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What Parkers Are You Using Today?


NumberSix

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Today I am using one of my Parker pens that is neither ‘vintage’ nor ‘fancy’...

 

fpn_1601142829__ac4e741d-aab7-4546-9440-

 

I apologise for the poor lighting & photography. And, of course, for my messy scrawl.

I’ve always been too impatient to write nicely, and have also always been too lazy to improve it :doh:

 

Still, at least I am aware of (some of) my flaws and limitations, eh? ;)

 

I had an Urban early on -- as a temporary replacement for my first "good" pen (a Vector) when I'd left the Vector and my journal at my brother-in-law's house. The Urban came in one of those boxed sets from IIRC Office Max: pen; four cartridges -- two of Quink (Washable?) Blue, two of Quink Black; a slide converter; and a bottle of Quink Black.

I liked the pen okay, once I got used to the larger size and heavier weight, as well as the somewhat odd ergonomics. Until I tried to get a better converter for it. The local "old-time stationers with a pen counter" had an older style twist converter that got stuck in the barrel and broke when I tried to install it. Sent the pen back to Parker for repairs (under warranty) and had to jump through hoops. Then had it returned with a snotty note and an new (slide) converter in a padded envelope (although in a nice plastic sleeve. When THAT converter got stuck in the barrel a while after that, I sort of went ballistic on Parker and the chick in France I'd dealt with the first go-round and they sent me a Priority Mail box to ship it to Janesville a second time. Neither time did I get any interim notices from Parker. The second time, they sent me a new pen with a new (slide) converter, a pack of cartridges, and a cryptic note about a "defective barrel.... Then, a few months later, the nib unit started leaking over the top of the nib from the collar. I flushed and soaked that pen I don't know how many times and it STILL leaked even though it wasn't connected to a cartridge or the converter (I'd swear I must have opened up a stable wormhole to the "ink universe"). By that point it was no longer under the extended warranty period -- even though it was a NEW pen. And I pitched it in the trash. I didn't even want to try selling it on eBay (even "as is") or giving it away -- I'd have felt too guilty about someone ending up with a pen that was garbage....

So no. I don't know about other people -- but you'll get NO Urban love from me.... Even if the replacement pen hadn't leaked, I would have, when the warranty period was up, probably done something really silly like paint polkadots on it with brightly colored nail polish because it was boring black.... :rolleyes:

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I had an Urban early on -- as a temporary replacement for my first "good" pen (a Vector) when I'd left the Vector and my journal at my brother-in-law's house. The Urban came in one of those boxed sets from IIRC Office Max: pen; four cartridges -- two of Quink (Washable?) Blue, two of Quink Black; a slide converter; and a bottle of Quink Black.

I liked the pen okay, once I got used to the larger size and heavier weight, as well as the somewhat odd ergonomics. Until I tried to get a better converter for it. The local "old-time stationers with a pen counter" had an older style twist converter that got stuck in the barrel and broke when I tried to install it. Sent the pen back to Parker for repairs (under warranty) and had to jump through hoops. Then had it returned with a snotty note and an new (slide) converter in a padded envelope (although in a nice plastic sleeve. When THAT converter got stuck in the barrel a while after that, I sort of went ballistic on Parker and the chick in France I'd dealt with the first go-round and they sent me a Priority Mail box to ship it to Janesville a second time. Neither time did I get any interim notices from Parker. The second time, they sent me a new pen with a new (slide) converter, a pack of cartridges, and a cryptic note about a "defective barrel.... Then, a few months later, the nib unit started leaking over the top of the nib from the collar. I flushed and soaked that pen I don't know how many times and it STILL leaked even though it wasn't connected to a cartridge or the converter (I'd swear I must have opened up a stable wormhole to the "ink universe"). By that point it was no longer under the extended warranty period -- even though it was a NEW pen. And I pitched it in the trash. I didn't even want to try selling it on eBay (even "as is") or giving it away -- I'd have felt too guilty about someone ending up with a pen that was garbage....

So no. I don't know about other people -- but you'll get NO Urban love from me.... Even if the replacement pen hadn't leaked, I would have, when the warranty period was up, probably done something really silly like paint polkadots on it with brightly colored nail polish because it was boring black.... :rolleyes:

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Hi Ruth,

I well remember the Misery that you experienced in your ‘Urban Jungle’; I joined FPN at around the same time that you did, and your troubles occurred just after I had bought the Urban in my photograph. Your tale of woe was very useful to me, because it prompted me to make absolutely certain that the converter that I wanted to buy for my pen would fit in to it.

I asked for one in a small general-stationery store in my town, and the shop’s converters were all just loose in a draw. Had I not read your cautionary tale, I would have just trusted the shopkeeper and bought the one that he handed to me without checking it. I’m glad that I did check it, because he had handed me a Waterman converter. A quick look through the drawer established that the shop didn’t actually have any Parker twist converters in stock, and so I left empty-handed.

I remember that I eventually acquired a Parker twist converter for this Urban for free, from NR in France, after I had contacted them to complain about something else. That was in 2012 or 2013, so I now no longer have even the faintest idea what it was that prompted me to complain to them. I suspect that it may have been their website’s many amateurish errors, glitches, and shortcomings - e.g. its failure to show their converters - but I could well be wrong. Their website (as I type this) still has not been fixed :rolleyes:

 

Coincidentally, a post that I made in a different thread yesterday prompted another member to point me in the direction of the tale of abject Horror that he suffered when dealing with NR’s ‘Customer Service team’ in France. He also experienced bad communication and repeated failure to resolve the issue for which he had contacted them.

I suspect that perhaps one of the French employees at Nantes may have a traditional-French disdain for people from the Anglophone world. Or that the company there perhaps exhibits the management-staff-customer-relations culture that English comedians have spoken about often enough that it can now be found as a staple in the Ministry of Stereotypes.

