The Parker Minim was originally called the Shorty Jotter, the name change occurred in the first year of production as the cap changed from steel to rolled gold on the standard pen. This example, however is the very rare full rolled Gold version.
The design brief given by Parker to his chief designer, Walter Bieger was clear: 'I want a short pen for women, where the outside of the pen is no longer than the Jotter cartridge it contains'
This sounds impossible but by some ingenious design Bieger managed to meet the brief, with the filler button depressed the lengths are exactly the same. The Minim is 2.5 cm. shorter than the standard Jotter.
The clever part was to do with the clicker mechanism, the slightly odd appearance is not just for aesthetics. The button is pressed to extend the point but pushed backwards to retract, it is counterintuitive but works very well.
The pen is finished in Navy Grey and the pen is stamped as:
1/10 12 Ct. R. Gold
meaning that the pen is one tenth, by weight, 12Ct. Gold.
The pen has sustained the odd small ding, one notably at the end of the barrel, this is accessible and could probably be removed. A new refill was fitted as the original had dried with age and the pen writes well.
The pen will be dispatched in a new, magnetic closure composite box.
The Parker Minim is extremely rare, the gold version particularly so, and is clearly highly collectable, particularly for a Jotter enthusiast. It is, however, perfectly serviceable and would make a most unusual and attractive every day writer.