Parker 45 Fountain Pen Review
I had a few Parker pens when I was growing up, including a Jotter that used to belong to my Granddad. At the time, I thought they were very nice, classy pens. As I grew up, I realised that they were actually quite cheap, and not very good quality. That perception has stayed with me, and put me off Parker pens.
When reading up about fountain pens, I’ve become much more aware of Parker’s history, and they have made some of the greatest pens around. The Parker 51, for example, is widely acknowledged as one of the best fountain pens ever made. I’d seen the 45 in Staples a couple of times, and thought it looked very nice, for a Parker. I’m often taken by pens with unusual nibs, so the partially-hooded design of the 45 caught my eye.
Recently, though, I read Richard Binder’s profile of the Parker 45, and realised that this is one of the originals. The 45 was introduced in 1960, and has just gone out of production this year. If I didn’t get one now, they could be gone for good.
Does it write well? Does it reaffirm my feelings that Parkers are just a bit cheap, and not very good? Or is it a real Parker, from they days when they were at the top?
And why is my Lamy Safari in the drawer?
Looks
Steel and gold. The looks aren’t really anything special, but they certainly aren’t at all bad. Personally, I like things a bit more unusual than this (Lamy unusual, perhaps, not Rotring Core unusual), but it’s a very pleasant looking pen. Fairly understated – the only real design feature is the black jewel at the top of the cap.
It’s not going to be offensive to anyone, but I think that’s the downside to me – I like things a little less bland. No complaints, though, it’s got enough about it to keep me happy.
Things actually improve when you open the pen – the section is black, which really contrasts with the brushed steel, and the gold-plated nib contrasts beautifully with the black – especially with the hooding around it. I find myself wanting to make more notes, just so I can spend more time looking at the nib.
Feel
It feels a bit more solid than the cheapest Parker pens do, but not much different. It definitely feels like it should last well, though. The weight is a bit on the low side – I like that, but it wouldn’t please Sam so much.
Pulling the cap off takes quite a lot of force, and pushing it back on takes some doing. There’s no nice reassuring click as it gets into place, either – it’s just friction holding it.
I find the balance good unposted. If you prefer a heavier feel, posting the cap seems to give it that, but without pushing the centre of gravity too high.
In Use
Writing
Let’s not hold back for suspense here – the Parker 45 writes well. Very well. The flow is fast and smooth, and never seems to fail, even when you’ve sat staring into space for a while, and have forgotten to put the cap back on. The ink flow is as good as any pen I’ve used, but it’s smoother. My previous favourite, the Lamy Safari also writes perfectly, but with a very slightly scratchy feel. It’s not unpleasant at all, but when switching between the two, the 45 feels positively buttery. There’s two small downsides I’ve found so far…
- The nib likes to be the right way up – twist the pen at an angle, and it won’t write. This is true of all fountain pens, but the 45 seems to be a little bit more fussy about it than the Safari. There’s not much in it, but it’s caught me out a couple of times. This may also be because the Safari has a grip that you can only comfortably hold the right way up.
- I find the paper in my Filofax doesn’t take ink too well when it’s got hand prints on it. Sometimes, I get to the bottom part of a page, and find I’d rested my palm at that point, and the ink actually fades in and out with my hand-print. For some reason, the 45 seems more susceptible to this than the Safari – maybe it’s just laying down slightly less ink.
Filling
The 45 came with a single blue cartridge and a converter. Cartridge filling is just a matter of pushing in a new cartridge when the previous one runs out, same as most modern fountain pens. (The 45 was actually the first Parker to take cartridges.)
The converter is the now-standard Parker converter, with a plunger for filling, and a tiny ball-bearing inside to help keep the ink moving. It works well. According to the instructions, you should operate the plunger down and up three times, with the pen dipped in ink. I only did it once on the first fill, and it worked fine. Maybe it would have taken a little more ink with more plunges, but it seemed to fill up pretty well.
Not only is there no viewing window to see how much ink is left, but even when you unscrew the body of the pen, you can hardly tell. The converter fits mainly inside the section, so only a small amount of the clear ink reservoir can be seen. I can tell my pen has ink in it now, but beyond the fact that it’s got at least half a centimetre, I don’t really know how much is in there. Not too much of a problem if you keep an ink bottle handy, but it may mean you need to be a bit more careful about filling regularly.
