Parker 45 nib markings

[OldGriz]

I just picked up a Parker 45 Flighter and a 51 with a 12kt Gold filled cap on eBay.. both from England...

 

The 45 description says that the gold colored nib assembly is marked with a "R" and appears to be an italic.... did Parker make an italic nib for the 45

[gorgieramone]

yes they did. Can't vouch for the one you have won but i have a NOS steel broad (about 1mm) italic which is tipped and is marked as made in England on the steel nib but has no markings on the plastic collar.

[JimStrutton]

I just picked up a Parker 45 Flighter and a 51 with a 12kt Gold filled cap on eBay.. both from England...

 

The 45 description says that the gold colored nib assembly is marked with a "R" and appears to be an italic.... did Parker make an italic nib for the 45

Hmmmm,

 

Do you know what? For a Sheaffer man, Griz buys one hell of a lot of Parkers lately

 

To misquote The Bard, "The Griz doth protest too much, methinks"

 

Jim , who has never made a secret of his OCD problem with "51"s and Parkers in general.

 

:roflmho:

 

PS Nice buy, if you get lucky that 45 might have a gold nib, some did.

 

PPS I would offer to buy them off you for the price you paid blah de blah, but then I get some BS about putting me in the Will or some such :ltcapd:

[Phthalo]

I wonder if, like Sheaffer, the 'R' may mean Right-Oblique?

 

I have a early 70's Parker 45, made in France, and bought from the store Musso Stilografiche, Torino, Italy, in 1974. (The pen still had the box and stamped 'Certificato D' Origine' when I bought it.)

 

It has a very soft and springy gold-coloured nib with no hallmarks, and I've always wondered what it was made of, I thought it would be too springy for steel... but it certainly doesn't have anything written on it indicating it's gold.

[OldGriz]

I just picked up a Parker 45 Flighter and a 51 with a 12kt Gold filled cap on eBay.. both from England...

 

The 45 description says that the gold colored nib assembly is marked with a "R" and appears to be an italic.... did Parker make an italic nib for the 45

Hmmmm,

 

Do you know what? For a Sheaffer man, Griz buys one hell of a lot of Parkers lately

 

To misquote The Bard, "The Griz doth protest too much, methinks"

 

Jim , who has never made a secret of his OCD problem with "51"s and Parkers in general.

 

:roflmho:

 

PS Nice buy, if you get lucky that 45 might have a gold nib, some did.

 

PPS I would offer to buy them off you for the price you paid blah de blah, but then I get some BS about putting me in the Will or some such :ltcapd:

Jim, I never said that Parker pens were not worth buying....

What I did say was that Sheaffers were better....

 

Also, being the cheap SOB that I am, when I can get a good deal on eBay I jump on it... I figure worst case scenario, I can always make a buck selling one to some misquided Parker junkie..

 

BTW, I paid 26.2 BP for both including shipping.... I think is was a good deal...

 

It is a shame you don't live this side of the pond Jim... I could see you and I having some fun times.... probably much to the discontent of our wives...

[JimStrutton]

BTW, I paid 26.2 BP for both including shipping.... I think is was a good deal...

 

I would like to say " You woz robbed :ltcapd: " But as usual, you have come out smelling of Roses :bonk:

 

It is a shame you don't live this side of the pond Jim... I could see you and I having some fun times.... probably much to the discontent of our wives... rolleyes.gif

 

Dunno about you but I am in enough trouble already.......

 

Jim

 

PS If the 45 DOES have a gold nib by the way, I am not talking to you

[FLZapped]

I just picked up a Parker 45 Flighter and a 51 with a 12kt Gold filled cap on eBay.. both from England...

 

The 45 description says that the gold colored nib assembly is marked with a "R" and appears to be an italic.... did Parker make an italic nib for the 45

I guess by now you've figured out that it is a Right-hand oblique nib.

I just picked up one and I thought it would be WAY too broad, but I love it. It produces that classic look people associate with fountain pen writing.

 

 

-Bruce

[jackoguit]

Anybody know a good source for P45 Nibs?

I'd be game for an italic nib... .

[JimStrutton]

Anybody know a good source for P45 Nibs?

I'd be game for an italic nib... .

Getting an Italic could be a challenge, but J M Lewertoski sells new 45s on eBay and you could buy a broad from him and then get somebody like Dillon Ang to grind it into an Italic or Stub Italic for you.

 

Just a thought, no connection with either blah de blah

 

Jim

[OldGriz]

You could also buy a nib directly from Parker...

I bought a gold F nib for my 45 last year and I do believe they have all sizes... they also have steel nibs...

