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A lot of Chinese fountain pens are on sale on Ali Express. On top of that AE offers $80 off orders of $500, $45 off orders of $300, etc. For instance, it is possible to get the Titanium JunL 900 with #9 18kt Gold nib for just under $400.

With the first cold and rainy autumn day here in Tübingen, we are happy to have received news about the next special edition from Pelikan. The Pelikan Souverän Special Edition 600 Vibrant Orange fountain and ballpoint pen really brighten the day. The cap and barrel are made of shiny orange acrylic resin with different hues of orange which reflect the light in a fascinating way. Together with the golden clip and rings the overall impression is very warm. The fountain pen will be offered in four nib sizes: EF, F, M and B. We are offereing these pens for pre-order now. They will be available by mid November. Here is the link to our offer: https://www.fritz-schimpf.de/Neuheiten/Pelikan-Souveraen-Special-Edition-M600-Vibrant-Orange-Kolbenfuellhalter.html In our opinion the black grip section and the piston knob would have been nicer if made in the same lovely color and not in black. What are your thoughts? Best regardsFritz Schimpf

G'day FPN I know the only real answer to this question is 'try them out!' but all the way down here in Australia there seems to be a scarcity of brick & mortar pen shops, so I'd love to hear from you: Is there any rule of thumb for marrying a pen size to a hand size? theres a lot of talk around the forums of large and small hands, but as it's so subjective what size 'large' hands actually are, and obviously the weight distribution of the actual pen in hand plays a huge part in what makes it balanced or not. the Safari I use at the moment is a little back heavy when posted (those pens are really quite long though) so what factors would lead you to decide between an M400, 600, 800 or 1000 apart from visuals or price? heres a picture of my hand for reference, with a pen we all know and love -Kieran

Can someone please help with identification of this pen? I'm sorry about the awful picture quality but I had to use my phone. There are two 'chicks' on the cap top and on the wonderful F nib - a true 'fine'! Thanks in advance.

I am curious about what those of you more experienced and knowledgeable than I am (that would probably be most of you) can tell me about the differences between a pre-1997 Pelikan 600 and a current M600, and also a comparison between the pre-1997 600 and the early 1950's Pelkan 400. The only one I own is a lovely tortoise shell 400, and I do not live remotely close to a shop that has a current M600 or a pre-1997 600, neither of which I have ever held in my hand. Mostly I am intersted in "feel" comparisons, nib-wise and how the weight/size of each translate to in hand feel? I love the 400's semi-flex nib, and it is a thing of beauty. But at other times I also enjoy a slightly bigger, or slightly heavier pen, and sometimes also enjoy less flexible nibs that have less drag. If this comparison has been taken up somewhere already in a posting on this forum that I missed in my search, thanks for pointing me.

Hi again This is for your resident rotring expert (you know who you are!) I have a 90's? vintage 600 trio that I got at a garage sale. I picked it up because I had other rotrings and love the design and heft. It never worked great, retracting at inopportune times, regardless of point selected. It rattled around for a number of years (I never lost track of it), but I picked it back up and started to use it more. I found that with use, the mechanism seemed to fix itself. I can no longer make it unintentionally retract, even by scribbling rapidly back and forth (formerly a guaranteed method), and I use it all the time. So, questions: * How to disassembly / clean? Other than the knurled bit at the point (? I'm certain there is a better word), is it intended to come apart? Would a mild solvent like EtOH or lighter fluid ungunk anything sticking up the locking mech? * How to replace the pen inserts? Do I just yard them out of the barrel and refit by braille? Or (see prior question). Now that I am using it more, I expect to run dry at some point ( the red ink seems a little faded, but writes fine). Thanks in advance for your help! Todd ps sorry for the crappy quick an dirty smartphone pic - the scratch on the blue dot is the most serious cosmetic flaw.