Review Parker 75 Vermeil Made in France Fountain Pen

Parker 75 Gold Cisele (New in stock)

Parker 75 in Laque black(New in stock)

The Parker 75 fountain pen is a remarkable pen.  In 1964 it was offered at $25, a staggering price tag for a pen produced for the 'mass market'.  On newspaper information technology looked doomed, it was nothing like the Parker 51 or Parker Duofold, the near successful Parker pens so far, it was a cartridge/converter filler fabricated from solid Silver, the ballpoint pen was ravaging the fountain pen industry, and the 75 was outrageously expensive.

Someone at Parker must have said 'Who needs a Silvery pen when a good ballpoint is about a tenth of the price?' The answer was to become clear, about ten 1000000 people!

The first Parker 75 was a 'Silver Crosshatch' fountain pen constructed in Sterling Argent, designated 975 signifying 97.five% silver and 2.five% Copper.  The pen had a Gold filled trim, the U.Thou. advertising claimed a 9Ct. Golden clip merely no such claim was fabricated in the U.Southward.A.

Soon after the introduction of the Silverish pen, which became known equally the 'Parker 75 Cisele' a Gold filled model known as the 'Parker 75 Insignia' was introduced.  The squares on the original Insignia were less pronounced simply the later version, shown here, reverted to the deep cut pattern.  This is an unused American fabricated Parker 75 Insignia II set from  1979:

Information technology is a attestation to the very strong design and quality build of the Parker 75 that information technology continued to be made, with only pocket-size changes, for thirty years and that the model has become even more than pop since information technology was replaced past the Parker Sonnet, a good pen but quite tiresome when compared to its predecessor.

In 1979 Parker began producing the 'Laque Collection' of 75s in Meru, France and in 1983 the French subsidiary added the 'Palace Vendome' drove, consisting of Aureate and Argent plated pens in addition to the Sterling Silver pens.

The 'Lapiz Lazuli' 75 from the laque collection is particularly striking:

The 'Malachite green striped' pen is as well a favourite with collectors.

The Laque 'Ruddy Jasper Quartz' is a particularly bright and attractive pen, information technology is shown below alongside the 'Thuya' version.

The featured pen is a 22ct. Gold plated 'Grain d' Orge' (grain of barley) version dating from 1988. It is a fabled pen:

The length of the pen, when capped every bit above, is 13cm. The cap is a push fit, it snaps into identify with a satisfying 'click' and posts securely in position for writing, although many users prefer non to post a metallic bodied pen.  The posted length is 14cm:

At each end of the pen is a Aureate filled 'stack of coins' stud, this was replaced by a plain stud in the very tardily models.  This pen is quite unusual in that it has a blank cartouche on the side of the cap for engraving a proper name if required.  Around the obviously cap ring are the words:

'Parker France 1E'

The '1E' is the date code for the pen which signifies a date of manufacture of 1988, a 'Palace Vendome' model.

A pocket-sized change was made in 1988, the cap band was made slightly wider during the year.  The photo shows a later on 1988 pen with the wider cap band compared to the before 1988 pen, both pens deport the same date code.

1 of the most innovative features of the parker 75 is the adaptable nib, it is too the most underused.  The section is moulded in such a way equally to accept three 'facets' at 120 degrees to each other.  Two of the take milled lines to give grip for the index finger and pollex and the third smooth one sits comfortably against the inside of the showtime finger.  A little experimentation shows that, if the pen is to carry correctly on the paper when the section is gripped in this manner then the pecker must be able to be rotated.  If information technology didn't so the contoured section would simply be a hindrance. Many manufacturers copied the contoured section only rendered it useless by having a fixed neb.  If y'all are non convinced then try property the pen in the left hand then transferring it to the correct hand.

Before pens had gradations scored on to the collar of the department to enable a favoured bill bending to be reset if it was changed for some reason and the very early on pens had a zippo position engraved as a reference.

The nib itself is a very handsome matter.  Most are 14Ct. gold but some of the French pens accept 18Ct. Golden nibs. Parker offered a huge pick of nib types and indicate widths ranging from 'needle point' to 'double broad' in a range of styles. This particular pen has a 14Ct. Gilt 'Normal' Medium beak.  It writes extremely well, mayhap a little on the fine side of medium.  For a full list of the Parker 75 nib sizes and much more detailed data nearly the Parker 75  visit parker75.com This is the definitive Parker 75 site, created by a truthful 75 expert who has kindly allowed me to use some of his images of the more rare Parker 75s in this article.

The Parker 75 is a cartridge/converter filler, a most user-friendly arrangement as information technology allows for the ease of utilise of cartridges with the flexibility offered past the utilise of bottled ink.  The pen performs as well with both filling systems and which one to utilize is just a matter of personal choice.  I favour using bottled ink, partly because I always have a range of inks to hand but I practise savor the process of  filling the pen and existence able to easily flush it between changes in inks. The apply of bottled ink is probably a adept bargain more than environmentally sound and is certainly much, much cheaper than using cartridge

The pen is very comfortable in the hand and is a super writer.  It is besides a very tactile item with an unmistakable tiptop quality 'feel'.  The Parker 51 is often referred to every bit 'the best pen Parker ever made' simply I think this is a questionable assertion when it is compared to the fabulous Parker 75.

A superb Parker 51 Insignia 2 boxed prepare can be institute  here

Finally here are a couple of rare Parker 75s, images courtesy of parker 75.com

This pen is a limited edition Parker 75 fabricated from cloth salvaged from the RMS Queen Elizabeth which sunk in Hong Kong harbour in 1972..  They are not super rare and currently (2020) modify hands for effectually £600.

If you're in need of a super rare Parker 75 then this 'Moon Dust' pen is the 1 for you.  Constructed  in Titanium, including the nib, the pen carries a panel containing grit taken from the Moon and sintered with Gilt grit. They were never fabricated bachelor to the full general public but if yous are on good terms with an astronaut he may put y'all in bear on with someone who owns one.

But you volition need deep pockets, this pen and the every bit rare 'Atlas Booster' Parker 75 sold for $20000 at auction twenty years ago.  The price now would be astronomical!

Parker 75 pens available now:

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Source: https://collectablepens.co.uk/pages/parker-75-review

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