Product Description
Type Fountain pen
Product Name Parker 61 Custom - Mark II. "Custom" refers to the cap type. 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 5-7/16"
Filling System The fountain pen has the capillary filling system which is unique to this model. See further details below.
Color Black body and 1/10th 12k gold filled grouped lines "Custom" cap. There are pearlescent jewels in each end of the pen.
Nib EXTRA FINE gold nib is smooth with large round tipping.
Condition Superior condition. The pen looks great with no dents or scratches. The imprints on the cap are a little worn but they are legible with magnification. The section has "31072" printed on it. It doesn't look like personalization. We have read that some Parkers sold into the Italian market had these serial numbers to discourage counterfeiting. The main wear is on the teflon coating. It looks like someone tore at it with their teeth.
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.