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I thought it would be interesting to write up a little comparison between six pens. To wit: the Lamy 2000, the Waterman Carene, the Parker 51, the Wing Sung 601, the Parker 75, and the Pilot VP. Why these six particularly? Well, it seems a frequent question many ask is “What is the best daily writer?” We could ask this question as well with a slant toward office tasks, notes in lectures, etc. I also think many of us fantasize about having one trusty “daily carry” fountain pen that can do pretty much everything, from filling out forms, writing letters, or penning the next great work of literature. There are thousands of different models of fountain pens from dozens of manufacturers to choose from, and many of us enjoy more than one. That being said, it’s an undeniable reality that with the pace of modern life (or, we might say, the pace demanded of us all thanks to our ballpoint-wielding brethren) many of the pens we love are perhaps a bit too fussy for daily writing tasks. Maybe they’re too delicate, or too expensive, or too slow to deploy when you need to get that idea or contact info down NOW, or just prone to drama, either in the form of hard starting, drying out, skipping and railroading, burping ink, or not having the most practical filling system. Therefore when someone says “I love fountain pens and I want to use one on an everyday basis, actually outside my own four walls,” there are a few pens commonly recommended for the job. The Lamy 2000 and Parker 51 probably are recommended most frequently, as being classic/timeless, business-appropriate, designs which are known for their workhorse prowess. The Pilot Vanishing Point is also frequently recommended due to its innovative retractable system, making it very fast to use. The Carene is a bit of a dark horse, but has been called with some justification a “French Lamy 2000,” the Wing Sung is often suggested as a product-improved Parker 51 clone, and the Parker 75, while not often thrown into these discussions, probably should be because it’s a great pen with a lot of the same virtues. There are certainly other common recommendations too, or pens I have left off. I know that at least one person will tell me their antique Duofold or Waterman 52 has never skipped a beat, or they would never dream of leaving their front door without their Visconti Homo Sapiens. Pelikans and Montblancs are popular choices but I find both lacking in one way or another as pens to carry around and write spontaneously with. I’ll expand on this a bit: most of us probably want the feel of a quality writing instrument. A platinum preppy may get the job done but it’s not really going to scratch the itch, at least for me. But I also hesitate to take a resin pen out that cost hundreds, because this pen WILL be used a bit harder than a desk pen, and scratches and scuffs might make us sad. For that matter, ANY pen that costs “a lot” is one to think twice about before tossing in a backpack to face the vicissitudes of daily abuse. The price comfort level will be different for everyone but I think most of us could agree that there’s a lot of great options under about $300, and over that point we might think twice about if we really want to risk dropping, theft, ham-handed colleagues, etc. I personally quite like the Pelikan line, and I like their screw caps -which are pretty quick to deploy because they usually thread on in less than one full rotation, but that unscrewing virtue is also a vice, and the internet abounds with tales of lost or broken pens, and ruined clothes. A good desk pen if you like them, but I can’t say it’s the perfect workhorse. As for Montblanc? Very similar. A good pen, and tailor-made to ride in your suit jacket’s breast pocket and sign a document every so often, but mine dries out easily if I’m using it while conducting an interview, so I can’t say they’re the best design for this particular task. It’s very annoying to write a sentence, and in a couple of minutes go to write something else and the pen requires effort, a scribble, or extra pressure to make it write again, with the alternative to be constantly capping and uncapping. The pens chosen for this roundup are therefore mostly hooded nibs, and all have snap caps or some other quick-deploy feature instead of threads. They come from the U.S., Germany, Japan, France, and China. Another factor to keep in mind with an everyday pen is the filling system. Every single type has pluses and minuses, but I don’t worry overmuch about that dreaded question of “what do I do if I run out of ink?” If I’ve got one pen on me I can easily have two. I can even have one that’s full for no other purpose than as a spare for some hypothetical gargantuan writing session. I keep a bottle of ink and a box of Kleenexes on my desk at work, and at home there is no shortage. In an absolute worst case scenario I can snag the cheap ballpoint someone left on the table… so