/index.php?/topic/4031-parker-21-queston/

 

If anyone knows please let me know.

 I read that the Super 21 uses an undisclosed plastic material called X-100, which is different from the polystyrene plastic used in the Mark 1 and Mark 2.

 Does this material shrink?

 

https://www.fountainpen.it/Parker_21

 

 

 

[afishhunter]

Looks just like my Super 21.