News — Vintage Parker pen

The Parker 75 Diamante is a gloriously opulent 75.  The Cisele crosshatch squares are topped with a pyramid to give the diamond effect and the whole thing is coated in 23Ct. Gold: The facets on the squares give the pen a light reflecting quality which justifies the name of the pen, a diamond.  This is evident when the Diamante is compared to the much less scarce Parker 75 Cisele Insignia, in this case the 'deep cut' later version:

The Parker Classic fountain pen was introduced in 1986 to replace the Parker 180, to which it bears a striking resemblance.  I recently came acroos this example: The colour is listed as 'Laque Tourmaline', a very vivid pink.  It takes its name from the gemstone, tourmaline, which is found in a variety of bright colours, usually with some pink involved.   It's a rare colour, this is the first one I've seen 'in the flesh' and is ourageously attractive, if not subtle.  

For some time I have toyed with the idea of fitting a Parker 51 nib to a Parker 21.  The issue is, of course, that the price of a Parker 51 nib is very high so the transplant doesn't make much sense from a commercial point of view. Nevertheless, when a very nice red Parker 21 with a damaged nib came into my possession I couldn't resist giving it a try.  The 51 nib I used, dated for 1954, is quite unusual in that it has a broad point. The pen, a Parker 21 Super, was fully disassembled, cleaned and checked...

The Parker 17 is rarely dismantled, mainly because there is hardly any reason to do so.  However, as this is a very good example, in the least common colour, I decided to give it a 'nuts and bolts' treatment, and learned something in the process.  This is a 'Super 17' but the 'Standard' comes apart in exactly the same way. I expected the hood removal to be a major issue but was pleasantly surprised when it came away relatively easily after a gentle heating with a hair drier.  The nib and feed were less obliging but reponded to soaking and...

The Parker Duofold Junior is a delightful pen to use and is also a joy to work on.  I thought it might be useful to show how the pen comes apart for a restoration. The pen dates from the 1930s, it is a 'Streamline' Duofold, so named because of the slight tapering of the barrel and cap, its predecessor was completely cylindrical.  It is a button filler with a 'hanging bar' to compress the ink sac.  This is quite an elegant arrangement and is quite handy during dismantling and reassembly as it allows for the section to be a push...