Parker 25B: My first vintage fountain pen

My dad texted me one afternoon that he’d found some fountain pens at a local auction and asked if I wanted to bid on them. He’s shared links in the past and I’ve never seen anything that looked interesting. From the look of the pictures, most of the listings looked well worn. But one of the pens was actually in the original packaging — a Parker 25B. It was impossible to tell what condition the pen was in, but I decided to take a shot on it. Dad placed a $7 bid. And won.1

When I got the pen, it was in great shape. The package contained two dried up ink cartridges and a squeeze converter.2 The pen had been used — there was dried up black ink in the feed — but I was able to clean it up fairly easily. I inserted a modern Parker black “Quink” cartridge3 and the pen started writing immediately.

Parker 25B box

The Parker 25 was an entry level metal pen that the company introduced in 1975 and sold until the late 1990s. My new acquisition was a Parker 25B, a matte black version that was only sold between 1979 and 1983. The body of the pen is a little bit thinner than many of my favorite pens with a stepped down section at the back that allows the cap to be securely posted while writing. Apparently the matte black finish can be easily damaged, but the surface of this pen looks like it’s barely been used.

Parker 25B pen with cap posted.

The nib section is simple and beautiful, with no markings to indicate what thickness it is. The 25B was only available in a fine or medium nib, and this one writes like a medium nib.

Parker 25B nib.

The Parker 25 was designed to look modern and that’s how Parker marketed the pen. In one ad, they referred to the pen as “Space Age Design.” One major shift from traditional Parker pens was the clip design — squared off with a Parker badge on it instead of the traditional Parker arrow.

Parker 25B clip.

The pen is stamped “Made in England,” but I don’t know what year this pen was manufactured in. Many Parkers have year codes etched into them, but I can’t find one on my 25B. Given that it was only manufactured between 1979 and 1983, I know the pen is between 41-45 years old.

Bidding on this pen was a gamble because we couldn’t inspect it in person. I’ve been intimidated by vintage pens, worried that I’d overpay or get something that doesn’t work. My dad loves these kinds of auctions and has been looking for pens for several years. This is the first I felt good about. If you are interested in picking up a vintage pen like this, my best advice is to be patient and know what you are looking for.

My Parker 25B writes beautifully and fits my preference for modernist fountain pen designs. I haven’t decided if I’m going to add it to my daily carry yet, or just use it at home. But I’m thrilled that I have it in my collection and look forward to using it.


Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.


  1. Dad has found some some great stuff over the years, like 100-year-old litho stones and a tiny Hamilton Type case. ↩︎

  2. The squeeze converter didn’t work well, so I ordered a twist converter from JetPens that should fit it. ↩︎

  3. One benefit of the Parker brand is that cartridges are available everywhere. I picked up the ink cartridges at an Office Max near my office. ↩︎

In general, I avoid Twitter and Facebook. But Twitter is still useful for live sports. And Facebook is useful for checking on people after natural disasters.

Really enjoyed The Armageddon Protocol by Dan Moren. 📚

Then: 9.29.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

Hurricane Helene hit us in Columbia, South Carolina this week. Early Friday morning, we lost power with 60+ mph wind gusts. Trees down everywhere. In Columbia, we weren’t prepared for a storm of this magnitude. We got power back 12 hours later, but many people in the area are still without power.

As bad as it was here, it was much, much worse two hours north in Asheville. Western North Carolina is devastated. Asheville is in many ways a second home and it’s heartbreaking to see the devastation and flooding.

Feels

  • Grateful that our family is fine, our house is undamaged, and we have power.
  • Heartbroken for communities devastated by Hurricane Helene.
  • Thankful for the linemen who are working to restore power. (There were five trucks in the front of our neighborhood earlier.)

Health

  • I wasn’t particularly rigid with my diet while we were navigating high winds and power outages, but I felt like given the situation, I was able to make healthy choices.

Projects

  • Not a productive week from a project standpoint.

Entertainment

  • Read Dan Moren’s “The Armageddon Protocol.” I’ve read all the other books in the series and this book was a fitting conclusion. Thoroughly enjoyed the series.
  • No Gamecock Football this week. No F1 this week. I did watch a little bit of NFL football, but it’s mostly on as background noise.

Expected Helene to be bad, but we don’t normally get hit this hard in Columbia. Lots of trees down and power outages across South Carolina.

For several reasons, I decided to work from home today. I know that many (most?) people love it, but I really, really don’t enjoy working from home.

