Hi All,

Today I saw a very unusual P51 (for sale) and I want your help in knowing if it is for real, not a frankenpen.

It was a black vac, with 1946(.6.) date code, 1/10 16K Gold Filled cap with continuous parallel lines, made in USA and the unusual thing was that instead of the blue diamond arrow clip it had a sculpted figure as the clip (figure somewhat like the oscar award). The clip was such a perfect fit on the cap that I suspected maybe it was a parker job rather than after market. Were such clips ever made by parker?

Another thing was the hood was a bit transparent just above the nib. Does black lucite have this transparency? The vac plunger was the usual amber colored plastic.

I did not have a camera along to take the snaps, the seller is prepared to hold the pen for a couple of days. Any pointers are appreciated.

Regards,
Hari
INDIA

Hi,
Since the clip on a 51 is held on by a screw under the "jewel" it would be exceedingly easy to fabricate a custom clip which would fit perfectly when put on the pen.

Thus it really can't be surmised by the cleaness of the attachment that Parker factory made the clip.

Further having been to India several times, I have seen metalworkers who could handfashion very high quality metal parts by hand!!

The 1/10 16K cap if clean with no brassing or dents is a nice cap and a factory Parker clip could be easily obtained should you not like the custom clip.

Hari,

Was it a clip like this?

Click to view attachment

I have seen a few like these around and if you look carefully, it is made over a real Parker blue diamond clip. Not a Parker product, but an aftermarket piece done in the 40s.

thanks,

Ernesto
parker51.com

Yes! the clip was exactly the same as in the photo attached by you. Thanks for the information. I will go again and look at the pen, just to see how the clip is made. The cap smoothly clipped into my cotton shirt pocket.
Another thing I want to ask is whether some translucence is expected as observed in the black lucite shell just over the nib?

Regards,
Hari

My Dad brought home some rings that a sailor fashioned out of 50 cent pieces (i.e., coin silver) from the Pacific during WWII. Apparently some talented jewelers enlisted and had little else to do sitting on some of those coral atols.

Steve

Yes, the translucency is normal. I would snatch this pen up. The clip is aftermarket, but indeed unusual. It will be along time before you see another.

Actually, I'm not sure that clips are all that old. 51s with the so-called "Betty Grable" clip used to be consigned regularly to the Bonhams sales by the London trade. Might have been a hoard of old clips, though.

ADDENDUM: The Bonhams pieces seemed to be much more crudely defined that the one Ernesto shows. Perhaps the originals date to the '40s, but were copied later and applied to pens to be consigned for auction.

Hari,
I am sharing me experience as someone who has some friends dealing in antique pens(in India). Sometimes very good pens are available here at dirt cheap prices. But sometimes very good looking pens are available with very
bad replacements, mostly chinese(wing sung, hero, bla bla bla....). So before you buy a pen, strip it off, look
at the inside, and also outside for replacement parts. Parker vac cap clips can very easily be changed. So make sure you are not buying something with bad quality cheap parts.

I bought the pen. Thanks bluemoon for the warning, I have checked the pen and all seems to be well with it, it has an original 1947 nib and pen is in excellent condition and i also got a good deal on it. I have attached a snap of the clip.

Well, the clip is fun. Very nice striped gold cap. I can gander for a while. But my attention wanders to ... that electrical engineering porn gate-fold center spread on which you placed the pen, for the photograph? Now, THAT'S some exciting viewing!