When I dove back into fountain pens I didn’t think I’d start collecting “vintage” pens. Sure, my mum picked up some fountain pens in Germany that could very well be vintage if I could figure out how to date them with no discernable marks other than a green ink window. Vintage pens didn’t exactly interest me until I watched one of the many videos from Doodlebud (YouTube). While I can’t recall exactly which video it was in order to link directly, it was one of his videos about starter pens and he recommended a Parker 25 if your budget allowed for it.
I looked for one on eBay off and on over the course of a year, I think. Not putting too much effort into it honestly. I particularly like the blue version which was ubiquitous when first made but now you usually find the black versions on sites for sale. At least, that seemed to be the case for me. I’m hesitant to purchase things on eBay so it took me a while to find a listing that I felt I could trust as being real and was at a price-point I was comfortable with paying.
The pen I purchased came in its original box. On the end of the box are stickers indicating the pen name, material, nib size and suggested retail price ($20.00). I haven’t figured out what the number below the suggested retail price is yet. I’m assuming it’s an inventory code, but I could be incorrect.
The pen arrived in excellent condition. It had all of the original parts including the original converter. I soaked all the relevant parts in warm water to make sure there wasn’t any dried ink leftover before filling it to test how it writes.
It writes really well, with only the occasional skip (which could be the paper), and if not, I think will work itself out with a smooth and tune from someone more capable than I am. It’s a broad nib but feels more like a medium. For a stainless-steel barrel the pen is surprisingly lightweight and very comfortable in the hand.
One of the fun things about getting a vintage pen is figuring out exactly how old it is. The listing didn’t have any information in regard to this. So, it required some sleuthing on my part. I learned that the Parker 25 was produced from circa 1974/75 to 1994.
It took some additional digging to figure out how to read the marks that indicate when the pen was made as well as notable differences between versions (mark 1, 2 etc.) I referenced ParkerPens.Net (website) an excellent resource on the history of Parker pens. From what I can tell, this Parker 25 was made in 1982, making it a 44 year old pen. It is possibly the oldest pen in my collection if I don’t count the pen that I carried over from Germany when I was a kid.
As I said in the beginning, I’m not big on collecting vintage pens. But I think it would be rather neat to have a pen in my collection that was made the year I was born, and if I can find a mark 1 of the Parker 25 it would likely be the one I add.
As of right now, this pen has been designated to be permanently inked with Waterman’s Serenity Blue.
Loose Endings Studio 