I don’t feel a daily writer needs Japanese eyedropper-level capacity. But some capacity or versatility is good because, again, we’re talking use under sometimes less than perfect circumstances, not the pen spa in the home office. I’d advise everyone to actually get to know a pen before they start carrying it so they have an idea of its ink capacity and how often they may need to refill. I myself do like Extra Fine pens too, which means my pens will write a lot longer than the same pen fitted with a broad nib. Relevant information because if you like broad nibs you may prioritize capacity much more than I do. Ok on to the pens. The Parker 51. Some say this is the best pen ever made. It writes the first time, every time. It does not dry out when left uncapped for a time, and is a timeless, classic, understated design, which has a bit of retro-futuristic post-deco flair. The cap feels like a quality affair and posts well, while not impacting the pen’s excellent balance and versatile size. If I can sum this pen up in a nutshell, it’s a wonderful workhorse pen that does have a real vintage feel -because this is a vintage pen. The lucite body is unusually tough and not prone to cracking, chipping, or serious scratching, but it feels …like a plastic pen. Combine that with light weight and a nib that’s almost invisible, and you get a pen that while ticking almost all the boxes on paper, is frankly kinda boring. On the other hand, they do write sweetly. It’s the kind of thing you only notice after trying a lot of other pens. If this is your first or, especially, second fountain pen, you would be forgiven for finding this pen terminally uninteresting. Additionally, the filling system is a blessing and a curse. This pen is available with two systems. The later and more common aerometric filler is easy to fill, and the pli-glass sacs are pretty much bulletproof, making this the one vintage pen you can count on to write well with minimal restoration. The older vacumatic pens will probably require a trip to the repairman to get them running. They’re prone to drying out if left unused for days or weeks, and also difficult to flush and change inks, difficult to tell how much ink you got when filling, and difficult to see how much ink you have left. That said, there’s a reason that they took the pen world by storm in the 1940s and continue to be a recommended choice today. This is an “advanced” choice. Probably not a good starter pen but in a few years you’ll probably have one and enjoy it. Not a good choice if you like to change inks and colors either. Buy a bottle of some staid and businesslike blue, black, blue-black, or similar, and dedicate it to your pen. The Wing Sung 601 is a similar pen, with the advantage of having a more interesting vacuum filling system, having an ink window to give you an idea when you’ll be pushing empty, and being available new, for slightly under $20. The downside is that the plastic is said to be prone to cracking, but there’s a steel version available too. My Parker 51s are as a whole more pleasant to write with (nib feel on paper) because the Wing Sungs aren’t totally consistent. I have one that’s sublime, one that’s pretty nice, and a few that are average; overall the Wing Sungs aren’t bad. Mine in extra fine produce some of the prettiest writing of any of my pens. (I can’t argue with the results!)The cap clips are cheap and easily bent, which is annoying on a pen of any price, but overall this pen is hard to argue with. I’d suggest trying one as a prelude to see if you like the feel, before stepping up to the vintage ‘51. I will say that one of my Wing Sungs managed to fill its cap with ink 20 minutes before an extremely important meeting once, which did not endear it to me that day. I’ve heard that my lack of finesse with the filling might have caused this so it’s possible it’s operator error, but it’s hard to completely trust the pen after an incident like that. On the other hand I’ve had one inked up for months untouched (I have several of these) and I just tried it. It wrote perfectly. The next pen in our list is the Parker 75. I don’t often see this pen recommended but took the liberty of throwing it in because it’s got a similar cap to the venerable Parker 51, making it a very easy choice if you need a pen to write something quickly. It’s got the Parker 51’s love-or-hate aerometric filling system, along with the option to take a cartridge, and I think piston and slide converters are around too, which does add some extra versatility. My Parker 75 writes a wet medium, and has never displayed any hard-starting shenanigans. I did leave it uncapped for 10 minutes to test it and there was only a slight hesitancy which made the first stroke of my first capital a bit faint. The nib also has a much more interesting feel to me than the glassier nibs of the Parker 51 and Wing Sung, inviting me to grab this one instead if I want to enjoy my daily writing even more. Because