Parker Duofold Greenwich Special Edition 1999

by Jim Mamoulides, July 4, 2002, updated January 24, 2025

Parker Duofold Greenwich Special Edition fountain pen 1999

A pen for the new Millenium

The Parker Duofold Greenwich is a 1999 special edition fountain pen and rollerball pen created to celebrate the new millennium of January 1, 2001 through December 31, 3000. The pen commemorates the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, where one can stand on the Prime Meridian Line where in 1884, zero degrees longitude was established and from that, all distances east and west were then measured. Local tradition is the Prime Meridian at midnight is when each new day begins. Parker was the only pen company licensed to produce an official Greenwich pen and use the Royal Observatory Greenwich logo to mark the Millennium celebration.

The Prime Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, U.K.

The Royal Observatory was established in 1675 by royal order of King Charles II with its initial primary goal to determine how to measure longitude at sea. The Royal Observatory’s website explains why this was important:

In an effort to achieve this, astronomers at Greenwich began to carefully record the time at which certain stars crossed overhead – an event known as a 'transit'. A series of tables predicting the position of the Sun, Moon and stars throughout the year was eventually produced based on these measurements, giving sailors a way to work out their position at sea. As a result, the Royal Observatory became a vital centre for astronomy, navigation and the measurement of time.

In 1884, representatives from different nations gathered in Washington D.C. to choose one single meridian as a common reference. After weeks of discussion, delegates voted to make the Greenwich Meridian the world's Prime Meridian. The cross-hairs in the eyepiece of the Airy Transit Circle precisely defined zero degrees longitude for the world. Greenwich was chosen because it offered the least disruption. Nearly two-thirds of the world's ships were already using charts based on the Greenwich Meridian, making the transition to a single Prime Meridian easier.

Parker Duofold Greenwich Special Edition fountain pen 1999

The Duofold Greenwich is a black Centennial sized Duofold with a machine engraved guilloché fougère, or fern, pattern cut into the black acrylic cap and barrel. A special emblem is set into the cap top to identify the pen with the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. An extra wide single cap band is engraved "PARKER DUOFOLD GREENWICH" in all caps around the band. Removing the fountain pen’s cap reveals a very large 18 karat gold platinum masked Duofold nib stamped with the Parker arrow and Duofold name. This is the standard Duofold nib, not customized for the special edition. Duofold Greenwich fountain pens were only offered with medium nibs, although Parker would make exchanges for other nib sizes.

Parker Duofold Greenwich Special Edition cap top logo and Royal Observatory graphic from the commemorative booklet included with each pen

Each pen was presented in a high gloss lacquered wooden box inside a Greenwich Royal Observatory themed outer box with a commemorative instruction and warranty booklet.

Parker Duofold Greenwich Special Edition fountain pen and rollerball pen 1999

The original retail price of the Duofold Greenwich fountain pen was $440, which would make it a modest premium over the $415 for the Pearl Gray and Pearl and Black Centennial Duofold models that year, the highest priced pens in the standard line, and much less than typical Parker limited editions. The standard black resin fountain pen that the Duofold Greenwich is based on sold for $370 in 1999. The Duofold Greenwich rollerball pen sold for $250, a premium over the standard black Duofold rollerball pen, which sold for $195.

Parker Duofold Greenwich Special Edition fountain pen 1999

There is some contradictory information as to how many pens and rollerballs were produced. As this was not a finite, numbered Limited Edition, they don’t have edition or serial numbers anywhere on them. Initial production was to be 1,000 fountain pens and 1,000 rollerball pens, with about 500 of each planned for distribution in the United States. As the fountain pen sold much better than the rollerball pen, several dealers reported that they were told that Parker shortened the rollerball pen production to less than the 1,000 planned and believe that Parker may have produced as many as 3,000 of the fountain pens to meet demand.

The fountain pens sold out pretty quickly when released, and some reports were they sold better in the United States than in Europe. The Duofold Greenwich was a finalist for best pen in the on-line Robb Report in 2000.

Performance

The Duofold Greenwich fountain pen is exactly like any other modern flat top Centennial Duofold in terms of size, heft, fit and finish. The major difference is the guilloché fougère pattern machined into the acrylic body, which gives the pen a distinctive matte look, and the engraved extra wide single cap band. I wish that Parker had left off the cap ring engraving, which I think comes off a tad cheesy looking. Not as bad as cheap Montblanc knockoffs, but not great, either. A plain band or a simple design would suit the pen much better.

I have to admit that I enjoy this pen a lot. It's big, at 5 3/8 inches capped and huge at 6 3/4 inches posted, but it does post more securely than some other Duofolds I have used. Like all Centennial Duofolds, the pen is slightly top heavy (and extra-long!) with the cap posted. I prefer to use it without the cap stuck on the end of the barrel. It uses standard Parker cartridges or an included converter.

Parker Duofold Greenwich Special Edition fountain pen 1999

Filling is as with most converter pens, unscrew the section, dunk and twist. The nib is no different than the standard Duofold nib, and writes as all modern Duofolds do, a bit stiff, a bit wet, and a touch of a ballpen feel to the tip. It works well as a daily user, starting up every time, even when set down uncapped.

Given the limited number of pens made, the Duofold Greenwich hasn't leapt in value since its release, so new and used pens can still be found, and when they do turn up, usually near the original release price, sometimes less. Except for the cap ring engraving, this is actually a pretty understated pen for its size and is an excellent daily user.

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References

Parker Duofold by David Shepherd and Dan Zazove, copyright 2006 by David Shepherd, Dan Zazove and Parker Pen Company, Surrenden Pens Limited, Brighton, UK 2006, page 325

Royal Observatory official website

“What is the Prime Meridian - and why is it in Greenwich?” Royal Observatory official website