Product Description
Type Fountain pen
Product Name Parker 61 Signet - Mark II, the "Insignia" refers to the gold plating pattern when applied to the cap and barrel. It was also called "Signet" depending on the model and era. There is some contradictory information out there on the different versions but we are calling the Mark I 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 -- 1959-62, the cap was introduced in 1959 and the model was changed in 1962.
Length The fountain pen is 5-3/8" and the ballpoint pen is 5-1/8"
Filling System The fountain pen has the capillary filling system which is unique to this model. See further details below. The ballpoint pen takes Parker-style ballpoint pen refills. A working black refill is installed.
Color 1/10th 12k gold filled cap and barrel with a lined pattern and gold filled trim. The section of the fountain pen is black. The fountain pen has pearlescent jewels on both ends, but the ballpoint pen has a black jewel in its cap.
Nib MEDIUM-FINE gold nib is smooth with nice round tipping. There is a tiny scratch on the feed.
Condition Superior condition. There are fine polishing marks and microscratches throughout the gold layer. The imprints are clear and easily read even without magnification despite how small they are. There is minimal plating wear and the teflon coating on the capillary filling system is intact. The section arrow inset is also well installed. The set ships in an era appropriate Parker box. 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 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 thingy which covers the open end of the capillary tube, but still allows it to vent.