Jump to content

1947 Parker Vacumatic Jr Flex (If The Ideal Pen Exist, I May Have Found Mine)


TheDutchGuy

Recommended Posts

What makes this hobby interesting to me is variety. A pen for every mood. Rotation. Admiration of each pen’s qualities as a writer. Appreciation of design philosophies. Etc. There’s never been a clear favourite that stands out above all others. Until now. Possibly (the day is young).

 

fpn_1577980721__b6ef8d24-e444-4ed1-8117-

 

Two weeks ago, I received two vintage pens: an Esterbrook SJ with 9550 EF nib and this: a 1947 Parker Vacumatic Jr with flex nib. Both pens have been lovingly restored by RonZ. I fell for the Vacumatic Jr like a ton of bricks:

-it improves my handwriting

-it fits my hand like a glove, posted as well as unposted

-it’s small enough to comfortably fit in a shirt pocket

-the material feels lovely to the touch

-it allows me to write in a variety of styles and makes me appear a better writer than I actually am in each of those styles

-it holds plenty of ink (a necessity with a wet pen like this)

-the feel of the nib on paper is heavenly: it’s not glassy smooth, it’s very tactile, think Sailor and you’ll get the idea.

 

fpn_1577981289__1f7ac121-bb9c-4a37-9ef7-

^—Such a wonderful nib!

 

fpn_1577981360__11a44f86-d16e-4605-88a8-

 

At first glance the pen appears to be totally black, but it isn’t. In direct daylight or proper artificial light there is a pattern to be seen in the material.

 

fpn_1577981954__2b63a877-f94a-49fc-9b08-

 

The lighter parts are translucent, so basically the barrel is translucent and I can see how much there is left inside the pen. Gotta love it.

 

I’m not big on Parker. My only other Parker is a 51 from the fifties that I rarely use because the nib is a big, fat M-verging-on-B while I prefer EF (anybody have a nice EF lying around for a Parker 51?). But this little Vacumatic Jr... wow. Just wow.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 10
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Honeybadgers

    2

  • TheDutchGuy

    2

  • Tom Kellie

    1

  • WLSpec

    1

~ TheDutchGuy:

 

From your detailed description it's an exceptional fountain pen.

Thank you for the text, the images, and the handwriting sample.

You're well equipped for writing in 2020.

Tom K.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a sucker for the stacked celluloid versions.

 

I have a green and brown model. one's quite flexible, the other is firm and fine.

 

Both write wonderfully.

 

The only pen that pulls off the stacked celluloid better is the visconti divina metropolitan.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Both write wonderfully.

 

 

 

I'll bet. I'd expected a good pen, but not that it would be this good. Basically I bought it to prevent myself from being tempted to buy a new MB 149 flex, a pen which was calling my name but costs way more than I should ever want to spend on a pen.

 

The only pen that pulls off the stacked celluloid better is the visconti divina metropolitan.

 

That's a very distinctive pen, but a bit too, well, um, gaudy for me. And too expensive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

That's a very distinctive pen, but a bit too, well, um, gaudy for me. And too expensive.

 

also I would tell you to never buy one in general because ink gets caught between the section and its sleeve, discoloring it.

 

I have to dab silicone grease around the mouth whenever I ink it because I don't want that to happen.

 

And the clip misaligns on the body.

 

But I'm never. EVER. selling it.

 

It was just one of those things I saw and immediately decided was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. As a pen, it is comfortable and writes well, but is generally pretty awful. But as a work of art, I adore it.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Very good and durable pen, enjoy it. Thanks for the review

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for this interesting review and congratulations to that nice pen. I'm glad you got a really nice nib. I've never been lucky with the few Parkers I bought. Either I simply didn't like their nibs or they had other issues. I have a couple of very pretty, colourful Vacumatics from the 40s but I never use them because their nibs are fairly poor compared to all the other pens I have. Your review teaches me that there must be good Parker nibs, though I don't know where they are hiding...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does Ron charge more for "lovingly" restorations? Just kidding. Congratulations on your pen. Enjoy!!:)

"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a wonderful Vacumatic!

 

Enjoy your Vac, and may it last you a loooong time!

 

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

the nib desgin on these vintage Parkers are so nice. I wonder why they discontinued them on the later models. Awesome review.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...