Parker 45 Serious Eye Candy. Prototypes?

[david i]

Picked these up at the Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow two weeks ago. Near the top of the 45 food chain. Harlequin family with acid etched metal finish. The only black circlet fountain pen I've handled (well known pattern, usually without the black). The other patterns are just nuts. I probably should have kept these, but perhaps having a weak moment I offered option on them to a pen friend who is more into the Parker 45 than am I. Serious eye candy.




regards

David
http://vacumania.com/penteech2/parker45_prototypes4_1800a.jpg

[Lady Onogaro]

I love Parker 45s, and those are lovely.

[Jeph]

Those are some serious 45's. Very nice. Those are a whole 'nother level of the Harlequin 45's, much less 45's.

[pajaro]

Seriously nice looking pens. Parker 45s make nice display pieces.

[Frank]

Very Nice David! :)

[Jerome Tarshis]

I am far from loving the basic model of the 45, although I'm pretty fond of my 45 TX in blue. These, however, are from another and better 45 universe. Serious eye candy, indeed.

[Spikey Mike]

I have a feeling that the Black Circlet was a production pen although very very few were made - rather like the Red Shield one only even fewer in number. They were certainly for sale in the UK - I bought one in Heathrow Airport back in around 1980 and never ever used it! (Someone gave me a much more interesting black Parker 25 which became my every day pen!) I still have the Black Circlet, still unused in it's box. Last year I picked up another one on Ebay that had been badly listed as just "an old pen (not working)" and paid hardly anything for it ... and again it is boxed and appears unused. They are the only two Fountain Pen one that I have seen although there was a BP version that appeared a while back until you posted this one. Both of mine are QC 2nd Quarter of 1980 marked.
http://pencollect.co.uk/personal/19.jpg

I also have the Red Shield, which was released on the market as well as one Green and one Blue Shield FP - which I believe were made to special order or as experimental pens as all of the Greens and Blues that I have seen have had paint problems and or discrepancies in pattern.
See more on my Parker 45's Here: (https://parker45pens.wordpress.com/parker-harlequin-80/)
http://pencollect.co.uk/personal/20.jpg

[ethernautrix]

Wow -- I really like the first two (L-R).


And Jeph! The Black Cirlet! Very cool (with story)!

[Spikey Mike]

Looking at David's Black Circlet again - the metal disk at the base of the barrel would probably make that a pre-production version. As far as I know none of the production models had the disk.