Whats your "holy Grail" pen in your collection. The one pen that you would take if your pen "storage" place was on fire and all of your pens would be gone into molten metal and plastic. I really dont have a rare parker so i would let them all burn so i could have an excuse to get a rare pen Whats yours? Pics would be nice.

George,
I'd probably try to save them all (including all the other brands!)...might burn my hair off, but I know that will grow back. Even with insurance on them, losing any Parker pen would be a tragedy!

Here are two hard to find Parkers that I would definitely save:
The Sterling Silver "Brocade" pattern set in the middle (#4 & #5) which is flawless...



And this Parker 61 with a custom made Mexican cap in carved Sterling Silver w/10K Gold overlayed symbols...



There's more, but these two come to mind right away!

DocNib

My black Parker 51 red band cutaway demonstrator would be the one.

:ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: Isnt there only 2 in the world, and penopoly has the other... Your Lucky...

My black 1945 Parker 51 DJ with jewelers band cap in almost cherry condition...
My green 1938 1st Generation Parker Vacumatic 3 band in great condition

The cachet i ascribe on or another Parker from my collection tends to vary with whim.

This pic is a bit old (re: montage technique), but shows two i'd be hard pressed to let leave my collection.

1) Parker Vacumatic Senior Maxima with "Vacumatic" cap-band, in silver pearl celluloid. 1937

2) Parker Golden Arrow (pre-pre Vacumatic) set in silver pearl 1932.



regards

david

http://www.vacumania.com

Parker Royal Challenger Sword Clip or the mint true blue. See, I've got a couple Parkers!

Roger W.
I got a whole lot more Sheaffer's though!

Here, i s'pose, is what it would be tough just to get down to one Parker Vacumatic never mind one Parker. This is a non-montaged shot from the heart of muh wee Vac collection. Not your everyday stuff



david

Yeah, Roger reminded me... I'd have tough time parting with my Royal Challengers... Yeep!



regards

david i
http://www.vacumania.com

The one Parker I'd save, if I could save only one, isn't my rarest. It's THE "51", this pen:



My rarest Parker is this unique (only one ever made in this finish) Falcon 50 prototype:



But before I'd save the Falcon I'd save my Duofolds (two HR, three Permanite):

or the mint royal challenger...



david

OK Richard, i'll bite

How do you know that Falcon was the only one produced in that finish?

regards

david
http://www.vacumania.com

Now Roger's got me on a roll.

Clean True Blue? Well, i've got at least one. 9



regards

david i
http://www.vacumania.com

very nice! keep them coming

PS, i guess David could save allof those pens

My rarest Parker is not nearly as exotic as the above. I humbly submit a Gold Filled "51" set I found at a flea market for $40. I've never tried it, no idea how it writes. Too many other pens I'm playing with.

That's what I was told by the very knowledgeable Parker collector who sold it to me, who in turn got the pen in a "lot" purchase of prototypes from an individual who worked in the shop at Parker in Janesville.

It would have to be one of these two sets. There are bigger pens out there, and there are rarer pens out there, but it's hard to find nicer pens than these:

BOY, I hope I never have to make that decision, but if I had too, I probably would grab the Parker 75 prototypes that are not pens at all. They are are solid Sterling Silver made in the model shop to try and figure out what they wanted the 75 to look like. I call these dummy pens. I know I can never replace these. Have a look!

Parkercrazy

Hi,

My Parker 61 is going with me

Dillon

Jan, those Duofolds look strangely familiar :-)



regards

david i
http://www.vacumania.com

Glad you posted these. Your pics are just a wee bit better than mine (OK, maybe a whole lot better than mine) - but that's what I get for propping the camera on an empty cardboard box and using the ambient light in my bathroom.

QUOTE=parkercrazy,Dec 30 2006, 10:35 PM]BOY, I hope I never have to make that decision, but if I had too, I probably would grab the Parker 75 prototypes that are not pens at all. They are are solid Sterling Silver made in the model shop to try and figure out what they wanted the 75 to look like. I call these dummy pens. I know I can never replace these. Have a look!

