One of the ladies at work has been inspired by my use of FPs, and decided to dig out her own old FPs. She come up with some pretty good ones, including a SS Targa Slim. Today, she brought in a Parker Vector which had been reground by one of her relatives into a stub, and another pen which she wasn't sure about. Looking at it closer, it bore the "Parker Duofold" imprint, and looking at Richard Binder's site, it seems to be a late model.

However, the pen is in less than optimum condition. The sac seems to be shot since the button-filler doesn't work, and the nib is slightly bent. On the other hand, with me testing the nib by dipping it, it seems to be a flexy fine nib (I have NO prior experience with flex nibs, but SURELY this is how it should write!).

I told her I'd find out about the pen for her, so here are the questions:

1. Can anyone guess at the year(s) for me?

2. The nib seems to be a nice flexy nib, but given the condition of the filler, etc., would it be worth it getting the pen restored (I have NO prior pen restoration experience).

As far as stats, it's all black with an amber colored ink chamber near the section, with a nib that reads "Parker Pen Made in USA" and "Parker Duofold Made in USA" on the body. It is just shy of 6" posted, about 4 1/2" uncapped, and just under 5" capped.

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Hi - it looks to be a black version of the Parker Geometric pen - late 1930's early 1940's from what I recollect.

Looks like a pretty standard restoration, but probably not something you'd do yourself. Probably in the neighborhood of $40-50.

From the pictures, and the identification information provided by others, coupled with your indication of a flexible nib, I'd say that the money would be well-spent to have it restored and put back into rotation.

That's pretty much was I was leaning towards. I wrote a bit with the pen, and despite the bent nib, it writes nicely; in reading the descriptions of "flex nibs" I would wager this is probably semiflex or full flex; definitely not a superflex.

worth to do it.

As far as dating the pen, there should be a teeny little number just after the DUOFOLD on the side-- it's about half the size of the letters and might escape notice. That number is the last digit in the year it was made-- my 1939, for example (which does look rather like that image, in silhouette if not colour), has this:

PARKER DUOFOLD 9.

Sac replacement is a dawdle (I've just done mine this morning-- caught between #14 and #16 sizes, I used a #14), so the bendy nib is the main issue. Does it bend off to one side or just downwards? The former strikes me as the sort of thing that might cost some money from someone who knew what they were about. Having just gotten this one in working order, I'd urge spending the money. This writes niiiiiiiicely

Aaah-- missed that tiny "9". That would make this pen a 1939, then.

The nib is actually bent to one side, with the tip curving to the right. Additionally, if it was just a sac replacement, I'd take the plunge, but I'd hesitate to experiment on this pen as my first project, especially since the pen belongs to someone else.

I'll recommend some of the big guns to them, then!