7 replies to this topic

[ljwahl]

Picked up this three-piece set yesterday and present the auction photos for your review:

 

I think it's a 75 set, but the size of the fountain pen in the capped photo, relative to the ballpoint, has me wondering-- and the section of the felt tip/ rollerball, in the uncapped photo, doesn't look like the typical 75 section. Maybe the first is just a distorted photo? And could this be a post-Systemark section for the rollerball?

 

Nevertheless, the section and nib of the fountain pen tells me this must be a U.S.-made Flighter set... doesn't it?

 

FWIW, the third auction photo showed the closed box, with Parker logo and another logo, "Renault Vehicule Industriels." The no-gold-band cap also confirms U.S.-made for foreign market, according to Lih-Tah Wong's Parker75 site...

[david i]

Hi,

 

75's are not a core focus for me, but could the RB be a 45?

 

regards

 

david

[ljwahl]

75's are not a core focus for me, but could the RB be a 45?

Nor mine-- but I think all the stainless 45s have the black end cap on the barrel, don't they? This one seems to have a gold disk. Note the FP seems to have a regular 75-style bottom tassie.

[matt]

FP is the harder to find Flighter variety with a barrel tassie - woo hoo good find! Rollerball is a 35, IMO; also hard to find. Take a look at parkerpens.net and note the flat barrel tassie on the Flighter. Note the 75 clip, but the cap overlaps the barrel, so not a 75. Late 45 Flighters have a 1 piece barrel w/o the black tip, but a 45 clip.

And here: http://www.vintagepe...?id=7154&pics=5

Nishimura used to have a second one with a metal section and notes they were made for the French market.

Edited by matt, 19 December 2013 - 09:35 PM.

[ljwahl]

I think you pegged it, Matt! Thanks very much for the insight and the link. So with your help, I'm going to guess that it's a French-made set of 75bp, 75fp, and 35 soft tip-- maybe a special package deal for Renault?

[matt]

probably US-made for the French market

[ceejaybee]

I would be more inclined to think this is a French made P75 set, the soft tip pen shown is the European version which was smaller and slimmer than the US version and used a slimmer refill. This soft tip was known as the Fibre tip in the UK and the Stylo Feutre in France and was matched to a few of the European made models available in the 1970s and very early 1980s, most notably the P75, P61, P45 and the FL2 (AKA P35), it was essentially the same body but with clips and tassies to match each individual model, it was not available in all finishes though. You would be quite correct in describing it as a Parker 75 soft tip albeit a French/European version.

[ljwahl]

You're right, ceejaybee-- it's a French-made set, and with matching clip and tassie to the FP and BP, I'll take your advice and call the soft tip a 75. I've included three more pictures-- I think the dotted tassie insert in the soft tip cap is neat.

Unfortunately, the set came with no paperwork or convertor, and the FP cap rotates when closed, but all appears unused.

 

I used my own Parker convertor, and the fine point nib writes well. Looks like I'm stuck with FP cap rotation unless I wish to replace the inner cap with the older style inner cap and clutch fingers.

 

The BP refill still works and the Fibre Tip refill is dried up. After doing some poking around about these refills, I pulled the back cap with long pliers and dripped some Quink FP ink on the absorbent material in the refill-- no luck yet but am hoping maybe it will work. Sure wish I could get fresh ones! I've seen David N's work-around to put a BIC ballpoint in these, but with the BP as part of this set that would be redundant (plus I'd never write with it!). Any other ideas?

 

Thanks for helping me to figure this out. 

Edited by ljwahl, 26 December 2013 - 09:28 PM.