Good source of Parker 51 jewel caps in the UK?

[DickBrowne]

Hi everyone - I recently bought my first Parker 51, which is a pen I've been considering for a while. It's nothing special, a simple black pen with a silver cap. It's not perfect - the cap is a bit battered and the body scratched, with a small split where the two halves screw together.

That said, it was inexpensive and it writes well - I'm a big fan of patina on vintage items, so it's pretty much perfect for me and, no surprise here, it's unlikely to be my last 51!

On Friday, I wandered into work, took some notes and was quite happy with life. I popped my 51 into the inner pocket on my jacket and wandered off home again.

When I arrived, disaster! My pen was missing! It had disappeared! After a couple of seconds of internal cussing, I found it - it had fallen into the pocket, so I pulled it out and could see why it failed to stay clipped on - the clip had come off. Luckily, all parts were in the pocket, but the threaded part of the jewel, which appears to have been glued at some point, had failed and allowed the clip to detach.

Looking on eBay and general google-searching, I cannot find anybody in the UK selling the jewel on its own. I could buy a "for parts" pen, but I know my "fix it or fail" mentality won't allow me to have a second pen sitting around needing to be fixed, so I'm reluctant to do that just yet.

Does anybody know where I can buy a reasonably priced cap jewel in the UK?

Thanks in advance

Richard

[Chrissy]

ebay seller "fatnibs" regularly sells them and this is his ebay UK listing

If you want to get a new shell and/or barrel to replace yours that are split/scratched, he sells those too.

[DickBrowne]

Thanks Chrissy - I've just taken a look (no idea how I missed that one!). I think I'm in trouble. I did what I shouldn't have done. I looked at the "other items for sale". That was bad.

When I said above that I was probably going to add to my Parker 51 collection (current count:1), I was thinking of burgundy, possibly a dove grey and one of those nice teal blue ones. Turns out I can get all the bits to convert my black one into a dove grey one. Then I'll have a black barrel and nib unit. So I can buy a cap, some internals and a few other bits and have a grey and a black one. Then I can buy a burgundy body and... You get the idea.

Sometimes it's great being me. Sometimes, it's just expensive!

[Chrissy]

Thanks Chrissy - I've just taken a look (no idea how I missed that one!). I think I'm in trouble. I did what I shouldn't have done. I looked at the "other items for sale". That was bad.

When I said above that I was probably going to add to my Parker 51 collection (current count:1), I was thinking of burgundy, possibly a dove grey and one of those nice teal blue ones. Turns out I can get all the bits to convert my black one into a dove grey one. Then I'll have a black barrel and nib unit. So I can buy a cap, some internals and a few other bits and have a grey and a black one. Then I can buy a burgundy body and... You get the idea.

Sometimes it's great being me. Sometimes, it's just expensive!

I get the idea. By the time you've finished, you might have been able to buy another complete pen.

[DickBrowne]

But where would the fun be in that?

[Chrissy]

But where would the fun be in that?

Indeed. It feels so much better to make up your own one.

[Elim]

It sounds like you have the foundation for a solid custom build. Clip, collector/nib/feed/aerofiller etc.

There are several sellers selling 'fantasy' non factory made parts that are pretty dang cool. I saw one that had a sharkskin effect going on. Have some fun with it and go custom.

[Chrissy]

It sounds like you have the foundation for a solid custom build. Clip, collector/nib/feed/aerofiller etc.

There are several sellers selling 'fantasy' non factory made parts that are pretty dang cool. I saw one that had a sharkskin effect going on. Have some fun with it and go custom.

Those fantasy parts might be from Kullock in Argentina, and they don't usually appear on ebay UK. To buy them from the usual sellers on ebay.com would be very costly for a UK buyer.

[welch]

As I remember, the same guy sells P-51 nibs, including the glorious English (generous) medium...

[Lunaelsol]

Let me know how I can help. I have some spare available.