Removable Nib
One small point, that probably won’t be relevant to most people – the nib unit is removable and user-replaceable.
Compared with Others
I was very surprised to find that this pen beats the Safari, for me. There’s not much in it, and the Safari is around half the price, though, so I’d still recommend the Safari as a great buy. If you want the chance to own a piece of fountain pen history, though, this could be it. OK, so you’ll get more genuine history by buying a real vintage pen from a second hand dealer, but as new pens go, this has as much heritage as almost anything.
You can get new nibs for the 45 in any width directly from Parker/Waterman. Phone is: 1-800-523-2486. They also repair at this location, Wisconsin USA. Last time I checked, new stainless steel nibs were $15. I prefer the feel of the 24K gold nib they used to come with. However, though still available, they are more expensive. I’ve had my Parker 45 since I was 10 years old, 1961. At $5.00 it was an expensive pen back then, the Sheafers’ everyone else used were about $1.50. I’ve used an xfine nib all those years and much prefer it to the med. nib they come with when new. For many years I used cartriges for convenience, especially in school when bottle filling during class was not an option. About 5 years ago the original bladder type bottle adaper died and Parker replaced it with the newer plunger type adapter. Much better. I love the feel &n balance of the pen when the cap is on the back of the barrel, if you always put it there you will never loose or mislay it, though it seems a bit short and light when the cap is not on the back of the barrel as I write. Guess I struck gold the first shot out of the box. Though I’ve looked at other pens over the years the nibs mostly looked clunky and I’ve never been tempted. The 45 fits and writes so well and is so elegant to look at I’ve never been tempted to replace it.
Ok, so a couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to start journaling. So while I was looking for a nice journal I found this site, then I thought ‘hmmm… how about a nice pen’.
I have never used a half decent fountain pen before and had no idea what to get, so I was reading your reviews and decided the parker 45 sounded great. I found one on eBay for £6.69 (inc. p&p) and bought a deluxe converter and some noodlers ink.
I recieved everything today and all I can say is thank you, you have open my eyes to the world of fountain pens. I love it, its so nice to write with. Everything about it all is great and I would never have got it if it was not for this site.
Thank you very much
Of coarse i’ll proberbly spend loads of money on pens and ink now so i’m not very happy about that >:-|
Oh and this is my journal if your interested: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260171123616&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016
You probably wanted the Pilot Capless Review! I’ve never had any problems, and I’ve never seen a broken one. Given enough force, I’m sure one could be broken, but only with pretty nasty treatment, not just from normal use.
So does the retractable nib for the Namiki VP ever break? It seems as if it may break over time due to overuse.
Parker 45 was my first fountain pen. I bought it some 30 years ago. It could use a new nib but other than that it is in good working order. I especially like the removable nib section.
i have a parker 45 with a plastic barrel. is this model out of production? does anyone know roughly when this model was manufactured?
The 45 seems to have disappeared from Parker’s web site, and from the current catalogues, but it’s still in the price lists, and orderable from Sanford. It’s available in all-steel or black plastic with steel cap, if I remember rightly.
what would be the current price of a parker 45 , model with plastic barrel
I’m not at work at the moment, but I think they were around £20 or so.
picked up a stainless steel p45 from paperchase for £14.50. Think they are trying to get rid of them since they are end of line.
Lovely pen had mine since high school, I’m 25 and still use it!
Oh! It is very good review.
I have two 45.
One is made in england 1978, Onther is U.K. 1988
Can I translate my contry’s language and introduce my hompage?
Yesterday I took one of the Lamy AL-STARs into work, and it did the job for the day quite nicely. Today I brought in a Parker 45, which I gave up on and put away after just a couple of hours.
I think the 45 is a beautiful pen, but just not a good pen to use when you’re busy – however, your mileage may vary…
Sam Randall
Ain’t Life Grand?
Hi, JH.
Thanks for your thoughts – I’m still a bit torn myself, to be honest. Considering the 45 was twice the price, the Safari certainly wins on value.
