Parker 61: Which Rainbow Cap Is This?

[PithyProlix]

Hi all,

 

I've got a Parker 61 that was my father's - please see picture below. I understand this is a rainbow cap but which specific version is it? From https://parkerpens.net/parker61.html there were three versions:

 

Heirloom (green and pink gold Rainbow cap)
Heritage (silver and yellow gold Rainbow cap)
Legacy (nickel and silver Rainbow cap)

 

Is it one of these?

And can anyone suggest how to clean the cap, please?

Thanks!

[joss]

Check the cap for imprints as to gold content.

 

The Heritage cap typically has two imprinted shields "⌂" with imprint [P 1/10 12/K G/F] for the yellow gold layer and [P Silver logo] for the silver layer.

I do not have a Heirloom cap but I guess that that cap has two shields for the gold content of the green and pink gold layer.

As far as I can see on my pens, the Legacy cap does not have these imprinted shields.

 

The black oxidation on your cap suggests the presence of silver.

[inkstainedruth]

Wow. I didn't even know that there were "different" rainbow caps. (All of my 61s have plain caps).
I love this site -- I learn new stuff all the time. Thanks!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Kenlowe]

In terms of cleaning you need to be very careful, the finish on the pen is delicate. I am not sure what resources are available to you in Thailand, perhaps start with a very soft yellow duster and use very light pressure but be prepared to step up to a jewellers cloth.

 

Metal polishes should not be used in my opinion.

 

I hope that you can post the results after the cap has been cleaned.

[Mr.Rene]

baking soda will work fine...

[PithyProlix]

Check the cap for imprints as to gold content.

 

The Heritage cap typically has two imprinted shields "⌂" with imprint [P 1/10 12/K G/F] for the yellow gold layer and [P Silver logo] for the silver layer.

I do not have a Heirloom cap but I guess that that cap has two shields for the gold content of the green and pink gold layer.

As far as I can see on my pens, the Legacy cap does not have these imprinted shields.

 

The black oxidation on your cap suggests the presence of silver.

 

Thanks much. So it's a Heritage cap. (Photos of the other imprints as well.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Photos: circa 1979 Konica macro lens)

[PithyProlix]

Thanks much for the suggestions thus far!

 

I tried removing the silver tarnish with a brief soak of a solution of salt, baking soda, white vinegar in water on top of aluminum foil trick. It has previously worked really great on other tarnished silver items however, this time, just a little of the tarnish came off.

 

I just found this thread from 2006: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/20213-cleaning-a-parker-61-rainbow-cap/

Recommendations made there are two types of polishing cloths, abrasive and burnishing, and two different polishing 'cremes', Simichrome and Wenol. I can get Wenol here in Thailand as well as various polishing cloths that I know nothing about and I'm hesitant to use.

 

I want to make it pretty - well, pretty relative to it's current state - but I am concerned about removing metal, of course.

 

Are there any professional restorers who have significant experience with these caps that I could contact?

 

Best,

Brian

Edited September 10, 2020 by brian_minsk

[PithyProlix]

Also, getting off my own topic a little:

 

What about ink?

 

I've never had a capillary filled pen. (Are there others?) I have spent a few days thoroughly soaking and flushing out the capillary filler (presumably the dried up ink in it was well over 50 years old) and I'd like to ink it up with a blue-black ink. My Parker 51's have been robust with different inks. Diamine, Lamy, Pilot, and Parker Quink inks are readily available and reasonably priced through online shopping sites within Thailand (I live way out in the sticks and the city I live closest to - Chiang Mai - doesn't have much that I know of). I really don't like Parker Blue-Black. My top picks:

• Diamine Oxford Blue
• Diamine Midnight
• Lamy Blue-Black

Would these inks be suitable?

 

Thanks again for the advice - it is greatly appreciated!

 

Best,

Brian

Edited September 10, 2020 by brian_minsk

[Kenlowe]

In terms of ink I would use a washable ink, something very simple such as Parker or Waterman.