 

I’ve not (yet?) had to try to send either a pen or a nib to them for repair or replacement, and have not (yet?) experienced any similar infuriating disappointments from them. I hope that I never do!

Edited by Mercian

Foul in clear conditions, but handsome in the fog.

mini-postcard-exc.png

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Finally wrote my 51 Special dry (Lamy Black). This is a big deal for me because I have a habit of switching my inks regularly, and I have probably flushed more ink than I have used, in a lot of cases.

 

Refilled with Noodler's Black and doing a little bit of writing.

 

Good times.

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fpn_1600444224__parker_51_edc_teal_01.jp

Is that Noodlers Black permanent archival ink in your P51 ?

I have a P51 which works fine with most inks but tends to clog up with the Permanent Black ink.

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Using my Parker 51 MK III, Parker 61 capillary filler and P75.

IMG_2387.JPG

Edited by Mangrove Jack
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Hi Ruth,

I well remember the Misery that you experienced in your ‘Urban Jungle’; I joined FPN at around the same time that you did, and your troubles occurred just after I had bought the Urban in my photograph. Your tale of woe was very useful to me, because it prompted me to make absolutely certain that the converter that I wanted to buy for my pen would fit in to it.

I asked for one in a small general-stationery store in my town, and the shop’s converters were all just loose in a draw. Had I not read your cautionary tale, I would have just trusted the shopkeeper and bought the one that he handed to me without checking it. I’m glad that I did check it, because he had handed me a Waterman converter. A quick look through the drawer established that the shop didn’t actually have any Parker twist converters in stock, and so I left empty-handed.

I remember that I eventually acquired a Parker twist converter for this Urban for free, from NR in France, after I had contacted them to complain about something else. That was in 2012 or 2013, so I now no longer have even the faintest idea what it was that prompted me to complain to them. I suspect that it may have been their website’s many amateurish errors, glitches, and shortcomings - e.g. its failure to show their converters - but I could well be wrong. Their website (as I type this) still has not been fixed :rolleyes:

 

Coincidentally, a post that I made in a different thread yesterday prompted another member to point me in the direction of the tale of abject Horror that he suffered when dealing with NR’s ‘Customer Service team’ in France. He also experienced bad communication and repeated failure to resolve the issue for which he had contacted them.

I suspect that perhaps one of the French employees at Nantes may have a traditional-French disdain for people from the Anglophone world. Or that the company there perhaps exhibits the management-staff-customer-relations culture that English comedians have spoken about often enough that it can now be found as a staple in the Ministry of Stereotypes.

 

I’ve not (yet?) had to try to send either a pen or a nib to them for repair or replacement, and have not (yet?) experienced any similar infuriating disappointments from them. I hope that I never do!

Well, with the SECOND go round, I said that they should be way more concerned with one mouthy American broad with access to an internationally read pen forum than all their potential customers in China COMBINED.... And I MEANT it....

Sort of like this woman in our tour group when I went with my family to the USSR in 1976. We were taken to the OLD Moscow Circus one night, which my mother was afraid would catch fire any second. After the show there was this crush of people leaving pushing and shoving, to the point where my mother was ALSO afraid of falling and getting trampled. Well, some guy shoved his fist into this other woman's back. And she told my mother that she turned around, slapped the guy's hand, and said "DON'T you push me!" She said he didn't understand English, but he understood the tone just fine.....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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A black 51 MKIII with a wet almost broad M nib with Waterman Intense Black and a green 21 with Diamine Aurora Borealis in it.

 

Both fantastic writers!

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Burgundy Parker 51 made in Argentina, Industria Argentina. Fine point, sublimely smooth. A wonderful pen I use sometimes.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Today was a blue 51 Vac with a fine nib, along with a 61 insignia with a toothy M nib.

 

Man I love these pens! I bought ANOTHER 51 Vac today, I really need to stop....

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I quit using vac 51s when the last diaphragm failed. Apart from the historical interest, I don't find enough attraction in them to use them in lieu of an aerometric 51.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Parker 45 Coronet with an X nib which is smooth for such a fine nib. Inked with Cross Black archival ink which I am trying for the first time.

 

Using a Parker Coronet after quite a while. I had forgotten how exquisitely beautiful these Coronets are. I have them in all the colours except for 1.

 

IMG_2393.JPG

Edited by Mangrove Jack
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I quit using vac 51s when the last diaphragm failed. Apart from the historical interest, I don't find enough attraction in them to use them in lieu of an aerometric 51.

Send it out!? $35 plus shipping .

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

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I quit using vac 51s when the last diaphragm failed. Apart from the historical interest, I don't find enough attraction in them to use them in lieu of an aerometric 51.

A well restored 51 Vac is a workhorse. If I need to be doing research, and taking copious notes, the first pen I'm going to reach for is the Cedar Blue 51 Vac with the EF nib.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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Parker 45 Coronet with an X nib which is smooth for such a fine nib. Inked with Cross Black archival ink which I am trying for the first time.

 

Using a Parker Coronet after quite a while. I had forgotten how exquisitely beautiful these Coronets are. I have them in all the colours except for 1.

 

attachicon.gif IMG_2393.JPG

 

The colour is metal green? What other colours were available? Beautiful pen.

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Parker late model super 21 with J. Herbin black pearl. Great pen, but it has a cracked barrel that will need replacement soon

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A well restored 51 Vac is a workhorse. If I need to be doing research, and taking copious notes, the first pen I'm going to reach for is the Cedar Blue 51 Vac with the EF nib.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

After replacing two barrels on my cedar blue 51, I gave up and set it aside. They cracked. Messy result.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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