Product Description
Type Fountain Pen
Product Name Parker 61 Signet
Manufacturer and Year Parker, US -- 1959-62
Length 5-5/16"
Filling System The fountain pen has the capillary filling system which is unique to this model.
Color 1/10 12k Gold filled body and cap. The gold is in the parallel lines pattern. The section on the fountain pen is black. The pen has a gold cap jewel and a pearlescent barrel jewel.
Nib Medium Gold Nib. We know it's a medium because of the sticker on the clip. It is unlabeled. Very smooth with lots of tipping material.
Condition Excellent condition, both cosmetically and functionally. No scratches or dings or dents. The teflon cell is perfect. The arrow inset in the section is in very good condition with no lifting edges or pitting. The smooth parts of the gold filling show some handwear. We cleaned and tested the filling system, and got good ink flow. You'll need to be patient when you fill it the first time, as it takes about a half hour for the capillary system to suck in enough ink to get started.
A word or two about the Parker 61 Capillary Filling System. If you are not familiar with this unique design, you should read this.
Here is how you fill a Parker 61, and an insight into how the pen actually works. Unscrew the barrel and stick the back end of the pen (aka the capillary cell) into a bottle of ink. Wait a few minutes (probably more like a half hour when you first start one of these older used ones), and let the ink wick up into the capillary cell. The cell contains a sheet of perforated plastic that has been given a 3-D pattern resembling tire tread, and rolled up. The perforations allow ink to seep between the rolled-up layers, and the tread pattern maintains space between the layers. In the middle of this tube, which runs the entire length of the capillary cell, is the feed. To keep things clean, the capillary cell has on a coating of teflonon the outside that is intended to shed ink as the user withdraws the pen from the ink bottle, leaving very little ink to be wiped off. The end of the barrel contains a spring-loaded thingey which covers the open end of the capillary tube, but still allows it to vent.
