PA3699 Parker Duofold Junior Fountain Pen And No. 3 Pencil Set, boxed (Medium).

PA3699 Parker Duofold Junior Fountain Pen And No. 3 Pencil Set, boxed (Medium).

Date: c1950s

Size: Capped - 136mm; posted - 161mm.

This lovely glossy burgundy Duofold set is in excellent condition.  Both pieces are free from cracks, chips and splits.  They have a beautiful glossy sheen and there are not even any noticeable surface scratches.  This is an example of the earlier style of Duofold Junior with the Parker arrow pocket clips and the rolled gold "Deco" engraved cap lip bands.  The caps have a burgundy top "jewel".  All the trim is bright and shiny.  The only thing worth mentioning with this set is that the cap on the pencil does not want to come off.  I rather suspect that the lucite that makes up the barrel and caps of these pens has shrunk and gripped the pencil's inner mechanism so tightly that it won't now come off.  Whilst this does affect the value of the set, and I have adjusted the price accordingly, it does not interfere with the functionality of the pencil - it still works very well.  

Fountain Pen

The barrel imprint is nice and bold and easily read.  The 14-carat yellow gold Parker No. 10 nib is undamaged and in a medium point.  It has a large blob of iridium at the tip and will last for donkey's years.  The aerometric filler is accessed by unscrewing the barrel.  It is also undamaged with the original pliglass ink sac which shows hardly any of the usual internal ink staining, and retains most of its original transparency.  This leads me to think that the pen has hardly been used.  The sac guard is chrome plated.  It is nice and shiny and shows none of the usual discolouration.

Pencil

The ubiquitous No. 3 Duofold Pencil.  This was paired with all the Duofold range from the Slimfold up to the Duofold Maxima.  Like the pen it is in excellent condition with just a couple of pinprick-sized spots of discolouration on the rolled gold point.  I have installed a fresh 0.9mm lead into the mechanism so it is all ready to go.    

Box

The original Parker L3 box does have some issues - there is a tear to the hinge covering at the rear and extensive staining to the outside - it looks like the box has got damp at some time.  Inside is much better with just a few small age spots on the cream-coloured satin pad. 

I have fully serviced this set.  The fountain pen writes very smoothly and produces a wet and consistent medium width line.