The Parker 180 in Red Jasper was introduced in 1980, this superb example is date coded for the last quarter of that year. It is a deep lacquered pen, part of the 'Place Vendome' collection made in Meru, France.
The pen and box are in pristine, unused condition and is fitted with the original unused ink converter. The 180 is a slim pen and standard Parker converters won't fit so the inclusion of the converter is an important issue with these pens. Two Parker cartridges are included so the pen is ready to write.
The 180 was so named to emphasise the fact that the pen is designed to write with the front and back of the nib. This pen has the Gold nib, later versions were steel. the feed is stamped 'F' for fine and the back looks to be extra fine. The parker 180 nib is quite spectacular, although it could be lethal in the wrong hands!
The 'Place Vendome' lacque pens had a relatively short production run of less than three years and the Red Jasper version is quite a rare, very collectable pen.