Parker
Pens and Ephemera

Not every vintage pen is going to be the belle of the ball. Today's Parker Duofold from 1942 seems to have been somebody's loyal workhorse. A great deal of the cap band is heavily brassed. There's a hairline crack in the cap lip running up under the cap band. The pen shows overall wear, and the 14k gold nib looks a little wonky. Click the headline for close-ups. HOWEVER, we restored it with a new diaphragm, and it writes surprisingly well. You'll find it is a wet medium with a touch of feedback. It actually writes much better than it looks. Perfect for a daily driver that doesn't mind another ding or two. 13.2cm capped.

Get in a festive mood with an emerald pearl Parker Vacumatic Maxima fountain pen. We restored this vintage pen with a new diaphragm. It is a beautiful writing instrument with no cracks or deep scratches. There are a few faded bite marks on the blind cap. The double-jeweled cap end are also emerald green stripes like the cap and barrel. No brassing on the gold filled trim. The two-toned 14k gold nib is excellent with most of its original platinum plating. You will write a smooth extra-fine to fine line. The celluloid's see-through barrel is ambered, but you can still see through it a little. 13.4cm capped.

Click the headlines for close-ups. You are going to want to see this one as closely as you can. A stunning emerald pearl celluloid still has decent clarity on this Parker Vacumatic. We believe it is called the Slender model, before they were named Debutantes. It has a crisp 1936 date code. Double jewels that are the same as the emerald pearl celluloid. We restored this vintage pen with a new diaphragm. It works well, but we had to shave a little off the aluminum lockdown filler to prevent it from getting stuck inside the pen. No cracks blemish this pen, but it does have a teeny little chip in the lip of the cap. Some signs of wear where the clip dug into the cap and light wear from use. It looks museum quality at a glance but a close inspection might keep it out of a museum. You will write a smooth extra-fine line with its still two-tone 14k gold nib. 12.1cm capped.

It is difficult, in this day and age, to imagine a time when wealthy, sophisticated young ladies were brought on to the more genteel dating scene as debutantes. Nevertheless, it wasn't that long ago. This Parker Vacumatic Debutante set was made in 1938 and intended for young women of class and culture. Fully restored with a new diaphragm the fountain pen is in good working order. There are no cracks, and its grey pearl design is lovely with nickel trim. The barrel has ambered and is difficult to see through. We think this is a replacement filler unit, as it is plastic instead of aluminum. The nib is a little tarnished, but we also think it still has a shadow of its two-tone look. You will write a nice extra-fine line with a touch of feedback. We can polish it for you, but that will guarantee it is a monotone 14k gold nib. The matching pencil still works and clicks to advance lead. 11.7cm capped.

Building off the nostalgia for the Parker 51, the company launched what they hoped would be a more modern version of the pen in the Parker 100. This set included both the rollerball and ballpoint version of the pens in the original box. To be honest, it is quite possible they were never sold as a set in the box when they first came out, but that is how we found and are selling them. Each instrument looks great and works well. There's a little scuffing from the cap snapping to the section of the rollerball. Otherwise, they are still cosmetically beautiful. Each has its respective working, black refill.

The original Parker Snake pen was first introduced in 1906. It was a black hard rubber eyedropper pen with a sterling silver overlay in the design of an emerald-eyed snake. It was a gorgeous pen and very expensive. Few were made and survive. As such, it is among the most sought after pens by vintage pen collectors. Parker rereleased a Snake pen 100 years later in a more modern cartridge/converter format. This is one of those modern luxury pens that is still new in the box...never used. It comes with all of its original boxes and papers. Perfect for display or even use, if you desire. The website can't figure out the shipping on such a large box and might cost extra...especially for international destinations. Please e-mail for details.

Perhaps our favorite color combination on the Parker 100 pencil is this sky-blue and brushed-gold design. Our preowned luxury pencil is in great working order with a new eraser and spare .5mm leads. You'll see some scratches on the brushed gold cap and nose cone. Twist the cap to advance the lead or close up/retract the lead mechanism. Makes math, crosswords and sudoku more fun. 13.8cm.

The Parker 51 was such a wildly popular pen, the company has tried several times to bring it back since the 1990s. This is their second attempt, which they called the Parker 100. We actually think these pens were quite elegant and should have been more popular than they were. This ballpoint version of the Parker 100 has a dark-blue barrel, and dark-pearl-grey cap and gold plated trim. The brushed gold nose cone has some scratches, but the rest of the pen only shows light wear from use. We installed a brand-new Parker style refill with black ink. The pen has a little weight, which makes it a really smooth writer. You also get its boxes. 13.7cm.