Parker 51 Special Edition- Review

Introduction


I never really cared for the Parker 51 when I first started collecting fountian pens. I though that the hooded nibs looked rather lame and it just didnt do anything for me. Well, after about 3 months of collecting fountian pens, I started to do research on the Parker 51 and the more pictures of this pen that I saw, the more I started to like it. It kind of grows on ya, kind of like a hairy mole on your face. I have really started to admire the jewels that they put on the top of the cap along with the blue diamond on the clip. The thing that really intrigued me was the Vacumatic filling system. I have never seen anything quite like this before. My Dad was telling me about his Parker 51 and how much he liked it. So I decided that I was going to get one and it had to be with the Vacumatic filling system. Sure enough, I won an auction on Ebay for a Parker 51 in Jet Black with the blue diamond, vacumatic filler and dated in 1946.

One thing I did not like was the fine nib. My Dad loves fine nibs and his 51 has a medium nib. So we decided to trade 51's. I have many black pens and I needed a change in color. So the pen I traded for was a Dove Grey 51, blue diamond vacumatic dated 1947 with a medium nib. We were both very happy with the trade. So that is how my love for the Parker 51 started!!!










When I saw the New Parker 51 Special edition in Black, I fell in love with the pen. I really loved the gold accents on the Empire cap. I only wish they had the gold accents on the Vista Blue because I would have bought it in a heartbeat. I heard about the problems with the defective barrels. So I was careful about buying the new Parker 51 to ensure that the pen is the one that did not have the defective barrel. I found the best price from a very reputable dealer (penseller.com) I told the owner about my concerns with the defective barrel. Weaver McCracken from Penseller.com assured me that Parker corrected the issue on the next release and he only has the corrected 51's in stock. I was able to get the pen for around 230.00 USD through http://www.penseller.com

I knew I was not buying a vintage parker 51 but I fell in love with the black 51 with the empire cap with the gold accents. One thing that I did notice was that the pen seemed a bit on the light side when it came to weight. I think that was due to the filling system (converter) modern vs older Vacumatic. I bought the pen in a medium nib, expecting that the nibs would run a bit finer than stated. Well, I filled the 51 using Aurora Black ink. OMG, the pen was sooooo smooth when it came to writing!! It felt like I was writing with a stick of warm butter!!! The medium nib is in fact a TRUE medium nib.

I was a bit skeptical when I bought the pen, I didnt think it would perform as well as the True vintage 51. Boy was I wrong!!! This is a very nice pen that writes like a dream. I have been very happy with this pen and I think I made a wise choice with buying it!!

The only complaints that I have with the Parker 51 SE ia the weight, it seems a bit too light. The filling system is on the weak side, especially if it is a "51 Special Edition". This would be asking too much, but I would have loved to have seen this pen have a Vacumatic or a Button Filling system. The other complaint is the way the cap fits on to the pen. It seems that there is no liner inside the cap so when you put the cap on tho the pen it seems that the snug fig might be a little too snug and it might tear up the barrel after repeated use. Surprisingly it doesnt.

With the complaints VS the wonderful points, I would say that the good really outweighs the bad by a large margin. I have been very happy with the way the pen performs and also with the way it looks. I think Parker did a great job on this pen, I just wish they would have added all of the wonderful things that made the Vintage Parker 51 a legend that we all know and love. There is no way I would pay the MSRP of 350.00 But I did get a great deal for 230.00 and there are other places you can get them for even cheaper than that but buyer beware. I would shy away from Ebay because that is where I think most of the defective 51 SE are laid to rest. But this is a wonderful pen, a real looker and one hell of a writer. I keep this pen on my rotation because it is such a great writer!

I would rate this pen (4) **** out of *****(5) stars.