PARKER SNAKE FOUNTAIN PEN, 1997.
Black resin barrel with emeralds and silver.
Nib in 18 kts. gold and 750 ml. silver.
Limited edition of 5000 copies.
No box.
Measurements: 13.30 cm. length, 12.80 mm. diameter.
The Parker Snake is legendary among fountain pen collectors; an eyedropper pen in black ebonite with a sterling silver overlay, with two filigree snakes with emerald-coloured cabochons set in the eyes. One of them winding around the barrel, with plain space for engraving the owner's name, and the other sliding into the cap.
It was manufactured for a few years from 1906 onwards and Parker presented it as "this strange and fantastic design is of the body of a snake. The eyes are made of green stones. Certainly a unique cover for a fountain pen".
For some reason, a mystical fascination surrounds this pen and makes it one of the most desirable fountain pens. Perhaps these models are Parker's most popular coated fountain pen, a coveted Holy Grail for the collector.
There seems to be no single pattern in the design of the snake's curl, so we can see them crawling up or down, both on the barrel and on the cap, and no two snakes are alike; each filigree is the result of unique artwork. Although inspired by a basic design template, each one is individually hand-chiselled and hand-embossed by a goldsmith artist.