 

I would also look on the Repair resources on how to flush a 61

[inkstainedruth]

I've had good luck with J Herbin inks (the standard line). Right now my black 61 has Violette Pensee in it, and have considered getting one of the big 100 ml bottles of Eclat de Saphir (but last winter when I was at Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC, had to settle for a backup small bottle). I've also used one of the De Atramentis inks (Apple Blossom) in one of the other 61s. I did have problems with scented Lavender in the grey one, because I discovered that the pen's hood had a bunch of cracks I didn't remember

Flushing a 61 with a capillary filler is actually pretty easy; when I bought the black one, the seller recommended removing the barrel and sticking the pen, nib down, under the faucet. I didn't want to do that because I have very hard water, so instead I use a bulb syringe and flushed distilled water through from the back, and that works well. I ended up getting enough ink reconstituted that I was able to write with it, then repeated the process every time the pen went dry. That took about four MONTHS, and when the ink was too diluted to be legible, I did a more thorough flush.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

I have used Diamine pretty much exclusively in my vintage pens, including the 61. It flushes easily with a baby ear syringe.

 

The cloths you posted on the other thread should work and look very similar to my Sunshine cloths.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, it would depend on the Diamine ink. I would NOT put Sargasso Sea into a capillary filler, for instance, and likely not Ancient Copper. And I don't think I would be comfortable putting ANY IG ink or any pigmented ink into one.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

Well, it would depend on the Diamine ink. I would NOT put Sargasso Sea into a capillary filler, for instance, and likely not Ancient Copper. And I don't think I would be comfortable putting ANY IG ink or any pigmented ink into one.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

You are correct, I should have qualified that....I use mostly mainstream Diamine like Pelham Blue and China Blue and it works fine. However, the 61 is NOT a pen that you can leave sitting inked for several days without use....

[PithyProlix]

You are correct, I should have qualified that....I use mostly mainstream Diamine like Pelham Blue and China Blue and it works fine. However, the 61 is NOT a pen that you can leave sitting inked for several days without use....

 

Well, I have Diamine Oxford Blue on the way so we shall see. Yeah - the idea is to use blue-black in that pen so it will get used frequently. Plus I'd like to settle on a particular maker & color so I'm not changing it to something else - flushing the capillary filler out was a bit of a pain (that said, it had ~50 year old, dried-up ink in it ...).

 

Thanks for checking out those cloths I linked to.

Edited September 11, 2020 by brian_minsk

[christof]

Check the cap for imprints as to gold content.

 

The Heritage cap typically has two imprinted shields "⌂" with imprint [P 1/10 12/K G/F] for the yellow gold layer and [P Silver logo] for the silver layer.

I do not have a Heirloom cap but I guess that that cap has two shields for the gold content of the green and pink gold layer.

As far as I can see on my pens, the Legacy cap does not have these imprinted shields.

 

The black oxidation on your cap suggests the presence of silver.

 

 

Heritage, That is what I think too.

 

Parker 61 Rainbow caps by C.M.Z, auf Flickr

 

from top down:

 

Heritage cap; silver and yellow gold

Legacy cap; nickel and silver

Heirloom; rose gold and yellow gold

Edited September 13, 2020 by christof

[PithyProlix]

The cloths you posted on the other thread should work and look very similar to my Sunshine cloths.

FYI - I wrote Richard Binder and he also recommended Sunshine cloths to clean the tarnished cap.

[cabbie]

Someone mentioned cleaning over a sink. I would recommend over a bowl. Sure enough, the one time you're cleaning over a sink, the arrow will decide that's a good time to escape down the drain. Very unlikely but a hassle to replace.

 

Thanks for all the good info on the different types of caps and cleaning them.

[PithyProlix]

On 9/9/2020 at 11:24 PM, joss said:

Check the cap for imprints as to gold content.

 

The Heritage cap typically has two imprinted shields "⌂" with imprint [P 1/10 12/K G/F] for the yellow gold layer and [P Silver logo] for the silver layer.

I do not have a Heirloom cap but I guess that that cap has two shields for the gold content of the green and pink gold layer.

As far as I can see on my pens, the Legacy cap does not have these imprinted shields.

 

FYI - I have a Heirloom cap on a P61 Mk 2, obtained a few months ago and it has one shield. I guess the gold content of the green and pink layers are the same, thus no need for two shields. (?)

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I just got one of these and I was curious about something. Are the heritage caps gold fill (for the gold pattern) over sterling silver? Or is it silver fill and gold fill mixed in layers? I was wondering because the gold layer feels very slightly raised like it is above the silver layer.

 

Also, boy oh boy, these are a royal pain to polish. The silver tarnishes like crazy, the pen that I got I have never seen any other remotely as tarnished and that includes sterling silver pens from the 1920's.