Vintage Parker 51 Fountain Pen Teal blue

The original Parker 51 pen was the biggest selling and probably most practical fountain pen ever made.  It never leaked, always worked and rarely broke.  With sales in excess of 20 million pens, it was ‘like a pen from another planet!’  It rapidly became 'the world's most wanted pen'

In 1947, Parker’s factory in England also started producing 51s for the British and European markets and, with the Vacumatic filling system being seen as overly complicated, Parker worked towards a new type of filler which was longer lasting, more reliable and simpler to use.  In 1949, the ‘New Aero-metric Parker 51’ was launched in the USA and described as ‘a clear case of improving on perfection’.  Instead of the button operated rubber diaphragm filler, this new 51 came with a PVC pli-glass reservoir with a 30 year life expectancy - an astonishingly long life given that most pens then required a service every 5 years or so.  In the event, even this projection proved to be a little pessimistic as 51s continue arriving here every month for their first service and sac replacement in 70 years!  English production of the Aerometric commenced at Newhaven in 1950.

Untested

See photographs for details.

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