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Design Features: The Clips of the Parker “51”
 

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Dating a “51” by Its Clip: Over its long life, the Parker “51” appeared with at least nine clip design variations. The most obvious difference in clips is that between the “Split Arrow” clip of the 1940s and the more streamlined arrow, introduced in 1948, that harkens back to the Art Deco clip design used on the Vacumatic before the introduction of the “Split Arrow.” But there are more subtle differences. This article shows you the different clips used on “51” pens and gives you a few hints about determining the age of a pen from its clip. It is important to understand that collectors trade “51” caps very freely among pens, and there is no guarantee that the cap on any “51” is the one with which it left the factory. The dating hints given here, therefore, are entirely speculative, and the date code imprinted on a pen is a much better source of accurate information about its date. (Revised April 17, 2008)

The “Split Arrow” clip: When Parker introduced the “51” in the U.S.A. in 1941, the pen bore a “Split Arrow” clip that was essentially the same as the clip used on later models of the Vacumatic, with the name PARKER spelled out vertically between the two sides of the split. At that time, Parker’s trademark for its lifetime warranty was the Blue Diamond; since all Parker pens priced at $8.75 and higher were Blue Diamond models, it follows that the “51”, introduced at a price range beginning at $12.50, was also a Blue Diamond pen. All “Split Arrow” pens appear originally to have been Vacumatic fillers. (But the converse is not necessarily true, as we shall see later.) When the “51” Demi became the first model converted to the Aero-metric filling system, the pen featured a new clip as part of its new look.

But the Blue Diamond clip design did not remain the same for the duration of its production. I have seen Blue Diamond clips with three different placements of the Blue Diamond itself; here is a picture showing examples of these subtly differing clips:

Images of 51 caps, to show the clips

Here is how these three clips differ:

The Blue Diamond in chrome: Most “Split Arrow” clips are gold filled. Another uncommon but not rare variant, however, is a chrome-plated Blue Diamond clip. This clip is found on coin silver caps, on brushed stainless steel Stacked Coin Band caps, and on matte Lustraloy caps with a single narrow raised band. Here is a chrome Blue Diamond clip, on a 1947 “51” with a Stacked Coin cap:

Image of 51 cap, to show the clip

Lifetime warranty? What lifetime warranty? An uncommon but not rare variant of the “Split Arrow” clip bears no Blue Diamond. Except that it fits a “51” instead of a Vacumatic, this clip is identical in design to the original “Split Arrow” clip that was used on the Vacumatic Junior from 1938 onward. Parker test-marketed the “51” between 1939 and 1941, and these pre-release pens bore this unusual clip. Pens with date codes after 1941 may have acquired non-Blue Diamond clips through repairs in the field or through having been built with leftover early parts. Here is a picture of this clip, on a 1946 pen:

Image of 51 cap, to show the clip

Blue? I see no blue here: At various times, Parker applied the Blue Diamond either as opaque paint or as translucent enamel. Either form of the color could, and did, wear away. But there are almost always traces to indicate that it was there. Some “51”s appear from time to time with no trace of blue on their “Blue Diamond” clips; I have seen some very well-treated “51”s that obviously have had no slightest trace of blue for decades, and it is not impossible that Parker actually sold “51”s with the diamond not colored blue. Here is a picture of this speculative version, on a 1946 pen:

Image of 51 cap, to show the clip

Return of the Art Deco Arrow clip: In 1947, with the introduction of the Vacumatic-filling “51” Demi and continuing into 1948 and the transition of all “51” models to the new Aero-metric filling system, Parker reintroduced a slightly updated version of the old Art Deco clip. The redesigned clip was a virtual duplicate of the Art Deco Arrow clip that had first appeared on the Vacumatic from 1933 to 1938. (The essential difference is that the mounting ring on the ”51” version has a smooth curve without the ridges of the Vacumatic version.) The new Arrow clip was made in gold filled and chrome plated versions. Color aside, there are two variants of the Arrow clip, as shown in this picture:

Images of 51 caps, to show the clips

When Parker reintroduced the Arrow clip, it was the longer version shown to the right above. The company may have begun using the long Arrow clip sometime around the end of 1946; this means that Vacumatic-filling full-size “51”s with long Arrow clips are therefore not necessarily the product of cap swapping.

At some point in the 1950s, the clip lost some length (left, above). In the mid-1960s, Parker restyled the ”51” to create the Mark II variant, giving it a new cap like that on the 61, but still with the short ”51” clip. In about 1969, the ”51” Mark III appeared with a new 61-style clip, longer even than the older long ”51” clips and attached in the same fashion as the clip on the 75, and the venerable ”51” bore this clip until it was discontinued. The image below shows Mark II (left) and Mark III (right) clips:

Images of 51 caps, to show the clips

The information in this article is as accurate as possible, but you should not take it as absolutely authoritative.

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