This Parker 51 Classic is beautifully finished in Black with a Lustralloy cap, chrome clip, and pearl cap stud.
The surface has a deep shine with no marks. The cap is totally ding free, and, unusually, the frosted finish has held up very well indeed. This is quite delicate and is very often worn to a shine, the fact that it is intact shows that the pen has seen little use.
Although the pen has clearly seen very little use, I did ink it up for testing. The 14Ct. Gold hooded nib is a medium point. It is an excellent writer, producing a firm, medium line, perhaps a little towards fine. It is a very 'easy' writer, somehow Parker managed to get a smooth, soft feel, even with a fine nib.
A redesigned clutch, in the cap, was introduced around 1963 and the cap lip was removed very shortly after. This pen still has the cap lip and a new style clutch so a manufacture date of 1963 is pretty accurate.
The Parker 51 is regarded as amongst the best pens ever made and this example certainly lives up to that claim. As a high quality, reliable and distinguished every day writer with a great deal of prestige the 51 is very hard to beat.