the nib is open and not hooded, there’s more potential to easily tune it to your preferences, and nib units are available if you want to go down that route. The triangular section (slight but it’s there) is pleasant for me -but maybe not for you- and is also a bit on the smaller side, and I also enjoy this pen’s ability to rotate the nib so the writing experience can be further tuned to your preferences. And let’s not forget the iconic styling, most frequently seen in a solid sterling silver body with a crosshatch pattern. This pen is available used at non-exorbitant prices and isn’t a bad option. The real question is if your hand gets along with the section. If so, a very decent and underrated pen for daily use. It feels luxurious and high quality, but only you know if your fingers will like it. The Pilot VP is an odd duck. Actually designed (at least in terms of the mechanism) contemporaneously with the Parker 75, this pen looks and feels like a fancy ballpoint, complete with a big clicky button on the back. Click the button (which does have a nice feeling if you like such things… I’m indifferent personally) and a tiny nib emerges from an ingenious trapdoor hidden in the nose. This pen is bulbous, has a weird clip coming down the pen from the nosecap (so you can clip it to your shirt and still keep the nib safely vertical) and has a brass body, which makes the pen weightier than you might expect. It’s a recipe for either love or hatred. I personally love it. I’m one of those lucky ones who can grab this pen and write with no ergonomic issues whatsoever, and in fact I find the pen utterly comfortable for pages and pages. (This might actually be the most comfortable pen I own. Seriously.) The nib on this one is also a delight, and has a great feel (for me.) I own around 50 pens and this nib, to me, is in the top 5. Highly subjective I know, but it’s great. The downside of this pen is it’s limited capacity. It can take a cartridge or use Pilot’s small piston converter, or pilot’s larger aerometric converter. I usually opt for the aerometric one, myself. My pen is finished in black carbonesque paint, which is an interesting finish. This pen mostly lives a pampered existence but I have to assume that it might chip if the pen were carried a lot outside of a case. This is a pen I might seriously consider buying in an upgraded finish -a bonus is that it’s one of a very few Japanese pens with interchangeable nib units, so you can replace the body, nib, or both, or try different widths. There’s no cap to worry about, and if the feel in hand works for you, this pen is a wonder. It is prone to dry out if left untouched for weeks which means this pen needs to be used like it was designed for. Another bonus here is that you can get functionally identical copies from Majohn and Jinhao for $20-30, making it easy to see if the design works with your fingers. The Waterman Carene is a bit of a departure from the previous pens. It’s a much more modern design, cartridge converter (standard piston type) and has a gorgeous inlaid nib. This pen is a looker, and with its fancy lacquer finishes, striking nib, svelte shape, and extra touches like the spring loaded clip, this pen definitely adds an element of extra refinement to your writing. It’s a very pretty pen, and writes …ok. For me, this pen in M is so utterly smooth on paper, that it’s numb, or kind of “dead” feeling. The F version, on the other hand has not just a little but substantial feedback, making it a chore to write with for paragraphs. I also find I have to consciously grip the pen just a little higher than I normally might instinctively do, and my medium nib still feels a bit clunky. It will do the job, and the cap pulls off and pops on with a strong click, bordering on a snap, but overall writing with this pen just feels like work to me. Added to this feeling is the fact that while the cap will post, others have said that you probably don’t want to do this because the pen body can be scratched. Now I have to find somewhere to set that delicate cap before I write. The cartridge/converter filling system is unusually finicky too. The feed holds a ton of ink which is great for capacity and general performance, but getting a fill can be tricky, and some people have trouble with inky fingers, either from filling or from fingers sliding down onto the nib when writing. Finally, newer Waterman converters don’t last, most other converters don’t fit… leaving you potentially sourcing “vintage” converters for a pen that’s still sold new! This is a pen I want to like but just haven’t warmed up to. It sounds good on paper but it’s fussy. Last we come to the Lamy 2000. If the last pen was a polished Frenchman, this is a direct and to-the-point German. Or, put another way, if Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars were shopping for a fountain pen, this is the one he would choose. I wanted to dislike this pen, because my personal aesthetic