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Pelikan’s Stresemann range looks great in online pictures, but all pen photos are professionally photoshopped. Have you seen a Stresemann in the wild? Also, I’m more experienced with Parker than Pelikan. What are the various Pelikan models like in the hand? My Pelikan experience is limited to the 205.

La Couronne du Comte has just put up several premium Broad-nibbed pens on its specials board for its "Winter Sale". Considering that there are no drop-down options for nib selection, from my experience it means these units are in clearance (or closeout) stock and should be ready to ship. Pelikan Souverän 800 Brown Black €329.75 ex VAT (25.4% off the list price)Pelikan Souverän M1005 Stresemann €379.34 ex VAT (26.5% off the list price)Pineider La Grande Bellezza Gemstones Lapis Blue €263.64 ex VAT (25.8% off the list price)As far as I'm aware, multi-use discount codes (some of which you could find on certain well-known reviewers' web sites) can still be applied to further bring down the effective prices. It's almost a no-brainer to get at least an additional 10% off these prices. All of the items qualify for free international shipping, even when each is ordered on its own. Alas, I have no use for any Broad-nibbed pen. <EDIT> A little more than eight hours after I posted this originally, LCdC finally got around to sending marketing email to notify newsletter subscribers of this sale. The pens listed above are all gone now.

Pen Pit Stop : Pelikan Souverän M405 Stresemann Welcome to the Pen Pit Stop. Here you will find reviews of pens that already have some mileage on them. More specifically, these reviews are of pens that are in my personal collection, and that have been in use for at least a year. I thought it would be fun to do it this way - no new & shiny pens here, but battered vehicles that have been put to work for at least a year. Let's find out how they have withstood the ravages of time. The fountain pen that makes it to the pit stop today is the "Pelikan M405 Stresemann". Pelikan is one of the best-known European pen-makers, with a long history dating all the way back to 1832 when the company was founded in Hanover, Germany. The brand offers both semi-entry-level pens (like the M200 series) all the way up to their flagship M1000 model. All Pelikan pens adhere to the same classical style, and as such are immediately recognizable. I bought this pen in July 2017. The pen has a stylish business-elegance, with just enough flair in the barrel to avoid being boring-looking. Mine is usually paired with a nice grey ink. Pen Look & FeelThe M405 Stresemann is an elegant pen, with an anthracite-striped barrel and with the cap, section and piston knob done in black resin. The pen's barrel looks quite stunning with eye-catching black/grey pinstripes. It's this pinstripe pattern that gave the pen its name, which is a respectful nod to Gustav Stresemann, who was Secretary of State of the Weimar Republic in the 1920's. Herr Stresemann was well-known for wearing black/grey striped trousers with a black jacket. He would undoubtedly have appreciated this Pelikan pen. The barrel is semi-transparent, making it easy to keep an eye on the ink-level in the pen. Gold would not look good on this black-accented pen, so Pelikan wisely decided to use palladium trimmings (making it an M405 instead of an M400). Pelikan also dropped the tradional two-toned nib, and opted for a monotone rhodium-plated 14C gold nib. All these pieces complement each other quite nicely, making for a very elegant and beautiful pen. Like all Pelikans, the cap unscrews with about three quarters rotation, so it's quickly ready for action. The M400/405 is a smaller pen, but posts easily and securely, giving it a substantial size that is very comfortable to write with, even if you have larger hands. I've got smaller hands myself, and typically use the pen unposted. For me, this M405 is just the right size and weight (i.e. featherweight). The original F-nib on this pen worked perfectly out-of-the-box producing a relatively wet line. A short while ago, I replaced the original nib with an F cursive italic I got from FPnibs.com. This F-CI nib not only performs flawlessly, but effortlessly elevates my writing to a superior level with its elegant and aesthetically pleasing line variation. My first customized nib, and it's truly a game-changer! The pictures above illustrate the size of the M405 Stresemann in comparison with a standard Lamy Safari. The pen is definitely smaller than a Lamy, but still reasonable in size - not so small that it gets uncomfortable (and if you find it too small uncapped, you can simply post it). Pen CharacteristicsBuild Quality : build quality is excellent. The pen looks really polished and refined. The pen also withstands the passing of time without any problem. After two years of use, it looks good as new. The barrel is semi-transparent, making it easy to judge ink level.Weight & Dimensions : about 125 mm when capped - and as such a rather small pen. It's also definitely a featherweight. If you prefer pens with some heft to them, the M400/405 model will not be your thing. Posted - the pen becomes about 150 mm long, and fits even larger hands.Filling System : this is a piston-filler, that holds quite some ink. The piston is made from plastic, but works really well. Pelikan are known for their excellent piston mechanism.Nib & Performance : the M400/405 Souverän pens have gold nibs. This one comes with a rhodium-plated monotone nib, that really suits the aesthetics of the pen. The nib unit can be exchanged quite easily, and is compatible between the M120/M200/M400/M101N models. Being able to change nibs is a significant plus in my book! Price : about 310 EUR, including taxes. Not cheap, but also not too expensive for a gold-nibbed pen. In my opinion you get value for money. ConclusionMy Pelikan Souverän M405 Stresemann is a beautiful classic-looking pen, that manages to stand out from the crowd with its elegant pin-striped barrel. A really nice pen, that I have now complemented with a really nice cursive-italic nib. Add a grey ink, and you are in writer's heaven! So the answer to the question "would I buy this pen again?" is easy: of course I would! No doubt about it.

