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The Parker Flighter pens originated with the Parker 51 Flighter in 1949, largely due to Kenneth Parker's obsession with flying.  In addition to the very 'plane like' effect of the brushed steel barrel and cap the pen was also declared to be 'flight-safe', meaning it would not leak ink at altitude. In the ensuing decades just about every Parker model produced included a flighter version in it's range.  Other companies followed suit with brushed steel pens but were legally not permitted to call them Flighters, and would have been certain to lose any law suit had they attempted to do...

The Parker 61 colours, particularly the 'reds' seem to be frequently misrepresented in pen listings.  The 61 only came in two colours that could be described as red, but only one is a true red. Between 1959 and 1969 the two reds co-existed, they were called 'Rage Red: And 'Maroon': There really is only one 'true' red, here are the pencils side by side: These photographs have not been altered in any way, there really is a huge difference in the two colours.  The misrepresentaion usually only occurs one way: a 'Maroon' pen is described as 'Rage Red'.  It is...

The Conway Stewart 560 replaced the 550 in 1963.  As I have both versions, in the same colour, I thought a quick comparison of the two might be useful.  In the photographs the 550 is at the top. The 560 is noticeably longer, about 5mm., than the 550.  The cap is also more streamlined.  It may appear that the difference in length is due to the cap length but, as the next photo shows, this is not the case. The barrel and section are both slightly longer on the 560. As the 560 nib is 'semi hooded' and the 550...

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...

If you were to search, online, for a Conklin Crescent Filler fountain pen you would find that the first 4 pages, 60 listings plus all the ads across the top of the page are for an new pen bearing the name Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler. It looks something like this: The pen is marketed by a company called 'YAFA', and costs around £200, it's made from brass and has a steel nib. The 'real' Conklin Crescent filler, however, was first made about 120 years ago and looks like this: This one is made from hard rubber and has a...