So I am quite sure I must have already mentioned “baby duck syndrome” elsewhere in these dubious pages. In my case, it’s Parker pens. An imprinting that took place with a Parker 45 way back in my grammar school days. Not so long a go, I acquired a small collection of vintage Parkers from a local collector, and have been remiss in not test driving all but one of them to date.
In the meantime I’ve had a busy few weeks with my various family members visiting for a week or more from Ontario, the UK and Austria. My wife was good enough to have bid and won an auction lot of vintage pens in the UK, and brought these for me to play with. Amongst such gems as a Conway Stewart and Mabie Todd was a little more recent Parker 15 in excellent condition and needing nothing more than a swift bath in the ultrasonic cleaner and the loan of a convertor from one of my many other Parkers.
The Parker 15 is one of those pens that often flies under the radar, and is a cute but functional offering. Produced in the UK from the late 1970s through into the 1980s, it was designed to be an easy, no-nonsense writer. Slim, light, and straightforward, the UK-made version usually came in brushed stainless steel or plastic finishes, and carried that familiar Parker arrow clip. It used a standard Parker cartridge/converter system, making it easy for me to find a compatible convertor to fuel it up today.
It’s interesting how the UK Parker 15 differs from its French cousin, the Mixy. The two are often mentioned together, but the UK 15 has a slightly more restrained, practical look, whereas the Mixy leaned toward brighter colors and a more playful style aimed at younger writers. It went as far as to have a flat clip with the Parker arrow merely etched onto it, rather than the arrow being the very clip itself like the UK-made 15. According to www.parkerpens.net, the Parker 15 sat just below the popular Parker 25 in the portfolio, filling the gap for people who wanted a solid everyday pen without stepping into more premium territory. The Matte Black GT model — with its matte epoxy resin coated stainless steel cap has 23k gold plated trim and nib, and stands out as one of the more stylish versions that will sit well with my other stealth black pens (though the trim elevates it a bit). The section is plastic and the injection moulding seams kind of detract from the otherwise solid build. The cap is stamped with PARKER/MADE IN UK/IP. The IP is a Parker dating stamp indicating it was made in Q3 1997… a positive babe in arms compared to some of its new kennel-mates!
While not as widely celebrated as the Parker 25 or 45, the 15 has its quiet charm, and tracking down a good example (especially the Matte Black GT) was a satisfying addition to my growing Parker collection.
Quieter Elephant 