Product Description
Type Fountain pen with unique filling system
Product Name Parker 61, Mark II
Manufacturer and Year Parker, made in USA -- 1959-62
Length 5-5/16"
Filling System The fountain pen has the capillary filling system which is unique to this model. We've tested it with water and it's working well. See further details below. We thought that perhaps the pen had not been inked, since the capillary fibers looked almost white, so we only tested it with water.
Color Red body with a brushed stainless steel cap and pearlescent jewels on either end.
Nib MEDIUM hooded 14k nib. It's very smooth and firm with plenty of tipping materail.
Condition Superior condition. No dings or dents on the cap, only some very light signs of usage. The barrel has hardly any scratching or wear, and the color is rich and beautiful. The teflon cell is in excellent condition with no scratches on the teflon. One thing you have to check carefully for is cracks in these Parker 61s, and we could find none.
We cleaned and tested the filling system, and got good liquid flow to the tip. We did not test it with ink, as mentioned above. You'll need to be patient when you fill it the first time, as it takes a few minutes for the capillary system to draw in enough ink to get started the first time.
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.