preferences are far closer to 18th century Baroque than they are to 20th century Bauhaus design. I avoided trying, let alone buying one for years on principle. But let me tell you, this pen is amazing. It’s probably the most practical, well-designed and functional pen out there. For everyday purposes, it has a few virtues that specifically commend it. Every time I uncap this pen, it writes, and its cap is easy to pull off, easy to snap on (with a nice click, too) and readily posts. The spring loaded clip will hold to just about anything, and the makrolon body and texture make for a durable, grippable pen that is robust, doesn’t readily show scratches, and feels very nice. This pen is a piston filler with a very generous ink capacity. Frankly the pen is also a bargain compared to others of its class (gold nib piston fillers), and though its looks are polarizing (they’re growing on me) the overall vibe is subdued and businesslike, which means this pen doesn’t scream “look at me guys, I’m using a fountain pen!” which can sometimes be a desirable trait in professional settings. It’s got a subtle window allowing you to check the ink level, too. Downsides, in addition to the polarizing looks, are the smooth, tapered section and its two tiny “wings” for securing the cap, which protrude in a very low-key but readily feel-able way, meaning some complain that their fingers slide toward the nib and others complain that they feel the cap wings as they grip the pen. Personally, I don’t mind either feature and even appreciate the wings to help me grip and index the pen in my fingers, but this is definitely personal preference. Also, this pen writes very well for me, BUT it’s an “EF” that’s actually a M, maybe even a B, so depending on your preferences finding a nib size that suits you might be difficult. Now, how do these writing instruments compare? For quick access the Pilot VP wins. That button makes the pen instantly available. The Parker 51, Parker 75, Wing Sung 601, and Lamy 2000 tie for a close second, and the Waterman Carene is in third -its cap requires more force. These caps pull off easily enough, and can be retained in the off hand, set on the table, or posted. For subtlety of deployment… I think the Parker 51, 75, Wing Sung and Lamy 2000 all tie for first, the Pilot VP takes second, and the Carene, again, brings up third. The Carene cap makes a louder sound, doesn’t want to stay on when posted (which is maybe questionable anyway) making you deal with the cap in some way… The Pilot is clicky and loud. Nobody will notice the first or second time but in a meeting it can get a little annoying for some of your neighbors. The other caps are silent or subdued and can be equally silently posted if you wish. Visually it’s all about your personal preference. The Carene looks very luxurious with its mottled lacquer (or solid color and contrasting silver cap.) The Lamy is subdued but a piece of modern art. The VP is subdued (but a little wacky when you really look at it.) The Parker 75 exudes class and refinement. The Parker 51 is vintage (with an aura of authenticity if you or your neighbor examines the pen. They’re 50+ years old and don’t seem like copies.) The Wing Sung seems vintage and the details are a little bit cheap. But it looks classy and businesslike nevertheless. Personally I’m going to say the Parker 75 is the clear winner here, but this category is entirely up to you. Writing prowess is tough too because it is so important but can be subjective, boiling down to nib and grip preferences, weight preferences, etc. For me, the pens rank: Parker 51, VP, Lamy, Wing Sung, Parker 75, Carene. But it may be completely different for you. Capacity and filling: I’m going to give the Lamy top marks here for its cavernous piston filler and ink window. The Wing Sung scores second: the modernized vacumatic mechanism is fun and holds a lot of ink, and there’s a window to check it. The Parker 51 is third. The Aerometric units are easy, seem to hold a decent amount of ink. The vacumatic units are fun and also hold a decent amount. Next is the Parker 75. It uses slightly less readily available Parker converters and cartridges but works well and this does make switching inks easier (not a huge priority for me for an everyday workhorse pen.) The VP is easy but capacity is limited and this is a pen that readily dries out if neglected, and the filling system can get cruddy too. Finally the Carene comes in last, because the converters are proprietary-ish, difficult to find, and the section is so cavernous that it holds nearly a cartridge worth of ink on its own, making filling fiddly. Reliability, ie does the pen always write and does it do so in a predictable way, is very important when out and about. The Wing Sung 601 and Lamy 2000 get top marks here. These pens have never failed to work for me. The Wing Sung and Lamy have been inked for months and write every time, even when untouched for a long while. They