Where to Buy Parker 51?

[PensPensPens]

Hi, Where can I buy one other than ebay?

[SquelchB]

There are many ways. Maybe the easiest is to check on Marketplace here, they show up quite often.

 

Other choices are websites of restorers and vintage pen sellers. There are quite many of them.

[Glenn-SC]

I have many.

What are you looking for?

[Pjake]

No affiliation but you might try www.(bleep).com or www.wetink.com.

 

Over the past day or two ebay does seem to have some very nice 51's for sale...

 

Peter

[gregamckinney]

Check with Joel Hamilton. http://ink-pen.com/

Joel has great pens and is a super guy.

 

Best regards, greg

[Bart]

I've had good experience with www.parker51.com. Ernesto has nice pens (some NOS) as well as all sorts of repair supplies and parts for if you do decide to buy on ebay.

Edited June 1, 2008 by Bart

[Jeff E]

Also consider Ron Zorn, Richard Binder, and Old Griz.

[Shamouti]

This is an easy question to answer. But it can definitely be a tough one depending on what you want.

 

The Parker 51 is arguably one of the best pens of all time. They had two main filling systems:

 

A vacumatic version, which utilized the barrel for ink by pressing a button underneath the blind cap on the barrel.

 

An aerometric version which a sac is inside a metal cylinder with a bar to press a few times to draw in ink.

 

Both versions are very popular to this day.

 

Aerometric versions are more abundant considering the pen was made from 1948-1972. The vacumatic version is less abundant since it was made in 1941-1947. Of course you can get highly technical on this too. I'd recommend for a starter, usable 51 is an Aerometric. Remember, most good ones will cost about $80 to $150 usually. Rarer types can go to the roof!

 

It's easy to purchase a pen online, but if you take my advise, I'd recommend a pen show when you can. There's nothing else like it.

 

Sometimes if you've never purchased a 51 before, it's hard to find a real good one unless you can actually see it, hold it in your hands and even write with it.

 

The best in the business deal with Parker 51s as a core business since Parker stopped making the 51, the abundance of parts through service departments are still around. The hard part is finding a nib which will work for you too.

 

Recently, I talked to David Nishimura from Vintagepens.com and he said medium and broad nibs for 51's in gold are at a premium. If you buy a pen and want a medium or broad nib, sometimes if you're lucky, you can find one already on the pen. The best thing is if you purchase a 51, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

My best recommendation first is go research Ernesto Soler's Parker51.com website, check out Richard Binder's site, Dave's (bleep).com, and if you can find it, get the book on Parker 51 by Mark and David Shepherd. Then for goodness sake, if you want the best bang for the buck, go see one of us at a pen show! It's fun, informative, and you'll learn more than you'll possibly imagine.

 

Check out Susan Wirth's Pen Calender if you like, and feel free to ask us if you have any more questions.

 

Remember, you're entering into a fun and enthusiastic world of the 51, so enjoy it! And if you buy a pen, use it!

 

Take Care,

 

John (Shamouti)

 

 

[fatehbajwa]

I bought one recently from Andy at Andy's Pens. You may want to check it out.

Just a satisfied customer.

[lovemy51]

Hi, Where can I buy one other than ebay?

 

if you are in the USA, you might want to try this: http://www.billspens.com/shopsite_sc/page13.html

[superbleu]

I sent Bill an email a few weeks back (from another FPNer's recommendation) looking for a P 51 a few weeks back and he sent me a reply saying he was attending to family matters and wouldn't be handling any pen sales till they were taken care of.

 

So send Bill an email, but if you don't hear back right away that may be the reason.

 

Hi, Where can I buy one other than ebay?

 

if you are in the USA, you might want to try this: http://www.billspens.com/shopsite_sc/page13.html

 

You could also try Ron Zorn at mainstreetpens.com

, Ross @ rosspens.com, or Ernesto @ parker51.com

 

Good luck with your search, and as others have said you should be very happy with your "new" 51. I am with mine (Thank you RON).

[HesNot]

All good recommendations thus far. I've bought a "51" from Tom Mullane aka OldGriz (a cedar blue vac) and was very satisfied with the pen and the transaction - no affiliation (other than Tom's promise to send me one of the factory stub "51"s he has floating around )

 

But any of the above mentioned sellers would be a good place to start. SMBaugh on the marketplace often has some nice examples for sale and fairly priced as well.

 

The lesson - however - is that I'd buy one from a reputable seller already restored rather than the ebay gamble. While seemingly bulletproof, and the "51" is definitely robust, a vac filler will definitely need to be replaced before I'd use one bought off the bay so you have to add that cost into the mix, an aero filler may have problems with the steel breather tube (one of mine did and it was a pain to fix myself) and they are difficult to diagnose without taking the pen apart; plus you have no idea really what kind of nib is on it and if you buy from a restorer/dealer you'll have a much better idea of the nib width and be assured that it is in working order and either adjusted for flow or you'll have an honest opinion about the flow.

[davidtaylorjr]

I want one so bad, I'm so scared to pull the trigger on any that I see.

[Glenn-SC]

13 minutes ago, davidtaylorjr said:

I want one so bad, I'm so scared to pull the trigger on any that I see.

Fear not!

The odds are the pen will fill and write very well.  And if it doesn’t you can resell it for at or close to what you paid for it or, for a few bucks more, you can get it completely professionally restored.  

[crescentfiller]

45 minutes ago, davidtaylorjr said:

I want one so bad, I'm so scared to pull the trigger on any that I see.

 

Ebay. And look for a good price. You really don't need to seek out a pen dealer for aerometric 51s. And as Glenn said, "the odds are the pen will fill and write very well." I would add, the odds are very, very good. Just ask some questions and look carefully at the photos. You'll likely have to flush it, but they usually write beautifully from the start. And, if you find a problem that is not stated or not shown in the photos, Ebay will back your request to return it.

Happy hunting!

[Hbanger]

4 hours ago, davidtaylorjr said:

I want one so bad, I'm so scared to pull the trigger on any that I see.

Be patient and watch all of the aerometric 51 auctions on eBay for at least a week, you will learn a lot just from watching,  look real careful at all of the pics, decide on a color and cap (gold filled or lustraloy) that you want. Then look specifically for the color / cap combo you want, you should be able to find one 80-100 that works and is not beat up. Most aerometric 51 that don’t look abused usually work well with out much work other than flushing. The last one I picked up was burgundy with a gold filled cap for 80, after a good flushing, it writes like it dream! Good luck!

[davidtaylorjr]

17 hours ago, Hbanger said:

Be patient and watch all of the aerometric 51 auctions on eBay for at least a week, you will learn a lot just from watching,  look real careful at all of the pics, decide on a color and cap (gold filled or lustraloy) that you want. Then look specifically for the color / cap combo you want, you should be able to find one 80-100 that works and is not beat up. Most aerometric 51 that don’t look abused usually work well with out much work other than flushing. The last one I picked up was burgundy with a gold filled cap for 80, after a good flushing, it writes like it dream! Good luck!

I actually pulled the trigger today on a Black/Chrome "51" FOR $75  Parker 51 Black Chrome Cap Fountain Pen ---working--fine point | eBay

[matteob]

Barry at www.writetime.co.uk has plenty of 51s all reasonably priced and is pleasure to deal with. Www.penamie.co.uk is good too. I think both ship abroad.There is Battersea Pen Home site too but they charge much more.

[inkstainedruth]

I've gotten some of mine on eBay, a few at estate sales or in antiques shops/malls, and a few at pen shows.

Looks like roughly the same relatively ratio of sources between eBay, shows, and estate sales/antiques places (if you don't count the last separately).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth