Product Description
Type Vintage fountain pen with unique filling system.
Product Name Parker 61, Mark II.
Manufacturer and Year Parker, made in USA – they made this version from 1962 to '69
Length 5-5/16"
Filling System The fountain pen has the capillary filling system which is unique to this model. See further details below.
Color Black body with a brushed stainless steel cap and pearlescent jewels on either end.
Nib Medium 14k hooded nib.
Condition Excellent condition with no cracks, chips, dents, or dings. This is a velvety dark black pen with a smooth steel cap. The barrel has light scratching. The section has some light to moderate scratching close to the barrel. The cap has a few shiny marks caused by the tip of the clip, one that is visible to the naked eye, on the opposite side of the area that holds the clip. The chrome clip is nice and shiny with just some light scratches on the arrow end. The top cap jewel has some mottling around the edge. The barrel end jewel is darkened with some scratching. The imprints on the cap are clear.
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 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 thingey which covers the open end of the capillary tube, but still allows it to vent.