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I posted it also in the Pelikan forum, but I thought the topic is also perhaps relevant here. I have recently received a Pelikan M400 replica from Mr Zhuang, who is a well-known pen customiser in China. The pen cost around 500 GPB body only, so if you are going to purchase a genuine Pelikan nib unit you will be looking at around 100 to 200 extra. Including shipping and tax, this puts the pen in the price range of a Toledo M700. However I have to say it is worth the money. The workmanship is fantastic, the decorative cap and blind cap rings are all separate pieces screwed onto the main body and they are also titanium oxidised to a golden colour. The barrel and section, caps and the entire piston mechanism are machined out of a solid titanium alloy stock, then hand polished. The piston uses two o-rings to function as the piston seal, there is an extra o-ring sealing the section and the barrel. The only other non-titanium parts on the pen are the Pelikan nib unit, and a plastic inner cap ensuring a tight seal when the pen is capped. Everything can be disassembled, and Mr Zhuang had kindly supplied me a wrench for the piston, which is fixed by left-handed screws like M800, but smaller. This tool is really useful for disassembling my M101Ns too, given the TWSBI wrenches are too wide for those. The pen is a faithful copy of the original in terms of dimensions, perhaps only a couple of mm longer. The clip is hand forged using titanium, then oxidised to gold colour. Because it is hand forged in his small workshop it was not possible to reproduce the Pelikan beak. However the overall shape was done nicely and does not look out of place. Given corrosion resistance of titanium alloy, this pen do not have a plastic inner barrel. Ink comes into direct contact with the metal barrel itself. Titanium alloy TC4 is virtually immune to any acid or alkaline attack, at least in the range of all fountain pen inks we can think of, including Parker 51 and Superchrome. The pen weighs 46g, which is quite heavy, but understandable given it is essentially milled out of a solid titanium bar with thick barrel walls. Writing with it I felt it to be more comfortable than a Lamy 2000 SS. I am usually a light pen person, and prefer full resin pens, but this pen for some strange reason do not feel heavy in hand. I attribute it to the shape of the Pelikan section and the overall balance. I wrote unposted. The pen can be posted but it will become back heavy. The only negative would be that it has no ink window. But it is not a big deal because 1) the pen has a ink capacity identical to M400, which is respectable. 2).the way Pelikan feed is designed, which has a big buffer exposed outside meaning that I can turn the piston slowly until I can see ink rising in the buffer, and then turn the piston back down. This allows me to accurately determine how much is left in the pen. Overall, highly recommend if you want to buy yourself something special. Mr Zhuang makes titanium replicas of other brands too, Montblancs, Parker 51, etc. He also makes titanium piston replacements for Pelikan and Montblancs. Other than titanium he also works on other metal like stainless steel and silver, I am considering a full sterling silver Parker 51 flighter as my next purchase... PS: In the writing example: Nib: Richard Binder XXF full flex M250 14k Ink: Pilot/Namiki Blue.

I am shopping around for the best custom handmade fountain pen "shop" or maker. I've seen the type of material I love but don't know who/where would provide the best output in reliability/quality/workmanship, design, nib selection, etc, yet reasonably priced. Not sure about the best nibs that can go with that. I love flex (not noodler's necessarily), very fine nibs or very fine italic (hard to find one like my old osmiroid extra fine italic). Would love to hear about the best and worse experiences and/or photos of your experiences. Where's the best place to get... Thank you.