1937 Parker Vacumatic Senior Maxima Fountain Pen and Mechanical Pencil Set - Emerald Pearl

Vintage: 1937

Make: Parker

Model: Vacumatic Senior Maxima

Color/Pattern: Emerald Pearl

Materials: Celluloid, gold-plated trim 

Filling System: Vacumatic Speedline filler (diaphragm replaced and guaranteed to fill and write as designed). Vacumatic fillers are something of a specialty of mine and I take pride in the amount of attention I devote to each. Any dried/coagulated ink is removed from feed channels. All remnants of thread sealant and ossified diaphragms are cleaned away. Threads are meticulously chased. Interiors of barrels are cleaned and polished to remove ink staining and restore transparency. Sections are sealed against leaks using a rosin-based thread sealant. 

Length: This oversized, 2nd-generation model has a thick girth and FP measures 5 3/8” capped. See photo of this pen next to a Vacumatic Major for a sense of its comparative size. 

Nib: 14k Two-Tone Maxima Arrow nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF/F line.

Condition: [Fountain Pen] Gold-plated trim on FP appears mint at a glance but a loupe reveals some minor wear. It’s clean aside from slivers of high-point wear on the clip arrow and a hairsbreadth sliver of brassing around the edge of the blind cap tassie and bottom edge of the cap band visible under a loupe (none reaching into the chevron pattern). There is also a spot of wear to the rhodium plating on the left side of the nib. Celluloid surface of FP is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable flaws - scarcely even any microscratches. Excellent barrel transparency of a light orange color. Manufacturer imprint and date code on FP is slightly weakened yet fully legible. [Mechanical Pencil] MP trim is clean aside from slivers of high-point wear on the clip arrow, a couple pin-sized dings on the cap band, and short scratches/dings on the nose cone. MP has some scratches on the barrel and cap. Excellent barrel transparency of a light orange color. Manufacturer imprint and date code on MP is worn away on the right side but ‘7’ date code is still legible. MP is fully functional, retracting, expelling, and gripping lead as designed. 

Details: The Senior Maxima was Parker’s flagship Vacumatic. Scarcer than smaller sized models, it remains one of the most desirable Parkers of the period. This Sr Max set in Emerald Pearl with matching MP was made when Parker was finishing up the transition from the 1st-generation Oversized model to the more streamlined pens of the 2nd generation. It retains the feather-together clips and the matching striped section and double jewels of the 1st generation. These features make early 2nd-gen Vacs like this one especially sought after. Aside from this it has the characteristic streamlined profile, aluminum Speedline filler, and wide chevron cap band of the 2nd generation.