put down the same amount of ink and it never looks oxidized or discolored. The Parker 51 gets 2nd place. It is very reliable but may dry out if left inked and not touched for months. The Parker 75 comes in third. My medium can be a bit inconsistent… writing wetter as the pen warms up. My accountant nib (xxf) is incredibly consistent though. I’ve had hard starting from the VP depending on my ink choice, and woe betide thee if its been a little while since you used the pen. It probably will work… but it may not, or may require a line of doodling, reverse writing, pressing a bit, wiping the nib with a towelette, or other tricks to coax the nib into life. My Carene has been known to skip, and dry out a bit, and although mine have never given me any ink trouble, they have a reputation for inky fingers, and my friend’s Carene routinely floods its cap. Durability is last mentioned here but may be the most important consideration. I’m going to give top marks to the Parker 51. The lucite plastic is still tough and vibrant, if you get a scratch (you probably won’t) it will just blend in with the pen’s existing patina. Nothing generally goes wrong with these pens. The Wing Sung is in 2nd. Plastic is softer and the clips are easily bent. But the pen is pretty tough and if you should have a tragic accident, you’re out $20…. Which is a very liberating thing. The Lamy 2000 gets 3rd place. It’s got a textured finish which obscures normal scratches and marks, and the makrolon material is fairly durable in its own right and feels solid. Anecdotally though, these pens can break in two at the area where the section and ink window join the body. Not incredibly likely but maybe if you sit on the pen in your back pocket or dump a few textbooks on top of it in your bag, it could happen. It’s said to be more likely if you’re in the habit of completely disassembling the pen for cleaning. The Parker 75 gets 4th. Still a durable pen but dropping one can put unsightly dings in the top or bottom tassies, the open nib is also pretty thin and would not be at all resilient to a drop of any sort, and the plastic threads holding the section to the barrel can apparently sometimes strip out. But the prevailing cisele finish is robust and not easily dented, and a mark would probably add character. The VP and Carene come in last. These pens have painted brass bodies, and they can and do scratch or chip. I treat my pens carefully and haven’t had issues, but this isn’t a desirable trait in a pen that’s getting carried around from room to room in a workplace or school. The VP is at least one piece, but the Carene’s posting issues make it very likely that regular daily use will see scratches develop. Also, metal pens tend to hit harder when they take a tumble onto a tile floor. Maybe that’s not true in terms of physics strictly speaking, but my experience is, heavy metal pens will dent themselves not infrequently, while the plastic one will probably be unscathed or maybe a mild scratch. We all prize different things in a pen. I went into this comparison thinking to myself that the Waterman might well win, at least for me, because on paper it seems like a prettier Lamy 2000. My conclusion after spending about 6 months getting to know, and using all the pens mentioned in this review, is that the Lamy is a way better pen than I thought (but I just don’t use it much due to a nib that’s more broad than I typically need.) And I don’t have to fret about whether I should get the nib ground (spoiler, I did and it’s still too broad) or cultivate a taste for Modernist design to appreciate the Lamy, because…. on a daily, real world basis, the Parker 51 is just as good, actually a bit better. (For my fingers, the Lamy section is nice for a page, the Parker, many pages.) And I have one with a nib that is superlative. The pen cost me $10 (and another $65 to have the Vacumatic system restored.) Any one of these pens could be a good fit for you depending on your particular needs and environment. I’d particularly recommend the Parker 51 (main annoyance is no ink window but my solution is a second pen inked in same color), Lamy 2000 (main annoyance is nib width…. And looks.) Beyond those two, pick up a Wing Sung 601 and a Majohn A1 or Jinhao 10 because, for the price, you owe it to yourself to try them, you won’t cry too much if they’re lost, either. Frankly, my Majohn writes nearly identically to my VP (and nib units are interchangeable) so I’d rather scratch up the $20 pen than the $200 one. The Parker 75 is a good pen and has some hidden virtues. I’d be hesitant to recommend it as a daily pen without trying it out first though. But if you find it comfortable and it’s got a nib you like, it could be a very good daily pen. And the Carene? Well, I wanted to like it but for me this pen is very overrated. It’s not a bad fountain pen in itself, if I didn’t have at least 20 in my collection that are better, including all the other ones in this review.

