En route Deccan Pen Stores in Hyderabad, I chanced upon a smallish stationery shop called Hina Pen Stores, located bang on Abids Road. It was your usual store with its fair share of ball point pens and other misc stuff. Intrepidly I walked in and asked about FPs, the store owner gave me a disinterested look and told me to go inside and check with the guy at the counter. I was guided to a small showcase filled with nice locally made and Chinese FPs, mostly Hero and Wing Sung pens. Then my eyes caught upon a familiar shape and I realised that I was looking at a set of beautiful Parker 45's. The three pens were an English made Black, with a broken nib, followed by two 1982 USA models in dark green and greenish gray (Navy gray?). A dip-test revealed that both the undamaged USA pens had broadish stub nibs. Priced at Rs 175 each (thats a bit more than 4 US $). Ergo, the two pens arrived safely in my pocket, with a largish grin stamped on my face. I'll try and see if the guys at Deccan Pens will be able to replace the nib, then the Black UK model shall be mine as well. (Fingers crossed!)

The dark green is a gift to a good friend of mine, I have decided to keep the grey.

The pen is lighter than I would ideally prefer, but writes without any pressure at all, nice thick wet lines - a pleasure to hold, by all means. And for the price, I really could not complain. The body, too is not scratched, the barrel is a little bent though, without affecting the performance of the pen. Stuffy showcases and Indian summers are to blame, I guess. The filler looks like a stubbier version of the Aerometric, I think its some kind of a converter *pleads ignorance*

I know that the 45 is not a very glamorous pen, nowhere near the venerable 51. Nevertheless, finding a silky smooth pen at this price made me happy Plus, its over 25 years old, so I'm happy.

Photos will be posted in the appropriate photography section tomorrow.

Regards,
Rahul

PS: Any idea how I might straighten out the plastic barrel? Should I dip in in warm water and try bending it with my hands? Should I just let it be?

Waiting for your pic... Maybe you can buy more and sell to us...

heh!

I love the stubby nature of the 45 broads. It makes expensive writing from an inexpensive pen!
Good find.

Do keep us posted, I reckon the nib will cost you more than what you paid for the pens!



Don't even think about it!

Good find, if you like 45's. They are excellent workhorses. US/UK made standard steel nibbed 45's could be easily found here for around 150/-($3).....



The nib grade should be written under the feed. Parker '45's nibs could very well alter the definition of F/M/B.
I have a UK 45, whose steel F nib is wider than any '51' broad... I have seen this in many others.




Yes, they are quite light, except the flighter. The filler is should be the universal converter for 75, 85, C/C 61...etc.

If you are looking for a nib, try to find out a 14K nib... they are far more superior.

I hope you enjoy your find.