Vintage Pens

Needing a quality pen that was also affordable to help get through the Great Depression, Parker developed the Challenger line. Our Parker Deluxe Challenger is a handsome green marble with the older Duofold-style button filler. It is an average sized pen with a small 14k gold nib. You will write a nice, firm fine line with it. A lower-tier pen they did some cheap plating over a steel clip. Most of the plating has worn away. No cracks, but the pen does have wear from use. Fully restored with a fresh ink sac. It is a nice vintage pen daily driver. 12.7cm capped.

Don't be so quick to blow past this rather average looking Parker 51 set. More than a double-jewel set from 1946, these writing instruments offer something extra special. A very close examination will reward you with hallmarks for solid 14k gold. The caps are gold-filled, but the pocket clips, tail-jewel tassie and pencil's nose cone are all solid 14k gold! This was a special upgrade feature that is rather uncommon in the wild these days. We are selling these pens for our friend and legendary pen repairman Stuart Hawkinson who replaced the diaphragm in the vintage pen. No engravings mar the caps. The pen cap is dent free. The pencil has a small impression on the back of the cap. Under close examination the pen shows a fair amount of wear from use but no cracks or ugly scars. You will write a nice extra-fine line with the 14k gold nib of the pen. The pencil uses 1.1mm leads. Click the headline for a close-up.

Now if you really like Parker pens, this early Parker 20 made between 1906 and 1910 out to be the pen for you. It is a mottled hard rubber design with super crisp imprints. You won't find many pens this nice from this long ago. It is an eyedropper pen with its original "Lucky Curve" inkfeed intact. Click the headline and you can see its cap imprint and nib. No cracks. Museum worthy. We haven't dipped the nib, as we don't know who would actually want to write with such a pristine early Parker. Using the thumb-nail test, the nib separates easily from the feed meaning it loses inkflow. The feed can be heated to get tighter against the nib, but, again, this is so old and nice, why risk doing damage? 13.6cm capped.

Its imprint is faded, but we think we spy a 1951 date code on this Parker 51 fountain pen. There's a burgundy barrel with a gold filled cap. The cap looks pretty darned good, but you can see some big scars on the pen's hood. Click the headline for close-ups. Happily enough, the aerometric filler is still working great with its original pli-glass sac. You will write a nice smooth medium line with its 14k gold nib. There's a pearl-grey "jewel" on top of the cap. 13.7cm capped.

Here's a rare treasure from way back in 1906! We love the gold-filled filigree on this Parker 33. This pen clearly did not experience the 1906 earthquake that destroyed San Francisco. However, the top of the cap has some sizable spots of brassing from wear. There's a little brassing near the tail, too. We polished them out, but it won't stay gleaming without continued polishing. Click the headline for a close-up of the original 14k gold nib. We love the old-timey "Lucky Curve" script. There are no engravings on the initial plate of the filigree. Only slight chocolate hazing of the black hard rubber. No cracks. The section unscrews easily. You will write an extra-fine to nearly 2mm wide line with its flexible nib. It isn't a wet noodle. 13.9cm capped.

Streamlining gave the Parker Duofold a fancy edge in the late 1920s. These red-marble celluloid models were even hotter. We just restored this one with a new ink sac. We also got the topper to the cap much darker, as it had substantially more chocolate hazing than it does now. Heavy brassing on the ball of the pocket clip and on the bottom cap band. No cracks, but there is a wear mark around the barrel where the cap posted. You will write a firm, fine line with its 14k gold nib. Click the headline for close-ups. The pen isn't junior sized...nor is it oversized. 12cm capped.

Married sets aren't uncommon, but this set features a mixed set of stickered new-old-stock Parker 51s. The fountain pen is likely from the 1960s with its black jewel in the cap. Nevertheless, it is stickered and the ink sac is completely clear. The pencil is a click-advance .9mm variant with a grey-pearl jewel from the 1950s. We found this set in the leftover merchandise of an old general store that closed decades ago. Maybe the original shopkeeper mixed around the pens and pencils. The vintage pen's sticker is marked "M" for a medium nib made of 14k gold.

Easily mistaken for a Parker Challenger Deluxe, this appears to be a large Parker Thrift Time pen...or possibly another Depression era vintage pen from Parker. We restored it with a new ink ink sac. We find it to be a really handsome pen with some wear from use back in the day. No cracks but heavy brassing on the pocket clip. You will write a nice, wet medium line with some feedback using its 14k gold nib. These pens helped sustain Parker during the Great Depression when most people couldn't afford their premium Vacumatics. Click the headline for close-ups. 12.9cm capped.