1937 Parker Challenger Fountain Pen; 14K Solid Gold 'MF' Nib; Restored

Description

The Parker Challenger Fountain Pen was introduced in February of 1934. It was introduced as a school pen and was made out of the same plastic as the early marbled Vacumatics but soon evolved into a very nice and highly collectible pen. It had the button style filling system that was just starting to be replaced by the newly developed Vacumatic filling system. The original Challenger had a single wide cap band like this one. In 1935, Parker introduced the Challenger DeLuxe with three narrow cap bands and a ball clip. They also introduced a Slender model. The final top of the line model was introduced in 1937 and was called the Royal Challenger. It had unique clips and a very attractive Herringbone pattern on the cap and barrel.

Also in 1937, the complete Challenger series was redesigned. Parker added a tapered clip with the word "PARKER' imprinted on it and a flattened ball. It reduced the number of cap bands on the Deluxe model to two, and dropped the three cap bands on the Royal Challenger and changed to a single wide band in the manner of the top-of-the line Vacumatics. The cap on this pen has the ball clip with the word 'PARKER' imprinted on it as it was manufactured in 1937, but before Parker flattened the ball. The date code on the barrel is '37' - the 3rd quarter of 1937.

The Grey Marbled cap and barrel look excellent. Parker offered this model in green and silver marbled as well, plus solid black. I can't really see any scratches or nicks and just a few very tiny bite marks on the blind cap. The barrel imprint is still in excellent condition and is quite legible - see picture. The cap has some tiny nicks on it near the top of the cap - perhaps very tiny bite marks? The trim is nickel plated. The other colors had gold plated trim. The trim on this pen has worn some but it still shined up quite nicely. The cap band and clip are nice and tight on the cap. This is a really good looking pen color wise, as some color shift of the marbled celluloid plastic is very common. I don't see any at all on the cap or barrel.

This pen has been cleaned, a new large sac installed then hand polished.  I even knocked the nib and feed out of the section and ran them through my ultrasonic cleaner. The button filling system works just fine. The length of the pen capped is right at 5 1/8 inches and 6 1/8 inches with the cap posted. That makes it about the same length as a 1940s Vac Major, but thicker in girth - more like the 1930's Vacumatic Standard size.

The Parker nib on this pen is 14K Solid Gold with about a MF point. It is rather stiff, but a touch of flex if you are heavy handed. There is a bit of line variation between the vertical and horizontal strokes. The date code on the nib is '37' - same as the barrel. I dipped the nib to create the writing sample. This nib is very smooth on the paper. If you are looking for a great daily writer or a nice pen for your collection, get this one. It has a huge new ink sac and will hold quite a bit of ink. You'll be able to write very many pages in between refills.

Domestic First Class Mail is $4.80. International shipping is via calculated First Class Mail. Insurance is included. I gladly combine shipping for multiple purchases. I ship same or next business day.

No Reserve.