I believe the gold was $20 and the steel was $12-15, maybe less

[Bill D]

You could also buy a nib directly from Parker...

I bought a gold F nib for my 45 last year and I do believe they have all sizes... they also have steel nibs...

I believe the gold was $20 and the steel was $12-15, maybe less

Hi Tom,

 

Can you do this over the web, or is there a number to call?

 

thanks,

Bill

[kissing]

I was at the local pen shop today.

 

I asked the shop owner (who said she had worked for Parker for 17 years) to compare the Sonnet and the 45.

 

She said that the Sonnet is a much higher quality pen than the 45 and that 45 was just made as a student pen.

 

Her comment confused me a great deal, because people of this forum seem to think very highly of the 45. The 45 i saw was stainless steel with Gold-plated nib and came with one of the cheaper Parker "sliding" converters. Can someone help me out with a more specific comparison?

 

(maybe the shop-owner just made the Sonnet sound better, so she could get more money - The Sonnet i was looking at was around $105 US while the 45 was around $49 US).

Edited September 29, 2007 by kissing

[OldGriz]

You could also buy a nib directly from Parker...

I bought a gold F nib for my 45 last year and I do believe they have all sizes... they also have steel nibs...

I believe the gold was $20 and the steel was $12-15, maybe less

Hi Tom,

 

Can you do this over the web, or is there a number to call?

 

thanks,

Bill

Here is the number I called

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE

1-800-Best-Pen

(1-800-237-8736)

Hours of Operation

8:00 am - 4:30 pm CST

[JimStrutton]

I was at the local pen shop today.

 

I asked the shop owner (who said she had worked for Parker for 17 years) to compare the Sonnet and the 45.

 

She said that the Sonnet is a much higher quality pen than the 45 and that 45 was just made as a student pen.

 

Her comment confused me a great deal, because people of this forum seem to think very highly of the 45. The 45 i saw was stainless steel with Gold-plated nib and came with one of the cheaper Parker "sliding" converters. Can someone help me out with a more specific comparison?

 

(maybe the shop-owner just made the Sonnet sound better, so she could get more money - The Sonnet i was looking at was around $105 US while the 45 was around $49 US).

You can get a decent 45 for a lot less, check what the shipping is to AUS, but you can see this has no bids at the time of writing and for less than £5 is a great deal, almost less than the cost of the nib alone

 

Parker 45 on eBay J M Lewertoski

 

Many of us have bought from J-M L, not connection just a satisfied customer.

 

Jim

[Michael Wright]

I was at the local pen shop today.

 

I asked the shop owner (who said she had worked for Parker for 17 years) to compare the Sonnet and the 45.

 

She said that the Sonnet is a much higher quality pen than the 45 and that 45 was just made as a student pen.

 

Her comment confused me a great deal, because people of this forum seem to think very highly of the 45. The 45 i saw was stainless steel with Gold-plated nib and came with one of the cheaper Parker "sliding" converters. Can someone help me out with a more specific comparison?

 

(maybe the shop-owner just made the Sonnet sound better, so she could get more money - The Sonnet i was looking at was around $105 US while the 45 was around $49 US).

There's not really a contradiction here. The Sonnet is made with more expensive materials, and with more gold in the nib, and is generally a fancier pen. But the 45 is a superb piece of value engineering, and as a writing instrument is the Sonnet's equal (might even be better, because some people report occasional problems with some Sonnets). The only place where I'm really conscious that the two pens are made to different price points is the cap on the 45, which is functional. That, and the fact that my Sonnets are the Fougere and the Chinese laque, which are very pretty indeed.

 

We like the 45 here because the pen world appreciates good value in pens, and the only snobbery is inverse snobbery ("The best pen I have is a wartime Obscurograph. Got it in a junkshop for 29c, and it writes better than a 149." )

 

USD49 for a 45 sounds like a lot of money. Try an office supplies store. Or, perhaps better, look round the junktiques. Here in Auckland there are quite a lot of old 45s to be found for about NZD25, which as you know is not very much at all in real money (or cowrie shells). Some are in their original boxes, having been put away full of ink. These you might have to soak well, but they should be OK. Just make sure that no-one has used them for a game of darts -- but even then, the nibs are easily interchangeable.

 

Good luck

 

Michael

[OldGriz]

("The best pen I have is a wartime Obscurograph. Got it in a junkshop for 29c, and it writes better than a 149."

Well it does write better than a 149 and I was lucky to get it for the price I paid.... those Obscurographs are hard to come by in the US...