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Two Different Parker 45 Yellow Colors


donnweinberg

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I'm a Parker 45 collector (among other pens). My impression is that the "Happy Colors" Yellow is quite hard to find. I have two FPs of one type of yellow, and one of another type of yellow. See the photos here from different distances and perspectives:

 

Parker 45 - all FP.jpegParker 45 lower row.jpegParker 45 closeup of Yellows.jpegParker 45 Yellows - barrel ends.jpeg

 

Based mostly on the photo of the barrel ends, I believe that the two yellows (what I'd call a "goldenrod" yellow) that are alike are the authentic Parkers, and the one yellow that differs from the other two (what I'd call a "bright" yellow) probably is an Ariel Kullock creation. The bright yellow barrel end has a different shape from other authentic Parker 45 FPs and seems to match other Kullocks of the same pen model. The other reason I believe that the bright yellow 45 is a Kullock is that one cannot screw off the nib section (the pen was never used before I purchased it, but I soaked it anyhow); the nib section appears to be fixed by design.

 

On the two goldenrod yellow 45s, I replaced the stainless steel fittings, cap, and nibs with gold-plated fittings, gold arrow and brushed steel caps, and gold nibs (because I prefer the gold as a contrast to the stainless steel). So don't be misled by my changes.

 

My question to the group is whether my conclusion about which yellow version is an authentic Parker is correct or incorrect. Your input would be appreciated. Thanks. -- Donn

 

 

 

 

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Nice collection.When a company made so many different colours of the same model of one pen they must have being thinking in sales and profits but some years after they are the dreams of collectors. :)

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That is a nice collection of Parker 45s!

 

If you are into Parker 45, I guess that you already know this Parker 45 website, showing a bright yellow P45 as being authentic Parker:

http://parker45pens.com/colours/

 

But colours can be deceiving on pc screens. I do not know whether Kullock glued the P45 section in the barrel. Did your pens come with caps or as barrels only? Because there also was a bright yellow Parker 45 made by Parker Argentina, with caps imprinted "Industria Argentina". These are genuine Parker (Argentina) pens and not made by Ariel Kullock.

 

The history of Parker Argentina is not well documented. There is some info in this webpage:

www.vintagepenscollection.com/HistoryofParker.html

 

I think that I read somewhere that old machinery from the Parker Argentina factory was bought by the Kullock family but I have no idea in which year that was.

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The nib cannot be unscrewed from the one Kullock 45 I have. Like yours, mine had never been inked. I have not tried heat.

 

Brian

One test is worth a thousand expert opinions.

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The 45s I have that are attributed to Kullock as identified by the seller, are not injection molded and appear to be turned on a lathe.

 

Parker made pens were injection molded. Look closely at the barrel threads for differences.

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Thank you to all who have posted here. Very helpful. There was a yellow FP & Pencil Parker 45 set that completed its auction on Ebay last night. I went as high as $168 (last 2 seconds final bid), but the set sold for $170 and change. I noticed in the photos that the nib unit was removable and that the nib collar and feed were removable from the nib, so that helped. The color looked bright yellow, but it was hard to tell because of lighting. The set had a brushed steel with GP arrow cap, GP mid-barrel band, and 14K gold nib. The seller was in South Korea. The buyer was a "private buyer." The strange thing was that in the last few minutes of the auction, the "current bid" was showing as $72.50, so there must have been other last-second bids.

 

I have never seen a "pink" Parker 45 offered for sale or auction, by the way. Has anyone else seen one offered for sale or auction?

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I have the turquoise, red, and olive ones like in your pic.(plus a silver Flighter)

 

What's that third from the right? Magenta? Pink?

 

I. Want. It.

 

[/Veruca Salt]

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The 45s I have that are attributed to Kullock as identified by the seller, are not injection molded and appear to be turned on a lathe.

 

Parker made pens were injection molded. Look closely at the barrel threads for differences.

...and at the end of the barrel. The injection molded barrels have sharper edges than lathe turned barrels, and a clean taper - which is the case with the bright yellow barrel. Note too that molded barrels have a little bit sticking up in the middle on the end from the injection molding process, where as the bright yellow one does not. Instead it looks like its center drilled for a live center for turning. I think that the bright yellow one was made on a lathe.

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I have the turquoise, red, and olive ones like in your pic.(plus a silver Flighter)

 

What's that third from the right? Magenta? Pink?

 

I. Want. It.

 

[/Veruca Salt]

 

 

OpaIa52.jpg

 

 

 

It´s one of the five happy colors, supposed to be pink ?, but to me, clearly magenta.

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What a remarkable post on Parker 45’s

 

I always thought that they were remarkable pens.

 

This is slightly of topic, sorry – have always looked for one in Midnight Blue

 

Never seen one.

 

Have assumed that these were all made at Arrow Park, not Newhaven.

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This is slightly of topic, sorry – have always looked for one in Midnight Blue

 

Never seen one.

Where did you look? Midnight blue is not a rare colour is it?

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As I recall, the midnight blue Parker 45, along with the black one, were the two most common colors sold in the U.S. in the 1990s. For example, when I purchased my first Parker 45 at a Best Store (out of business for many years now), the only color it had left was the midnight blue, and it only showed that color and black in its catalogue. I wonder whether the people of different nations were judged by Parker or the purchasers at wholesale (e.g., the pen and office-supply stores), statistically-speaking, to prefer certain colors over others. Hard to fathom, but there must have been a somewhat rational business judgment behind color availability.

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A great many thanks for your replies, joss & donnweinberg.

 

Clearly I am missing something, was never very clever.

 

I have never seen Parker 45 or a 61 Mk III in Midnight Blue.

 

Only ever seen Parker Aerometric 51’s and the C/C versions.

 

If you look at this colour in clear daylight it looks black until to examine it very closely.

 

The Parker colour code was 15.

 

Please can you post any photography of a 45 Midnight Blue in a half decent light, I would great appreciate looking at the images.

Parker 51 FP MIGNIGHT BLUE USA b.jpg

Parker 51 CC Midnight Blue CONVERTIBLE cc.jpg

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Hi, Slimfish. Here's a photo of one of mine. I enhanced the "color" function in "Photos" on my MacBook Pro to better show the blue. This photo, I believe, fairly represents the color in indoor lighting. Good luck in your hunt for this pen in that color.

 

Parker 45 FP - Midnight Blue.jpeg

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Anyone knows where the 45 pens were made? I know there are Argentinian, Mexican, US and UK pens for sure. But also heard that there were also Spanish and French pens. Also, did they keep consistency among colours and versions?

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