1945 Parker Vacumatic Golden Pearl $200 US

Hello there. Welcome to Inkquiring Minds. My name is Doug, and I'm back with another Pen Resurrection Sunday video.

Today, I’m resurrecting a vintage fountain pen. Just a few days ago, I unboxed four vintage fountain pens, and you can see that video by clicking right up there. I chose this one as the first one to repair because it seems to be the juiciest one of the bunch. It’s the Vacumatic of the bunch, and I’m fond of Vacumatics.

I’m also very fond of these Golden Pearl, Azure Blue Pearl, and Emerald Pearl stack celluloid fountain pens from the 1940s. This particular model is a third-generation Parker Vacumatic in golden pearl. I couldn’t find a date code on the pen, but there are a couple of dots, but no number. I’ll have to wait until I get to the nib to see if there’s a date code on this, but I guess that it’s between 1942 and 1948, because that’s when these third-generation Vacumatics were manufactured. After the beginning of the war, Parker redesigned this Vacumatic pump to use celluloid parts instead of aluminum and brass because they needed those materials for the war effort.

THOUGHTS

So, what are my thoughts on the fountain pen Resurrection?

Well, it’s a beautiful pen right out of the box. It was partially restored, with a working latex diaphragm that I didn’t need to replace. However, the nib needed some work. It was visually in sad shape, not in functional shape. It needed some smoothing and adjustment. Now, it writes a very fine, juicy line.

The rest of the pen was in good shape except for the tarnished hardware. There was a lot of wear on the celluloid, and the clip was glued in. One of the cap bands was missing. I successfully transplanted a cap band from another Parker Vacumatic, and I think it makes the pen look perfect and complete. These golden pearl Vacumatic from the mid-40s are gorgeous.

It was hard to date this one without a date code on the barrel, and the date code on the nib was confusing. It says 51, but it’s not 1951. This pen wasn’t made in 1951. I think it’s from 1945, give or take a couple of years. However, I suspect that nib was a replacement either by the original owner or by whoever restored this pen. Maybe they had a pen with a non-working diaphragm and no nib, and they picked up a replacement nib. I suspect that’s a replacement nib from the Janesville, Wisconsin, Parker factory in 1951 for a 1940s pen that was repaired or sent in for repair. That’s my guess anyway. Your guess is as good as mine.

If you’re interested in purchasing this pen, I’m selling it for $200 US plus shipping. Send me an email at inquiringminds@gmail.com with your name and address, and I’ll send you a shipping quote. Currently, shipping to the contiguous North America is about $10.

As a heads-up, in the United States, the duty-free threshold for de minimus has been eliminated, meaning everything entering the country will be subject to tariffs. Therefore, I’ll list the pen for $200, and you’ll be responsible for paying the applicable tariff. Despite being made in the United States, as clearly stated on the pen, it’s important to note that this is no longer duty-free.

If you’re still interested in this pen, simply drop me a line, and I’ll provide you with instructions on how to pay for it using PayPal. I’ll then ship it to you promptly with tracking information.

Thank you for watching!

And that's all she wrote.