Just goes to show you, you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. IMHO, some of those dummies are just plain ugly - but they sure are cool! Thanks for showing them, Francis.

Francis gets some amazing Parkers :-)

Here is a Parker 75 billed as a Prototype- has a demo section and a funky reflective psychedelic pattern. What were they thinking? :doh: Sad fer me, i don't own this one.

-david i
http://www.vacumania.com

Wow David. Those are crazy!

Can't forget these either!
The early retractable fountain pens from Japan that we can't seem to find who actually made them. These ain't goin' nowheres until I find out who made them so... I'll grab these in case of fire too!



Besides, they might be the only two in captivity, so we don't want them to go the way of the Dodo Bird!

DocNib

Whoa,
How'd this one get here? Wrong forum, wrong thread!
Long day with sick wife...time for sleep!
Now where does this one really go?
DOC

I'm with Dillon, I have a Parker 61 Flighter. It seems almost indestructable and it writes with a nice line. Not my best writer but I would hate to lose it.

Well, if i hafta show some of the nifty early Parkers...

These in fact are mine. Shot together (no montage). I must admit i'd have tough time parting with any.

Top to bottom.

Lucky Curve Bakelite Baby pen.

45 (not the later kind- LOL) black hard rubber, fancy overlay

18 mottled eyedropper

?49- Turban Top with GF overlay. A very cool pen

16- Red Hard Rubber with GF overlay. Most uncommon in red.

And ya want me to pick ONE pen to keep? Gives me headache.

regards

david i
http://www.vacumania.com

Oh this is a cruel question!!!

Fire burning my collection is just horrible.
Never the less I cant choose 1.I must choose 3 cause they are all in the top for me:

My new Parker T-1
My beloved MB 149
And Waterman Edson

Some of the pens I see here are really unique,this really shows how serious people here are when it comes to there hobbie and passion.

If I was forced to make this decision, and I wouldn't be but more on that later, it would have to be either Ed Harris or my Opaque Black 1st Gen with a two tone nib. Not the most exotic of Parkers but it is my favorite. I would try to save Ed Harris as well as he is pretty cool to use with that nice Canadian flexy nib.

Now the reason that I wouldn't have to make the decision is that these pens are always in one of 2 twelve pen cases. All I would have to di is grab the cases and make a bee line for the door.

BTW I would also have to save my PFM, 146, Pelikan's, Dani Trio Densho and my Moore's Non-Leakable. They are in the other case.

Cheers,
SG

Tough question. Like goodguy, I have a T-1 that I'd like to grab, but I think that I might be able to rake through the ashes afterwards and find it pretty much as I left it, one of the advantages of titanium.

I think if I could only put my hand to one, I'd have to grab my 1926 Big Red, it's not the rarest thing in the world, but it's my favorite.

Happily my day-to-day vacs stay in my shirt pocket.

I am no expert on Parkers so I do not know which of mine is the rarest. But the ONE I rescue would be the Cedar Blue/Sterling fine point family heirloom "51". It is identical looking to THE "51" belonging to Richard, except in single jewel version.

Number two would be my first "good" FP, a silver grid 75 I bought new two decades ago.

Bill

[edited to remove tenacious hyphen]

I have the yellow set - wher can one get the green?

David,
Is this the one that you wouldn't part with on your website(...aaarrrrgghhh!)

John

I don't have a 51 in Nassau Green,but if I did,it'd be one coming with me...

Since I now seem to own the Mandarin Set in this thread - I must go home and take a pic of the perfect True Blue set in the box in the cabinet.

Nothing, all mine are pretty typical. Red Super 21, jade Duofold streamline, grey and black Deb. sized vac, two Parkettes, one really beat up.

It would have to be one of my streamlined Duofolds! Or maybe this bad boy.

It would be my First Year "51" - Blue Cedar, Sterling Silver cap, aluminum barrel jewel.

Parker '51' Flighter. My first vintage fountain pen.
Parker Duofold Big-red two-bander. My most hunted (to date) vintage fountain pen

No question, my Parker 51 Signet given to my father as a present when I was born (about 100years ago). He gave it to me and it started me on collecting.

