Parker 45 CT
Mostly on a lark, I picked up this black Parker 45 CT (all plastic) from Switzerland. I paid 2 euros for the pen, 13 euros for shipping, AND had to drive to the regional customs office to provide written proof beyond the customs forms attached to the box that I really only paid 2 euros for it. It was a lot of fun for the 100 Swiss Franc price tag to fall out of the box when I opened it for the customs official. As you might expect, I was not happy with the pen as I drove home in the rain this morning dodging tractors and renegade cows. (There were not really any cows in the road, but in my foul mood I was expecting one around every curve. There WERE plenty of tractors. Go, go Bavaria!) I had no intention of posting any pictures of this pen. I was going to check it, clean it up and then find someone to give it away to. You are reading this, so obviously something changed.
I looked in the box and there were no papers, but I was struck by how much I actually liked the lines of the pen, and the black and chrome combination simply looked right. Maybe the pen was not so bad after all. Also in the box were a very nice Parker aerometric converter and an unused Parker Super Quink washable blue ink tap tip cartridge. That was kind of nice also. The pen was in good shape, with only light scratches in the normal places. I opened it up and there was another old cartridge installed. I tried the nib and it wrote a nice smooth medium line albeit with some feedback. I unscrewed the nib unit and was impressed with how it was put together. I took the nib unit apart and was even more impressed with the way it was put together. Both the nib (14K) and the feed were shaped so that they only go together one way, and that position was solid and well supported in all 3 dimensions. The old Parker washable blue ink washed away easily and the pen was ready to go back together very quickly.
With both the converter and the cartridge, the last half turn of the barrel seats the ink cylinder firmly on the section nipple. That was yet another very nice design touch. I liked the size of the pen, large without being heavy. I also liked the balance of the pen. The large, smooth section was very comfortable. I was almost finished and I had had not found anything that I didn’t like about the pen. My initial disappointment at a boring, simple black plastic pen had faded from memory. Less than a minute of nib smoothing later and the feedback was almost gone on the nib put down a consistent, smooth, effortless line on the fine side of medium.
I do not know why I keep getting impressed when I look closely at Parker pens. I also do not know why this pen does not get more attention. The Parker 45, and specifically the all plastic CT (Arrow), might not be much as far as a collectible pen goes, but it makes one great user pen. It is well designed, well made, has a 14K nib (it even has some spring), is easy to maintain, is well sized and writes wonderfully. The only mark against it is that you have to use a Parker converter, but those are plentiful even if the modern ones do not get seated in place by screwing down the barrel. You can find more information about them at ParkerPens.net here: Parker 45
Parker 45 Box.jpgParker 45 Posted.jpgParker 45 Open.jpgParker 45 Parts.jpgParker 45 Nib.jpgCode:Length Capped 135 mm 5.33 in. 5 1/3 " Posted Length 142 mm 5.59 in. 5 19/32" Unposted length 127 mm 5.00 in. 5 " Cap Length 62 mm 2.45 in. 2 7/16" Barrel Max Dia 11.5 mm .45 in. 7/16" Section Min Dia 7.4 mm .29 in. 9/32"
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Originally Posted by Jeph
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