Is it out yet? I've heard that it's meant to be released sometime this February, but I've started to see the new Parker 51 on eBay from the US and Poland, but have not seen any official confirmation of this. Did I miss something, or are these just from a few suppliers who've gotten early stock?

Hello everyone. I just received a steel Wing Sung 601, and it’s not exactly as I’d hoped. Among a few cosmetic defects, I’m also noticing that the cap is quite hard to remove, and feels very scratchy against the body. I really don’t like the feeling of taking the cap off. I’ve taken the cap off of Parker 51s before, and it was such a smooth nice motion with a nice click. So my question is this: has anyone used a Parker 51 cap on a Wing Sung 601? I’m afraid to try it out of risk of damaging my cap, but if someone has tried this and found success with it, I’d like to hear it.

I have a 1948 (based on the nib's date) Parker 51 vac. It has been my favorite '51 and I have probably carried it the most in spite of having a half dozen others. 10 months ago the diaphragm developed a leak and I set the pen aside for repair. When I finally got to the repair, I ran into several problems. Getting the filler out was problematic, even with the clamping tool I had purchased and when I did get the filler apart, the existing vintage filler proved unusable as the socket for the pellet was broken. I ended up purchasing a post production all aluminum filler since the pen's collector value is diminished due to the nearly buffed away imprint. I installed the new filler and diaphragm, checked for air leaks and reassembled the pen. It writes quite well but it has surprised me off and on with an occasional leak. I can use the pen for a week or two and then, when I uncap it for use, find my writing hand inky due to ink all over the shell. Since I use the pen quite a bit, it often spends a lot of time laying flat on a table or on my desk. Any ideas why this is happening? It never happened before the failure of the old diaphragm. I have replaced other vac diaphragms and have not had this issue but this one has me perplexed. The only thing that I can think is that the might be a minuscule air leak in the diaphragm somewhere...not enough to leak ink at the filler but enough to allow air in, which would then allow ink to escape. The other possibility that I can conjure is that the replacement filler's button may be hitting the blind cap and be partially depressed. Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.... Cliff

