1977—1981
HISTORY
The Ms Parker was in most respects a Parker "180" with a twist. Even though it was made by Parker it was, somewhat surprisingly, designed by the famous Italian designer Emilio Pucci, mostly known for his colourful fashion designs. Well the Ms Parker wasn't really colourful...
It was introduced as a floating ball pen for the christmas season of 1977 and was offered in a satin finished sterling steel design with a broad 22 carat gold plated cap band. The were two choices of cap bands offered, one plain and one with ribbed edges. The pen ends had slim goldfilled jewels and the body was tapered. The new pen had neither a clip, nor a cap ring and cost $20. It was offered as a floating ball, stylus or super soft tip (felt pen) with blue, black, red och green medium point. The colour and style could be changed at the counter. The pen was 130 millimeters long, slim and was aimed at female buyers.
In 1979 a fountain pen version was also introduced. It sported the triangular nib of the Parker "180", which Parker boasted could write two ways (as in fact most Parker nibs had been able to since the 1920's). Some months later the plain cap ring was discontinued. The fountain pen cost $45 and the ball pen was now priced at $25.
The Ms Parker never really caught on and it was silently phased out in 1981. It seems to have slided by remarkably unnoticed in the collector's community, although being relatively scarce, especially the plain banded version, maybe this is because it's somewhat strange. clipless and clearly non-Parker appereance.
