Any of a number of small pens designed for women, usually with ringtops for chains or ribbons. Ladies' pens have become increasingly collectible, but still represent a good value in the vintage pen market.

A blue color similar to lapis lazuli, a natural stone, introduced by Parker in 1927. There are patterns Lapis Blue on Blue and Blue on white.

a French-made Parker, small in size and shaped like a small 51 but with an exposed nib and a threaded cap. These are rare and considerably more valuable than their appearance might suggest.

Small rectangular box inserted into the pen barrel & held in place by tabs. The lever was then pinned to the box. Much more practical design & much easier to repair than earlier levers which were pinned directly in to the pen barrel.

Introduced by Sheaffer in 1912, the lever presses against a pressure bar which depresses a sac to fill the pen. Lever-fillers became the dominant fill mechanism for Sheaffer, Wahl and Waterman from the '10s through the '30s.

Introduced by Swan pens, A pen which does not use a lever to fill. Instead, a metal bar inside squeezes the bladder when a turning knob at the barrel´s end is operated.

lever fill

Sheaffer was first on the bandwagon to offer a lifetime guarantee and used the term to designate both pens and nibs. Initially, the term was used only on the nib, but soon after the white dot was added to the pen body.

Liquid graphite used by Parker ball points.

liquid lead

on Parker's early vacumatics, the filler plunger locked in the downward position with a twist enabling the blind cap to be small.

Parker patented a curved feed in 1894, which supposedly carried excess ink from the nib back to the reservoir preventing leakage. It became a logo for Parker until 1929.

Parker's name for brushed stainless steel used in the caps of 51s and later, 21s.

Parker's stainless steel alloy pen caps.