Hello! I'm new to the forum and I hope I'm posting this in the right section. I love vintage fountain pens and I've always wanted a Parker 51. Recently, my mother bought me two at a flea market and one of them looks fine however the other one was not opening for some reason, and since I wasn't there I suspect that she tried to open it in a strange way and that maybe the scratches deepened for that reason (or it just had them to begin with). I haven't seen the pen yet so I only have pictures to go off of but I'm wondering if it's possible to lessen/remove the scratches or if they're too deep? How would I go about trying to remove/lessen them? I'm grateful for any help I can get.

I just purchased and received on Ebay from a seller in Thailand an unusual Parker 51. The barrel and section are orange, the barrel is longer than that on a true standard 51, and the filling system is C/C, but takes International Standard("IS") C/C, not Parker versions (which are too thick). I placed an IS converter in it, and it draws in and expels water perfectly. The photos below look at bit more red-orange than under normal lighting conditions. One of the photos compares the length of the orange one to a Bexley-created standard size yellow lucite one. I have seen an orange Parker 51 on another page at FPN, and it was standard size and apparently a Kullock creation. Does anyone else have an orange 51 and/or photos of one?

It helps to explore this yourself, revisiting once in a while if need be, and keep in mind where each of those personal info fields are entered. Don't leave it until the urge to change something specific to come upon you, and only then bother to ask the question! Invest the time surveying upfront, instead of waste it later waiting for an answer from nobody in particular. Most of the fields shown above are self-evident as to what they are. I think the only ones that could do with explanation are: Security and Privacy: There is only one setting under there, and that is a toggle for whether your online status (including ‘last active’ date or time) is visible to others Content View Behavior: That has nothing to do with what others can see about you, but only where you would like to start reading when accessing content Enable status updates: This toggle enables/disables the public feed on your profile page; if you disable it, then nobody (including you) can post publicly visible ‘status updates’ or any other message against your profile, but if you enable it, then anyone — friend, foe, or complete stranger — can post something there whenever, without waiting for you to initiate and then only reply to what you wrote Notification Settings have nothing to do with what others can see about you, and so is out of scope for this article, and I'm not going to delve into those right now. (You can look here, here, and here to wrap your head around how notifications work with respect to followed content.) N.B. There is a possibility that some of the above settings and data fields may not be available to Bronze members and/or Silver members, but I have no way of testing that or scoping it out. — • — Another way of getting to the Edit Profile dialog, and the way to change your profile photo (or ‘avatar’), is here: — • — Freeform, custom member titles that one enters for oneself are long gone, and have not been a thing since FPN came back from a long hiatus and platform upgrade late in 2020.

Please help me identify the code on this Parker 51 nib. It only says “1” instead of an accurate year number, and I can’t find any similar nib online, or any relevant information. I’m not perfectly sure if it’s a 51 nib, however, other than the year code, everything else matches the 51 nib. The code also says “PARKER”, “RU-PL” and “MADE IN USA”.

Hello, I am communicating to all of you who have great experience in these pens. I just purchased my first vintage pen parker 51 aerometric condition near mint restored from a reliable website. But the problem is that the pen has a miserable ink flow like I've never seen, an extremely dry flow that makes the black ink look gray like a very soft pencil. It is also worse in my case that I write in cursive and fast and my loops look terrible and feel rough and look dim. And my question is if I'm supposed to have bought it restored so it's clean and free of obstructions or is it a problem with the nib? I feel quite nervous and disappointed honestly I like the grip and design of the pen but its performance is the worst felt in a fountain pen. And this happened with the most wet ink I have, I can imagine the terrible result with a dry ink = 0

So i read on the TFPN facebook page that the parker 51 will come back in the second part of this year? What are your thoughts?

Hi there. I'm a Canadian living in Rome, and am just beginning to think about fountain pens for the first time in decades. A couple of weeks ago I uncapped an old Parker 51 that belonged to my late father, and was surprised to discover that it was filled with ink, that it started immediately and wrote beautifully. As a result I read everything I could about Parker 51s; I bought a Hobonichi notebook with Tomoegawa paper, and some new-old-stock Waterman South Sea Blue ink; and I started writing a book. The Parker is wonderful — it's a Special, with an Octanium nib that's pretty much perfect, except that it's a Medium, and my crabbed handwriting requires something finer. Hence, I've ordered a Pilot Custom 742 with a Fine Medium; it's on its way from a shop in Tokyo. It appears there are a number of great repair/restore people in Italy, so I may have the Parker nib replaced with a vintage Fine. Anyway, nice to be here.

