To our way of thinking, the last great filling system innovation was the capillary filler on the Parker 61. Just dip the Teflon-coated tube--that is hidden under the barrel--in ink and it fills automatically. Released in the late 1950s, it was a brilliant idea. The only down side to it is that you can't change colors very quickly or easily. We did our best to flush out the black ink that was in the pen, but there likely will be some residual ink that will take a while to completely work its way out. We love the rainbow-cap design. This pen show some wear from use. The silvery arrow by the nib has more of a matte look, even after we polished it. You will write a nice extra-fine line with its 14k gold nib. 13.8cm capped.