The Parker '51' Signets are the golden ones, aren't they? Damn, I wish I had one of those...so pretty...

My baby Parker collection (when you see someone's collection like David I.'s, you can't help but be humbled).
Click to view attachment

My 51's (not pictured as they were recently added: Dove Gray DJ w/Sterling cap and Plum SJ w/Lustraloy cap)
Click to view attachment
In this unclear photo (top left) are some "rare" caps... one is a fishscale, one is a smooth 14K, and one is a windowpane. Top right are first years... cap on the bottom (black) first year has been changed from the not-so correct sterling (it was a first year, but the lines had been removed) to a correct "squigly line" first year. Also, I sold one of the Cordovans, and the black set is a perfect Heritage (windowpane) set. The two on the bottom right are Ariel Kullock pens. Demonstrator I did put a spare lustraloy cap on and the other is a custom "watch gear" (one of my other hobbies) sterling cap.

My few Vacumatics OS or Maxima:
Click to view attachment
Red is near perfect. Silver is very nice, and about to be nicer (thanks to help from David I.) with the "correct" section being replaced. Two more are very special and will likely never be parted with: 1st - the Azure Maxima is gorgeous and has a very rare full flex/fine USA nib. The green second gen. has the ultra-rare VACUMATIC band.

Now that I've completed my P51 collection (colors wise - I still want a few "special" caps), I'm going to turn towards 1st gen. OS vacs. I obviously have two, but want to get all the colors... not as expansive as David, but certainly some nice examples. Extras from the other areas of the collection will be sold to accomplish this (the Brown Maxima, maybe one of the first years, ???).

I've even considered selling the green Maxima with the Vacumatic band, as I never ink it (too scared to use it), but it's such a rare pen that I'm afraid I'd end up regretting it. The azure with the special nib will likely stay with me until death, as will the now "color" complete DJ 51 collection. Caps may change (I'd like to find a "perfect" sterling set for the Nassau pen/pencil - but the Signet set on them now is also perfect, so it's not a priority. It will happen when it happens.), but the pens/caps are all fantastic as they are.

BTW - I just cleaned up the "pen" section of my e-mail this week and noticed this month (March) is my one year anniversary of being into this hobby, so all these pens were acquired by me in the last 12 months. I'll update the photo as soon as the gray DJ 51 (and a couple of other things) is/are back from the restorer(s).

Hi came to this party a bit late, favourites are probably my Vacs, recently a nice Burgundy one with an oblique nib that I bought on ebay from fellow FPNer eckiethump (thanks again by the way), which writes really well and even makes my writing look reasonable.

David what is the 'pen' on the right, I thought it was a pencil until I got to the bottom of the picture, is it a very slim FP or what?

Andy

I think my rarest pen is a RHR trench Parker with black ends. Never seen another nor have I seen the BHR with the red ends that is written in the books.

Has ANYBODY seen an Ivorine? I have a catalogue of them but never seen a pic of one or know anybody who has one.

My CP5. It is the most expensive pen I own.

Skybird, that is a seriously rare pen. Very nice!

As for the "Ivorine", you mean the BHR with RHR ends, I dont think there is such a thing, even in the Parker Archives. It was advertised by George Parker as RHR ends, however I do not think that plan was fully executed, hence no RHR ends were ever made. Not to doubt that one such pen exists, though unlikely (very, very unlikely).

The one in the Parker Archives is a RHR with BHR ends, like yours.

George

If I had to only chose one this would be it - a gold filled Lucky Curve

Oh mother!!!

*Droooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooools*

WHERE did you get that!?

My collection is tiny compared to some of the "Pen Grandees" on here, but if I had to cut and run with a couple of Parkers only, I'd have to say that the rarest two would be:

My Parker "51" First Year, Double Aluminium Jewel Cedar Blue Vac, Lustraloy/Gold Filled "Wedding Band" cap, with a very nice fine nib:







and:

My Parker Duofold Greenwich Millennium Special Edition (Centennial size), currently with a medium nib:





- Stuart

Mine would be a JKS 20-1/2 BHR Trench Pen, below. Not as cool as Max's RHR Trench Pen, but still cool.