The NY Times on the White Sox' historically bad season:

Baseball is a cruel game. Other sports cap your suffering at a reasonable number. In the N.F.L., the most games you could ever lose in a season is 17. In the N.B.A., you could theoretically lose 82. (The record is 73.) But baseball’s season is relentless: 162 games long… If you lose your grip, as the White Sox did immediately… you can fall through an eternal void of losing. And every day, in the middle of that falling, reporters will stick microphones in your face to ask you how it feels to be plunging through the eternal void.

Academics: A CV and resume are completely different things.

On their websites: “Click here to view my CV/Resume.”

Got a revise and resubmit with minor revisions on a journal article today. Excited to get this one out in the world. I wrote the paper for a Ph.D. class a couple of years ago, presented it at a conference and then improved the paper. Happy with how it’s turned out.

Then: 9.22.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

This week was a little more relaxed than the last few. I took Friday off and spent some time working on projects. The weeknights were busy, and our middle child had driving lessons on Saturday and Sunday. Next week looks to be reasonable.

Humorously, I wrote, but forgot to upload, my Now page from last week. I’m trying to use this as a weekly journal. It’s more for me than anyone else, but if you missed my weekly update, I’m sorry.

Feels

  • I remain impressed with the Harris/Walz campaign. They’ve just got to keep it going until November. (And honestly, beyond Election Day when the MAGA types refuse to accept the results of the election.)
  • I’m writing this from my back deck where I’m cooking out tonight. My wife is doing classwork out here with me. We’re a couple of geeks.
  • I do feel stretched thin, with being a parent, an employee and a student. The day off this week helped. I need to remember to take those occasional “mental health” days.

Health

  • I ate well this week. I do feel that I need to make a couple of changes to my current routine. I’m getting hungry in the early afternoon and might need to add a planned snack.

Projects

  • I got a lot of work done on my contract type design project. Really happy with where it is going.
  • I haven’t posted much on social media the past couple of weeks. Not sure why… just too busy, I guess.

Entertainment

  • Haven’t had time to keep reading Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse. But it’s still by my nightstand.
  • McLaren had a great race at Singapore. Lando Norris with an incredible victory and they expand their team lead. Having fun watching this incredible season, but bummed that the next race is a month away.
  • Good win for my Gamecocks this week against an overmatched Akron squad. I’ve watched a few NFL games, but since I don’t really have a favorite NFL team, they are mostly background noise while I’m working on other projects.

Today was my 10th race watching F1. I started with the Canadian Grand Prix. Since then, we’ve had 7 winners from 4 different teams. I think I picked the right time to start watching. What a fun sport. I’m hooked.

Then: 9.15.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

A very busy week. I had a significant work event on Wednesday, and needed to help my daughter with some of her homework in the evenings during the week. Completely wrecked my sleep schedule. Need to be better about going to bed at a reasonable hour. I feel it when I don’t get enough sleep.

The week ahead looks a little more typical… which is still relatively busy with classes, lacrosse and homework.

Feels

  • I remain concerned about the upcoming election. Especially when one side is starting to resort to false and racist rhetoric to inspire their voters.
  • The weather continues to get better. We were supposed to have a bunch of rain this weekend, but we only had occasional sprinkles.
  • Made time for a much needed date night with Liz. Our schedules are busy with both of us in grad school. Enjoyed a nice impromptu dinner at one of our favorite fancy restaurants.

Health

  • I continue to eat well and work on changing bad food habits. I’d been losing weight at a reasonable pace, and then plateaued this week. Which is frustrating, but I also know that factors like stress and lack of sleep can affect metabolism.
  • Getting a good night’s sleep is an important part of staying healthy. It’s also the first thing I neglect when I have stuff to do.
  • Going to try some approaches to getting some activity in this week. Nothing complicated. Walks and some body weight exercises.

Projects

  • My contract type design project continues to soak up time and energy.
  • Need to make some time to do some projects around the house.

Entertainment

  • Continuing to read Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse.
  • Football is back. Tough loss for my Gamecocks against LSU this week. I’ll probably watch Sunday night football tonight.
  • The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was crazy today. Big win for McLaren. Apparently, I picked the best possible season to get into F1.

Blind copying people on emails is silly. There is really no good reason to do it.

Then: 9.8.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

A draining week and weekend. Not bad, but exhausting. I almost forgot to post my weekly update. We celebrated Jill’s 17th birthday this weekend. (Her actual birthday is next week.) It was wonderful, but involved getting the house ready for guests. Balancing that with classwork, work, lacrosse starting back up for Ryan. It’s Sunday afternoon and I feel like I am running out of time.

