Product Description
Type Fountain pen
Product Name Parker 61 - Mark II. The Mark I has the thin clutch ring version and the Mark II the thicker clutch ring version. (The Mark III would be the cartridge/converter version. The clutch ring is the band between the section and barrel.)
Manufacturer and Year Parker, USA -- 1958-62
Length 5-1/4"
Filling System The fountain pen has the capillary filling system which is unique to this model. See further details below.
Color Satin finished lustraloy or brushed steel cap with chrome filled trim. The body is black and the pen has two pearlescent jewels.
Nib FINE 14k gold nib.
Condition Excellent condition with no cracks, dings, or dents. This is a handsome pen in a nice standard color, with great cap luster. The barrel and section have light scratching. The cap has some little shiny marks, in particular over the two "61s" that are imprinted just above the cap lip. The clip looks great. The jewel at the end of the barrel has a chip in the middle. The imprints are clear. You'll need to be patient when you fill it the pen for the first time, as it takes a few minutes or so for the capillary system to suck in enough ink to get started.
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 teflon on 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 thingy which covers the open end of the capillary tube, but still allows it to vent.