What Colors Are The Most Valuable In The Parker 51?

[inkstainedruth]

I'd be interested to see a chart of rarest to most common colors. Because I was always of the impression that Midnight Blue was not a rare color -- but it was one of the hardest ones for me to get that was an affordable price (I paid more for a full size Midnight Blue than I did several years ago for the Plum Demi...).

Guessing of course that Black was most common for both Aero and Vac models.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

Aeros:

 

Plum

 

I think Forest Green is rarer than Midnight Blue.

 

Midnight Blue, British Bloody Burgundy, Cocoa next

 

Burgundy

 

Navy Gray, Black, Teal.

 

This was approximately my experience. This could have changed since I quit trying to buy 51s.

 

I know little of the Vacs, since I try to avoid them, but a few have come in lots and trades.

 

I traded for one vac to steal the stub nib and put it in a Midnight Blue Aerometric pen. I am still restoring that Cedar Blue Vac after a few years. I finally have the parts. Diabetes, eye troubles get in the way.

 

I am old. OFAP (Old Fart At Play)..

Edited December 18, 2017 by pajaro

[inkstainedruth]

I'm surprised when you say that Navy Gray is a common color. Because until I got mine, I'm not sure I would have considered it such (I don't think I'd ever seen one before, but admittedly I wasn't really looking, either).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

Black, navy gray and teal used to be pretty common. I used several navy gray 51s for conversions to Ariel Kullock hoods and barrels to liven up the 51s I used. Aerometric, of course. Still have apple green, translucent amethyst, swirly yellow and a swirly purple hood and barrel to convert another pen. You have to have something to live for.

[inkstainedruth]

Not me -- the Kullock "fantasy 51s are too ornate for me, for the most part. One of the things I really like about 51s is their streamlined, understated design.

Also, in my experience, a "real" 51 is way, way, way less expensive....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

I thought of the Kullock conversions of hood and barrel as introducing a little color. I never viewed them as being ornate. At one time I had a lot of 51s, and the dark colors made me want something brighter. A little color, a little levity. I think I fall somewhere between the lovers of truly ornate pens and those who like the same old same old. After serving in the USAF, the regimentation of the uniform of the day can sometimes be left out of hobby endeavors, and a bit of free spirit introduced. I have enough of the standard 51 colors to satisfy me.

 

I did like the version of burgundy made in Argentina. It is almost carmine, a soft, pretty red.

[Larry Barrieau]

Does anyone find the aero Cocoa to have a pinkish hue?

[mitto]

Does anyone find the aero Cocoa to have a pinkish hue?

I have cocoa 51s in two different shades. Don't know if one is pinkish. Here they are.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17AkAgo_FLcqGpDfaiEykXPywGfDZWebX/view?usp=drivesdk

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12WLIMmrFkRf_11pOe6R3ysl1pcS8H9SC/view?usp=drivesdk

Edited March 21, 2018 by mitto

[Offret]

The only 51 colours that interest me are cedar blue/midnight blue and forest green. Really don't like the all metal signet/flighter models and the rest leave me cold. I suppose teal blue and plum are nice, but definitely not colours I would seek out. My English rolled silver 51 that I posted a while ago came in teal, but I didn't buy it for the colour - I plan on swapping out the hood/barrel with forest green anyway.

 

I would pick dark blue and dark green over any of the 'rare' colours if given the choice - I guess that makes them valuable to me.

[inkstainedruth]

I'm always amused by the concept of Cocoa and Buckskin Beige considered such desirable colors. Because for me they're just ugly. And to answer someone else, yes, the Cocoa I saw in the wild about a year ago had a pinkish cast to it. And a 3/4" long crack in the barrel across the threading.... Needless to say, I did not buy it at the antiques fair where I saw it. Nor, a couple of months later, at a booth in a local antiques mall (some of the other pens, including a few Sheaffers, also looked familiar -- and when I saw that Cocoa 51 I realized why: clearly the booth holder had bought the entire lot of pens from the dealer at the antiques fair...).

Okay, Navy Grey is also kinda ugly, but mine at least has an interesting/exotic nib on it.... I brought it, as well as the Burgundy and Plum Aeros, to the Baltimore/Washington Pen show, with a vague idea of looking for Dove Grey and/or Cordovan Brown. But then decided I really didn't need them at this time.... I could see myself actually looking twice at Mustard Yellow, but I have a sneaking suspicion that that would quickly change due to sticker shock.... (Ditto for "British Bloody Burgundy".)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

I have a cocoa set, it is the pinkish hue as in Mitto's pics. I think all the colors are beautiful. Some are very dark, but I like them all. I like the various custom colors by Kullock and others as well. The Parker colors are a product of their time, though, and tastes change, as some have pointed out. I was young in their time, and I like them.