Feels

  • The weather is improving. We actually haven’t spent much time on our back deck this summer because it was just too hot, but we did some work back there and I look forward to spending more time in the backyard as the weather cools.
  • Busy week at the office upcoming with some complicated tight deadlines. Will feel better after Wednesday morning.
  • Big win for my Gamecocks, defeating Kentucky soundly. Next week is LSU at home with College Gameday in Columbia. We’ll see how they do.
  • The Presidential debate is this week. Sigh. I’m not going to watch it because it just causes me anxiety. (And I know how I’m going to vote.)
  • Apple event this week. My four-year-old iPhone is due to be replaced. And honestly, so is my Apple Watch 4. So I’ll be paying attention to what they announce.

Health

  • I’m still bringing my lunch every day, which I think is a good foundation for eating healthier. Bonus: It also saves a lot of money.
  • Went for a walk with Liz while Ryan was at lacrosse practice. I need to work more walks into my schedule.

Projects

  • Lots of time on contract design and grad school. Not a lot of time for other projects.
  • I’ve got some ideas for some backyard projects this fall. We’ll see if I can find time.

Entertainment

  • Continuing to read Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse.
  • Football is back. I watched the Chiefs win by a toe on Thursday night, watched some college football on Saturday and going to watch the Sunday night NFL game while I work on grad school stuff tonight.

ESPN is bringing Gameday to Columbia next weekend for South Carolina and LSU. Campus is going to be busy this week.

Great win for my Gamecocks today against Kentucky. The defense looks stout, even if the offense is a work in progress.

So I shipped a typeface a few months ago. And then today, I came across a new release with exactly the same name. I did all the searches I could do and thought it was in the clear. I’m sure they did the same… but it’s still a little disappointing.

Cooking some turkey breasts on my Weber Kettle tonight. I know it’s old school cooking with charcoal, but I really enjoy the process.

Then: 9.1.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

I had an up and down week. Some good days, but I also had one of those days that was terrible from start to finish. Really thankful for the long Labor Day weekend. I’m going to start updating the Now page on Sunday.

Feels

  • We had cooler weather last week, but then it’s hot again. Really, really reading for the cooler weather to return.
  • Busy. We are starting to balance all of the family commitments with Liz and I both taking classes, Jill and Ryan handling homework, new pick up routines… It’s tough to get back into a rhythm.
  • Thankful for the long weekend. I need the time to recharge.

Health

  • This week was challenging, but I did a decent job sticking to healthier food choices.

Projects

  • My contract type design consulting job is going well, but taking more time than I expected. Very happy with the results so far.
  • Grad school reading and projects are going well. Getting back in the rhythm of class and school.

Entertainment

  • Continuing to read Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse. Going slow. It’s picking up pace, but I have less time to read.
  • Just watched the Italian Grand Prix. Disappointed that McLaren didn’t win the race, but LeClerc had a great race for Ferrari.

Today was terrible. Start to finish. Just rough. Tomorrow is a new day, but today’s going to stick with me.

Trying to troubleshoot cross posting to Threads from Micro.Blog. Was working fine… and then it wasn’t.

Because of an accident on the interstate, took the LONG way to work this morning, all back roads through the country. Including several roads that I never knew connected to each other. I made it to work eventually.

Hey @manton. FYI: Something is broken with Threads crossposting. I’m getting a “Threads: Error creating media container.” error in the logs when something tries to crosspost. (And Bluesky is working fine, so I don’t think it’s an issue with the post.) Happened a couple of times.

The For-Profit City That Might Come Crashing Down:

“We’re not crooks,” he told me. “We’re just guys trying to get something good done.” He said he was inspired to help found Próspera after reading Machiavelli’s writings on the impossibility of reforming a system from within.

A movement inspired by renowned do-gooder, Machiavelli. What could go wrong?

The Red Lobster near me has closed, and I’m kinda sad.

Red Lobster has been struggling through financial troubles for a while and the chain is the process of being sold. Today, they announced that the location closest to me in Cayce, South Carolina has closed. I’ve eaten at that Red Lobster once in the last five years and it was an unmitigated disaster. We waited forever for a table and the food wasn’t great.

But my grandparents and parents loved Red Lobster. There is a Red Lobster in Aiken that my grandparents always took us to. While I was in college, we had many family dinners at the Cayce Red Lobster. I think we went there after I graduated from college. When Liz and I got married, we lived in Cayce, and sometimes, you want some fried shrimp and Cheddar Bay Biscuits after church.

Alas, I won’t miss my local Red Lobster, but I am sad to see it go.


Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.