I walked down to Greenwich Market last Thursday hoping there would be a few stalls open. One had a couple of fountain pens, including this desk pen. I'm a sucker for Whitefriars bases so pounced on this. When I got it home and had a proper look, the sac was completely clean, I gave it a fill with water and no old ink came out at all! Parker 51 Desk Pen by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr Parker 51 Desk Pen by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr Parker 51 Desk Pen by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

Does anyone here know a shop or private nibmeister (nibmaestro?) in Rome who I can trust to grind a vintage Parker nib? I'm not even sure whether this is a good idea. It's a vintage Parker 51 Special with an absolutely perfect Medium nib (Octanium), but what I really need is a Fine. Is it sacrilege to have it ground down? Will it be as good as it is now? Am I better to simply swap it out? Semi-serious metaphysical question: It has sentimental value; does grinding a nib diminish the sentimental value of a pen?

After trying a vintage 51, and two vintage Sonnets, I want to try a new out of the box Parker pen with a gold nib. I really liked the way the 51 wrote, and one of the Sonnets, they felt nearly frictionless and the way I write that's helpful. They were all Medium nibs. The options for that, at the best price I can find here in Canada at the moment, are: Parker 51 re-issue"next-generation" in Plum, "Deluxe" model with Fine 18k nib. OR Parker Sonnet Classic series Black lacquer, palladium trim, Fine 18k nib (rhodium finish). The 51 is slightly more expensive, but for the purposes of this let's say they're both about $160 USD. And they're both only available at these prices in the Fine nib, so there's that. Thank you for your votes and wisdom, and scolding, and whatever else you have in store for me.

Hi folks, I got this Parker 51 from Ebay for a total of $70 including shipping. I'm trying to figure out of the nib is a medium or a broad. The pen is Made in England. If it's a Medium, it's quite a bit broader than my Made in England Parker 45 medium nib. What do you folks think? I am writing on Mnemosyne paper. Thanks! The nib says "14K" "585" "Parker" "Made in England" and I believe that's about it. I'm interested because I never thought I would love a nib that's this broad. It works well for speech outlines because it's easily legible.

Recently I was able to get this Cocoa Parker 51 with a 1/10 12k gold cap. The imprint is fully legible with the date code showing that the pen was made during the third quarter of 1951. The pen looked pretty rough when I got it with dark spots in the gold cap and spots on the barrel. The barrel was easily cleaned up with some very fine polishing compound but the cap proved to be another matter until I reached for my can of Never Dull. A small wad of Never Dull did wonders for the cap (has anyone used Never Dull this way?). All of the dark spots faded to tiny specks and one small dark streak on the cap opposite the clip at the very top of the cap. There is also a small ding in the cap at about 9 O'clock from the clip. In addition to the ding and small spots on the cap (actually small pits and flaws in the gold filling), the breather tube is apparently either loose or corroded in two as I can hear and feel it move about if I slowly shake the pen with the barrel off. The pen fills and writes quite nicely, albeit a bit dry for my tastes but certainly doesn't miss a beat regardless how fast one writes. So, the question is: Do I fully restore this Parker 51? I can remove the sac and probably change out the breather tube here. The ding in the cap is another matter. I don't have the tools for that so I would need to send it off. Removing the ding should be straight forward but there would still be the flaws in the gold filling. Can those flaws be repaired or will I end up reaching escape velocity on this with the costs exceeding the pen's value. Right now, I am into the pen about $50 and could do the sac and breather tube here for another $15.00 or so. I heard that Cocoa is a somewhat rarer color. Is that true? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Cliff

Can anyone tell me, are all Parker 51 nibs compatible with all Parker 51 pens? More specifically, are the later 1960s-70s nibs with a hole towards the rear end compatible with the feed assembly on earlier Aerometrics ? Or did Parker maybe give the feed a wider diameter on later pens, so that a nib from one of these pens will be too loose on the feed of an earlier Aerometric?