Newhaven Parker Duofold Demi

There’s something strange about the plastic that Parker used for its green Aerometric pens. Do what I will my camera sees them as blue. I’ve adjusted the colour a bit in these photos but it still isn’t right. Think British Racing Green and you won’t be far off the mark.

In the early fifties Parker Newhaven seemed to have one basic design of pen, but they appeared to want as many versions of it as possible, and in 1953, among the other types of Duofold, the Demi appeared. It’s the same girth as the standard Duofold and the same length as the Slimfold. This makes a pleasantly stocky pen, but it’s hard to see what part of the market Parker was aiming for. It had a five-year production run but I suspect that its sales didn’t live up to expectations because you don’t see all that many of them around nowadays.

This one’s unusual in that it has a semi-flexible stub nib, not a thing you see a lot of in Parkers. When I bought it, I didn’t think much about it – just another ho-hum Aerometric Duofold, but I confess it has grown on me. The nib’s really exceptional, not at all what we’ve come to expect from a Duofold, and the stubby design works well. Also, it has most of its plating in place and is in really good order, apart from the worn barrel imprint which is pretty much expected with the soft plastic that Parker used in these pens. On the good side, being a soft plastic it takes a high gloss shine very readily.

12 thoughts on “Newhaven Parker Duofold Demi”

  1. Hi Deb,
    You’re right. Parker’s green is rather teal / bluegreen and not grass green. But it’s a nice colour. I have all of UK Duofolds in my collection. Some of my pens you can find at FPN or FPB (my nick is adamon). And BTW – my first Duofold I’ve bought from you – black one with N nib.
    Regards
    Adam

    Reply

    1. Hi Adam,
      Good to hear from you! Actually this one really is green – pretty much grass green, but it photographs as teal or even more blue than that. Most peculiar. How long is it since you bought that first Duofold from me?
      Regards,
      Deb

      Reply

      1. 2 years ago – 20th of November 2010. And from this pen has started my UK Duofolds collection.
        The colour of teal depends on two factors: light and which colour is in neighborhood: when blue -it’s green, when green – it’s blue. Funny colour.

      3. Hi Deb,
        Well, I’m a little bit in trouble now. There are my pens on this photo (Tony was so kind and has used my photos). The colour is green – no doubts. I agree with you – more green than teal. I’ve looked at my pens once more. There are some differences between particular pens, but they are really hard visible for me. You know, men are differentiating only the small number of colours.
        Regards
        Adam

      4. What a coincidence that these should be your pens!

        Actually, I have a bit of trouble with the blue/green part of the spectrum myself, and quite often show my husband a pen, saying, “What colour is that? Is it blue or green?”
        Regards,
        Deb

  2. Very nice pen Deb, looks like new.

    Nice nib too,

    I have a black Demi with an oblique, superb to use.

    Have you noticed how the prices are rising for the UK Duofolds, 100% plus on where they were 12 months ago,

    Reply

    1. Hi Graham,
      Yes, they seem to be picking up at last. There was a long time that I didn’t handle English Duofolds because the prices were so poor. Of course I should have bought them all up to sell when the market rose… 🙂
      Regards,
      Deb

      Reply

  4. Hi, just to offer some photographic advice. Adjust your White Balance for the correct lighting source or temp(K) number. This will give your photos the correct colour balance. hope this helps going forward, C

    Reply

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