Modern Parker & The 51

[robog]

While labour rates have gone up since the Parker "51", manufacturing techniques have significantly improved. Consider the fact that Parker can put out a Jotter BP that sells for about $5. While the feed and nib on a fountain pen would be a fair bit more difficult to manufacture than the ball point cartridge, the rest of the pen could be in a similar price range in terms of manufacturing. I would guess that internals similar (would probably have to skip the gold nib) to the "51" could be manufactured for roughly $20 or so. The feeder and tube are fairly easy to make I would think, the collector and nib being more difficult with tighter tolerances. The sac and sac guard should also be fairly easy. So that means it costs $25 to manufacture, so let's say $50 before it's in our hands. This is assuming decent production numbers to spread the tooling cost out over more pens.

 

Hero's sell for under $30, and if you factor in the cost of some increased quality control and maybe some nib choices if Parker were making it, you're still looking at under $50.

 

I guess this would be more of a "51" Special than a true "51", but so what? If the goal is a pen that writes well and is easy to use this would seem to fit the bill. Bear in mind that my favorite Parker "51" design is a black aero with a Lustralloy cap, so I prefer the gold cap being left out of any new pen.

 

The big question though is, my Parker 51 cost me $50 and writes beautifully. Would I buy a modern one for the same price? I think I'd prefer a good old one, but with a modern version they would be more easily available, easier to get the size of nib you want, and I wouldn't have to baby the pen as much as I do since I know it's not too difficult to pick up another. On the other hand, that simple fact of easy availability might ruin the whole experience since it wouldn't be as special anymore.

 

Bottom line, as long as I have my "51" and it keeps writing well, I don't really care what they do.

[Col]

QUOTE (robog @ Mar 21 2007, 11:38 PM)

Bottom line, as long as I have my "51" and it keeps writing well, I don't really care what they do.

Which is just as well, because there's about as much chance of Parker making the 51 again in its original form as there is of me landing on Mars.

[psfred]

Richard Binder's web site has great descriptions of the "51" innards, and Enrnest on Parker51.com has pictures of the parts, too.

 

The 51 SE is pretty much the same as the 100 under the hood.

 

Ariel Kullock sells quite a few pens that were indeed experimental stuff turned out in the 1960s, but I think (and I may be wrong) that there are also new barrels and hoods being made. That isn't the hard part, all you need is a duplicator attachment for a lathe and some time, all parts are turned. True of the sections and rings as well, not a big deal. The collector is a bugger to make, but again, not impossible if you have time and a lathe, the originals were turned as well.

 

Nibs are a different story, I think....

 

Top of the line fountain pens in the 40s and 50s were sort of like a house -- you bought the best you could afford and used it forever.

 

Peter