I’ve got a few 45s now, of various ages, two Safaris and an AL-star. The nibs do vary in all of them, so it might be a bit down to luck as to which you prefer, too. The modern 45 Flighter that this review is based on is a very smooth nib, and beat the main Safari I had. Just recently, though, we’ve tried an AL-star, and the nib on that one is easily as smooth as the 45. The aluminium casing seems to add a bit more size, too, which makes the pen feel even better to me.
I think if I was choosing right now, it would probably be the AL-star that I’d pick out of the two (three? seven?), but I’m having way too much fun with my Sheaffer Saratoga Snorkel to put it down.
I disagree, and feel your Lamy Safari is the superior pen in both writing performance and reliability. I have given away most of the Parker 45s I have tried – and I tried several to give it a fair test and MY Lamy Safari works much better. Except for the gold clip, the ball point is no more than a Jotter. Works well, and has the famous Jotter feel and balance, which is one of the best ball point designs ever made, but the fountain pen lacks.
Just my take. // JH Richards //
Hi Excalibor,
Glad you like it. The Safari is another favourite of mine. It doesn’t quite have the smoothness of the 45, but it’s just as responsive, and very tough and reliable. Good for any time you don’t want to risk the Parker, or for keeping a second type of ink available. If you use bottled ink, though, you need to get the converter separately.
Sounds like you’ve almost got the same collection as we have. We’ve got a Frontier too, and as you say, it’s nice, but a bit thick. No good for writing in my pocket Filofax, and certainly feels a bit cheap next to the 45, but not a bad pen at all. We bought a calligraphy kit quite a long time back, and it came with a Vector, with interchangeable sections for different nib widths. The calligraphy nibs are a bit scratchy, but the normal nibbed Vector probably isn’t.
There’s been a discussion recently on the Fountain Pen Network about what pens people carry to actually use, and I was surprised by how many real fountain pen fans used a Vector. The Lamy 2000 and Pilot/Namiki Vanishing Point were the other ones that seemed to crop up a lot, but don’t usually get discussed much there.
After reading your review, and others on the Net, I decided to get a Paker 45 myself before they disappear; and there I went yesterday… After a bit of searching (the store I know that has fountain pens, a fountain pens specialised store in the very center of Madrid –it has some Mont-Blancs on the display you can only drool over by watching!–, was closed, probably on vacation) and some negatives elsewhere (“not right now, maybe after Sep 15…”, Spain “hybernates” in August, I guess it’s a “estivalination”…
) I finally found one.
Actually, I found two: one by itself, and another one inside a Parker box, with acompanying ballpoint pen and a Parker wristwatch… It was nice, but I was looking just the fountain pen, and so I left the box there, I may go and get it for a nice b-day gift for my uncle…
So, what did I get? A very nice Parker 45 fountain pen, for €28.0 (roughly US$35.6), in excellent condition (the letters on the steel cap are a bit dim, but perfectly readable), with the body of a beautiful marine blue (!).
As you said, it writes really smoothly! I love it, an instant fall…
I’m returning to fountain pens after a long time with rollerpoints (*) home after a plain trip and got that wonderful Uni-ball roller…). I also got a cool orange Lamy Tipo rollerpoint, just for fun and because, nevertheless, they look cool. They had the Saffari, but it was a bit hard to justify another fountain pen in the same day! 
(I’ll wait some months… hehehe)
Thanks for your review, it was really helpful!
(*) OK, they are nice and so comfortable… I left my other Parker fountain pens home after a plain trip, a Parker Frontier, which has a somewhat thick line, and a callygraphic nibbled Parker Vector, which I love, but sometimes is not what you’d prefer to write on a small notebook
I’ve also used Pilot V4s for a good while, but they suddenly disappear from stores (blank ink, i find lots of red ink, but not black!) which are certainly nice for such a thing
–
Episkopos Excalibor, Pontifex Maximus :. V. S. C. Max Disc Eccl
I got a calligraphy set as well some years ago, it is probably the same (or a similar one…). The Vector with calligraphy nibs is a bit scratchy if you aren’t actually write calligraphy! (If so, at least myself, the speed’s not a problem
Anyway, I may also give it some use with a “normal2 nib if I find one around…
As for my PK45, I am very happy with it so far: it’s a Mountain Blue Parker 45 Special GT. It’s light and easygoing on my hand, strangely beautifyl and pleasing to the eyes; it’s very fast, but the ink flows easily (I use a black Waterman ink from a 2oz container), definitely designed for writing!
