75 Mechanical Pencils

December 14, 2023

The pen/pencil set arrived. Both in very good condition. Not mint but not far from it. No wear on the gold clips, tassies or pencil point. No dents or scratches in the silver. Both function perfectly. I believe these were very lightly used in their 40+ year lives.

The pencil is twist action, 0.9mm lead size. (I saw some ads for other pencils stating the lead was 0.5 mm. Were any "75"s made with 0.5 lead?) It is a smaller diameter than I expected. I prefer a little bigger grip but in reality I do not use any writing instrument a lot anymore.

I never thought I would be excited about a "ball point pen" (as a long time fountain pen and Parker 75 user) but with a gel refill installed it is a very smooth pleasant writer. In retirement we are traveling with our travel trailer and fountain pens are a bit more work than I care to perform for a rarely used item.

I am looking forward to carrying and using this set. I bought my 75 fountain pen 50 years ago and always wanted the pen/pencil set but just never did buy them. Now I have them.

December 14, 2023

1 hour ago, Craigtbone said:

Now I have them.

:thumbup:

December 14, 2023

@joss Thanks for posting the images of the the two Parker ads. Especially the one where Parker said, "Well, Rolls Royce also makes Bentleys...."

That was HILARIOUS, BTW, and made me think of back years ago when we bought our first minivan, and literally the only difference I could see between the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager we looked at was the grill (and probably the only difference between those two and the Chrysler one, which we didn't look at). Even the color names between the Caravan and Voyager -- at least for the color we ended up buying -- were the same. The only functional differences were the front grill between the two, and where the dealerships were in relation to where we were living at the time.... And I think the price....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

December 15, 2023

I hesitated to buy a twist actuated mechanical pencil because the ones that I used years ago did not function well. The lead did not grab reliably. It often took many attempts to engage the lead. The failed attempts left a lot of crunched lead in the mechanism.

This "75" grabbed the lead the first try without crunching the end, both times I tried it. The twist advancing mechanism is smooth and precise, something I have never experienced. I am quite impressed.

The tassies of both the pen & pencil in particular were a bit grungy and I was concerned they would not clean up easily. But a bit of scrubbing with soap & water and they look fully clean.

The dish in the tassies is gold plated. They look fine as is. My "75" fountain pen has a silver colored circular polished pattern (engine turned). They are stick on discs, I purchased two of them from "parker75.com" years ago. Should the pen and pencil have this as well?

It never occured to me that getting erasers to fit this pencil would be difficult. The eraser is 6 mm diameter. So far I have not found 6 mm erasers. Is there a source for these?

December 15, 2023

On 2023/12/14 at 午後9時53分, Craigtbone said:

The pen/pencil set arrived. Both in very good condition.

Congratulations!

Is a 0.5mm mechanical pencil next?

😁

On 2023/12/14 at 午後9時53分, Craigtbone said:

(I saw some ads for other pencils stating the lead was 0.5 mm. Were any "75"s made with 0.5 lead?)

I believe this is a catalog for 0.5mm mechanical pencils, which of course do not specify 0.5mm in the catalog since there is only 0.5mm pencil, but the list of consumables in the retail price list lists only 0.5mm leads, 1982-1983 catalog.

*https://ameblo.jp/kamisama-samasama/image-12527594721-14593488468.html

*https://ameblo.jp/kamisama-samasama/entry-12527594721.html

*Image and article from 萬年筆グラフ(Fountain Pen Graph). The article and images are in Japanese and require image text extraction software such as Google Lens for translation.

P.S.

In Japan, mechanical pencils are called "Sharp pencil".

The company name of the first Japanese manufacturer of mechanical pencils became the name of the writing instrument as it is. It is now an electric appliances manufacturer, and the founder borrowed the company name from "Eversharp".

The mechanical pencil is shown as "Sharp pencil" in the catalog and is explained here.

19 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@joss Thanks for posting the images of the the two Parker ads. Especially the one where Parker said, "Well, Rolls Royce also makes Bentleys...."

I also noted the types of pen finishes listed at the bottom of that PARKER ad. They are very helpful in identifying pens.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Number99