This Parker 51 set, finished in Teal Blue, was made in England in 1956, the first quarter, to be exact, so it is celebrating it's 67th. birthday.
The 'Teal blue' colour is much one of the most attractive and less common of the 51 colours, it is certainly blue but has a slight greenish tinge. It is, of course, named for the colour af the wing flash on the duck of the same name.
The set, comprising an aerometric filling fountain pen and a clutch pencil, is in absolutely first class condition and shows few, if any, signs of use. The finish has a deep, lustrous unmarked shine and both barrels carry an imprint dating the set to the first quarter of 1956.
Unusually, the 'lustralloy' caps have retained the original frosted finish, this is quite fragile and wears rapidly with handling. The original 'pli-glass' ink sac is unstained, another sign of very little use.
The Parker 51 'Mock croc' box is the corresct box for an English made Parker 51 of this date. It is in very good condition, the pencil marks where the pencil has been boxed with the lead extended show that the pencil has seen some use but, like the pen, the pencil is also in mint condition.
The pencil is a 'continuous feed', or 'clutch pencil', the lead is extended by pressing the cap and manually retracted. The eraser appears unused and removing it reveals a number of spare leads
The Parker 51 is, without doubt, the most successful pen ever made, it does, for once, really deserve the epithet 'iconoc'.