I’ll eventually check the Safari, anyway…
thanks and best regards!
– Episkopos Excalibor, Pontifex Maximus :. V. S. C. Max Disc Eccl
After reading your review. I decided to get a Paker 45. To add to the collection of Fountain pens. I have used Paker Vectors (Fountian pens) durning High School. And have been using Fountain pens ever since.
Hi Alan,
Old and new Parker 45s have interchangable nib units. Of the ones I’ve tried, older ones have a tiny bit more flex to them, and are less fussy about which way up they are (don’t have to be positioned quite as precisely on the paper). This means there’s always the option of picking up a tatty old P45 on eBay for very little money, and as long as the nib and feed are ok, just swap them into your nice new 45 body.
The all steel ‘flighter’ is still fairly light, but probably does have a bit more weight than the plastic ones.
I’ve got to agree on the Parker gel refills, too – they’re really nice to write with. I don’t use anything but fountain pens these days, but I happened to get a bunch of Jotters with gel refills cheap a while ago, and they’re very smooth and easy flowing. Nice strong colour, too.
As for the Capless/VP, the click mechanism is nice, but the nib is what keeps me using them – just the right bit of resistance, without being scratchy, and a nice bit of spring to it. Unfortunately, Sam found out that way that she doesn’t really get on with springy nibs, so she’s not enjoyed it as much.
My first Parker 45 purchase was a cap-activated ballpoint about a year ago. I had used a canary yellow anniversary edition jotter initially, i upgraded to a Silver Special edition jotter, and finally found peace in the cap-activated Parker 45. I used the Parker 45 for about 6 months before I decided that i’d like to try the Parker 45 fountain pen.
I got one with a blue plastic barrel, gold trim, and the black crystal on the top. I had considered buying a more vintage 45 but i found that i liked the newer look with the slightly flared clip and the black crystal. I have been disappointed by the weight of the pen…..i wish i would have purchased one with a full stainless metal body like my cap activated one. The nib is medium and the ink always comes out nice…i use cartridges and find that i’m averaging 1/month. I haven’t tried filling the barrel with the converter yet. I may still be experiencing a break-in period but i find it difficult to get a solid ink flow if i’m writing on a single paper as opposed to a pile of papers on top of each other. Recently I found myself losing/fumbling with the lid so i’ve switched back to my Cap activated 45. Most of my writing is very brief and not for any extended period of time….its quick notes here and there, and signing documents. The fountain pen may not be very practical for me…..i’ve kept it in my pocket beside the ballpoint because i like the idea of having a matching set. I only use it a handful of times/week and its usually to sign my visa bill at starbucks in the hopes of impressing the cute barista
………she never really notices
I switched over to Gel refills on my cap activated 45 and its a pure joy to write again. My parker 45 is always a great conversation piece and I love the look on my clients faces when i whip it out…..its simple, yet classy and elegant at the same time…….. I would love to go back to writing with a fountain pen…..i’m thinking about giving the Pilot/Namiki Capless Vanishing Point a try……maybe in that wonderful mustard yellow.
Hi Alan, I used my 45 at the post office today, and the lady behind the counter commented both on it being a fountain pen and that it wrote in brown (and that that is my name as well!) So, hopefully your barista will notice… one day…
The nib units on the Parker 45 just screw out for replacement, so it’s easy to do. If you’ve not used it much other than trying it out, Sanford will probably swap the nib unit for you. Give them a call – swapping it may well be free. They’re based here in the UK too, in Newhaven.
If that’s not an option for any reason, it might be worth looking out for a second hand P45 on eBay, with a fine nib. It would probably work out cheaper than a new nib unit, and the older nibs were a bit nicer, anyway. You could swap the old nib unit into your nice new pen. I had a 45 for a while with a fine vintage nib, and it was very nice.
Hi, Just bought a Parker 45 from my local Staples store having read this wonderful review. The pen is amazing. It is so smooth. I think there was something wrong with my previous Parker Frontier, so I was skeptical initially. But having written with the 45, it is a pleasure to write with it.
The only downside is that it comes with a “medium” nib. The line is a bit too thick for me. Can someone tell me how to get a “fine” nib instead? I am living in England.
Thanks in advance.