Description
A very nice Parker 45 Fountain Pen & Pencil set in Turquoise. It is in very excellent condition - all it really needed was a good cleaning and a coat of wax. The model was introduced in 1960 during the time that Westerns were all the rage. Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Have Gun - Will Travel and many others. The gun of choice for our Western heroes was generally the Colt 45 Peacemaker. Parker used the number 45 to name their newly designed Fountain Pen and it started selling way beyond expectations. Instead of opening up the pen and dropping in a bullet cartridge like in the Peacemaker, one would simply drop in an ink cartridge. It was Parker's first ever pen that could take a converter or a cartridge - this one has a converter. It was eventually offered in 14 different cap and body colors with another handful or so of metal cap and body designs and colors. Parker also offered many different nibs as well - Gold, Steel, Fine points, Broad, Medium, Stub, Oblique Italics and more. The cool thing is that you can change the nib yourself. Simply purchase a nib unit (still readily available) unscrew the current one and screw in a new one. Done!
What a run this model had. It was introduced in 1960, and wasn't retired until 2007, 47 years later!! Parker had always had very unique filling systems and the '45' was their first foray into the cartridge/converter design. It was an immediate hit. It was so popular, that even today, that same cartridge introduced in 1960, will fit in a Parker cartridge pen made today and vice versa! The filler unit is not permanently attached to the section. It can be removed and disposable cartridges of various colors can be used instead. Personally, I like the converter as bottled ink offers many, many more colors than what is available in cartridges.
As you might imagine, Parker introduced and retired various colors and materials on the '45'. I'm not sure of the date of this particular model, although I do know that the cap design on this one wasn't introduced until 1967. This model is the DeLuxe - Metal cap with gold filled trim and plastic body. Parker made the '45' in all plastic pens, all metal pens, and also a model called the Insignia which had a rolled gold cap and a plastic body. Oh, overall length capped is right at 5 3/8" and 5 5/8" with the cap posted. The pencil measures right at 5" and works just fine.
The Steel nib on the pen is in excellent condition - about a 'F' point and stiff. It has excellent tine alignment and it is an extremely smooth writer. One of my favorite features of the '45' and also with the '51' is the slide-off and on cap - a nice quick-draw feature! The caps are brushed Stainless Steel with a Gold Filled Arrow Pocket Clip & Trim, complementing the Turquoise color quite nicely. I ran this pen through an ultrasonic cleaner and flushed the pli-glass. It works just fine. There are no cracks, bad scratches or name imprints on either the pen or the pencil; they appear to have seen very little use over the years. This set is in pristine condition. This is the first Turquoise set that I have ever seen.
This is a wonderful vintage Parker '45' pen and pencil set. Add it to your collection or put them in your pocket and use it! If you should desire to change to a different nib size or material, I saw replacement 14K Gold nib units on eBay for about $25.00. Oh, the set comes in the original box.
Domestic First Class Mail is $4.80. Insurance is included. 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.
I WILL ONLY PUT THE CORRECT INFORMATION ON THE CUSTOMS FORM. PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO CHANGE ANYTHING AS IT IS ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.A. AND I'D PREFER NOT TO DO JAIL TIME!
No Reserve.
