Filling Mechanism: Aerometric Filler

New to vintage pens and looking for a reliable daily user? Old to vintage pens and looking for a reliable daily user? Either way, this Parker 51 Special is a reliable daily user. Burgundy with a polished steel cap, it is a handsome pen with only light wear from use and neither cracks nor dents. Its aerometric filler is original and working well. Specials are different from standard 51s in that they have steel nibs. However, this pen writes as smooth an extra-fine to fine line as any gold nib. There is a black jewel in the top of the cap. 13.9cm capped.

Vintage pens are the heroes of communication from yesteryear to today. Our Parker 51 is pretty heavily worn and scratched, but it is still in great working order. A proven work horse, it still makes for a great daily writer more than 70 years after its birth. The pli-glass ink sac still works well. You will write a nice fine to fine-medium line with its 14k gold nib. 13.6cm capped.

Here's our first-ever in-the-box Parker 41 set with both the fountain pen and "Liquid Lead" pencil! We thought it was a 51 set, at first. Then we read the imprint on the sac protector. The set is in great shape with only light wear from use. The ink sac remains in excellent working order. You will write a fine line with a little feedback and drag using its steel nib. The pencil still seems to have a little liquid lead in it! This is incredibly cool, considering Parker abandoned making those refills in the 1950s or early '60s. Box included.

Stickered New Old Stock pens remain a perennial favorite this Spring. Check out our Esterbrook M2 in blue. This vintage pen has a still working ink sac and comes with an Esterbrook box. The blue barrel has a bit of shop wear, but there are no cracks or deep scars. You will write a deliciously smooth fine line with its steel 1555 Gregg nib. It was originally intended for practitioners of the Gregg Shorthand method. The Gregg Shorthand Method was practices heavily by secretaries, stenographers and journalists in the 1950s. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.5cm capped.

New Old Stock pens are always fun, especially when they are 70 years old. We just discovered this Esterbrook M2 complete with its cap sticker and box. There is a little shop wear on the pen but nothing bad. No cracks in the cap. It comes with a still-working aerometric filler! We think someone might have used it once, as a little ink came out when we filled it with water. Its steel 1551 nib writes a nice fine line. 13.5cm capped.

Cashing in on the enormous success of its Parker 51, Parker decided to create a more affordable version of the pen to reach even more customers. This pen is the Parker 21. One of the biggest differences between them is that the 21 has a steel nib, and the 51 has a gold nib. Our vintage pen is in good working order, complete with a working original pli-glass ink sac. Its nib is more of a fine-medium that has a little feedback at the tops and bottoms of letters. You should be able to see a big crack in the barrel where it threads to the section. Don't grip it too hard or use to much pressure, as you will get it to wiggle in your hand a bit. Click the headline for a close-up. 13.4cm capped.

Behold the mighty Sleeve-Filler! Honestly, some days we still have to pinch ourselves to make sure the dream we are living is really not just a dream. This Waterman 12SF in its original box creates a pinch-ourselves moment. Gary Lehrer's Waterman book says these were made between 1910 and 1915. The old hard rubber is fragile. As such, we did not force the section to open to restore this pen. This pen is in far too good a condition to accidentally destroy. It remains without a working ink sac. The sleeve on the barrel has a crisp imprint and can be gently coaxed and wiggled to reveal the squeeze bar filler. It is a little stiff in moving so don't force anything. No cracks! 14k gold nib is a stiff semi-flex. Original box a little faded and ink stained but still nice to have. Additional photos available upon request.

Parker VP meant Very Personal. The revolutionary developments for this pen included an ergonomic grip for the fountain pen and a nib and feed that could be rotated to better accommodate for the grip and getting the nib to write from any angle. These are rarer pens, as they only made VPs for a couple years. It led to the monumental success of the Parker 75. This teal colored vintage pen has a major problem in its barrel. Click the headline for a close-up to see the 1.5cm crack in the barrel where it threads into the section. Basically, the crack is bad and makes the pen unstable to write with...without making the crack worse. This is a shame, as the aerometric filler unit is in great condition. In most VPs, this is the rare part that is whole. Its 14k gold nib writes a very smooth broad line. 13.8cm capped.