Surf Green Mark I Parker 61 (very narrow clutch ring) from c. 1959, with a capillary filler and a beautiful Heritage / Rainbow gold filled cap
This is a beautiful Surf Green Mark I Parker 61 (very narrow clutch ring) from c. 1959, with a capillary filler and a beautiful Heritage / Rainbow gold filled cap. Mark I has the short-lived thin clutch ring and the Mark II has the thicker clutch ring.
Made in the USA, 1959 was the only recorded year that the Mark I was in Surf Green, so we can fairly accurately date this pen.
The pen's overall condition is mixed:
1. Beautiful and strong colour
2. Some age-related handling wear
3. The nib hood gold arrow is in place
4. No dents to the cap, the cap's rainbow / Heritage pattern is strong
5. No scuffs to the capillary filler
6. Very smooth fine nib.
7. Two deficiencies: missing barrel tassie (the metal ring in which the pearlescent jewel fits) and the nib hood has a chip out of the end, which means the nib has some additional flex in writing.
The cap is absolutely beautiful - rainbow pattern is delineated and elegant and crucially, the cap has no dents or dings. The cap carries the two shields describing the gold content of the two golds used in the pattern. As this is an early version, the gold content goes all the way up to 16K (it reduced to 14K then 12K over time). The shields read "17 14K GF" and "17 16K GF" which reflects that the cap is filled 1/7 thickness with 14K and 16K gold respectively (those thicknesses reduced over time to 1/8. 1/10 and even thinner). The cap is also stamped "PARKER" and "MADE IN U.S.A.".
The capillary filler was working well when being flushed (taking in water correctly) and whilst the pen has been flushed and cleaned, it is normal for some residual ghost ink to remain in the capillary filler, so please take care when you do your first fill. The spring mechanism inside the barrel (to keep the capillary end plugged and sealed when in situ) is well sprung and working.
Dimensions (all approximate):
Length (slightly longer than the later versions) - capped: 14cm
Width: 1.1cm
Weight: 19.3g
I will send this beautiful pen very carefully wrapped under tracked Royal Mail delivery in the UK. Please note that if you are buying from outside the UK, this pen will be delivered by the eBay Global Shipping Programme and it will take around 10 days to get to your door.