Finally! After a seven year long wait Pelikan has announced another Souverän M1005. We are very happy. They are scheduled to arrive by mid or end of February 2019. We are offering the Pelikan Souverän M1005 Special Edition Stresemann fountain pens for pre-order in our shop (https://www.fritz-schimpf.de/Neuheiten/Pelikan-Souveraen-M1005-Special-Edition-Stresemann-Kolbenfuellhalter.html). We recommend to use "Vorauskasse" (pre-payment) as payment option for the pre-order. Once the pens have arrived we will notify our clients so they can realize the payment. We offer the M1005 with nib sizes F, M and B for € 433,61 and the EF nib size for € 467,23 without the German VAT of 19%. Should you wish any information or place a pre-order you can send us an email to service@fritz-schimpf.de. Regards, Fritz Schimpf

Pelikan Souverän M815 Metal Striped I did not plan to buy it. Only when Pelikan announced M1005 I got more into M805 Stresemann and M815. And so it is. On pictures it is very similar to Stresemanns – black, silver stripes on barrel, palladium plated rings and clip. But to naked eye it is a different species. Or maybe an alfa-male example of the species. It is like Stresemann but on steroids. It is not the first M815 – the previous one was M815 Wall Street, released in 1995, and was a limited edition. The difference between Special and Limited edition ? “Limited” is limited in NUMBER of pieces (ie. Wall Street was limited to 4500 worldwide). Special Edition is also limited but in TIME – it is produced only in a certain year or period. So it is hard to say how many copies was produced. M815 is one of Pelikan 180 Anniversary line– “180 years of passion Speccial Edition”. BASICS (10/10) Well, it is a modern Pelikan and M8xx and Souverän series. A rather large pen, 141.5mm long capped, and 127.2mm uncapped, rather light but due to brass piston mechanism (and size) slightly heavier than other Mxx Souveräns. And heavier then MB 146 too (M800 is 5g heavier then MB 146 and M815 ads even more - 12g total difference). A lot was written about those pens in many different reviews - filling mechanism, ease of nibs removal, general design etc. so I concentrate on differences. PACKAGING and DESIGN (9.5/10) Souverän M815 comes in a striped box (surprise . It is a paper/carton box, nothing more sophisticated. After opening a flap held by tiny magnets the pen is presented diagonally, “hovering” in the box. Initially unboxing was slightly different as the pen was in a plastic sleeve and with price/model tag on the clip, but of course, I removed it for pictures. As mentioned before, it is similar to Stresemann but only In general design and on pictures. I do not have a Stresemann now, but compared them side by side in my local ( and very friendly) pen shop “Pióroteka”. Stripes on M805 Stresemann are very different: more subdued, not as sharp and shiny, grey stripes on Stresemann are wider then black stripes. M815 is the other way round – silver stripes are thin, black space between them wider. Stripes are sharper, metallic, and elegant. The difference is really much bigger to the naked eye then on any picture I saw before. The stripes on the barrel are brass and palladium coated. One cannot feel them with touch – after fusing them with barrel material it is coated with lacquer, and gloss finished. As in other Mxx5 trimmings are obviously “silver” – in this case palladium plated. Nib exactly the same as in M800 but rhodium plated. In my case it’s medium. A difference with other M80x series pens is ink window. The barrel is not translucent so just before the threads, there is an ink window. In my opinion, it complements the pen both practically and visually. WEIGHT and HANDLING (9,5/10) It is heavier. Heavier than M800/M805. To be exact – the barrel is heavier. Cap weights exactly the same as in my M800 – 9g. The barrel (without ink) weights 27,6g and is 7g heavier then M800 and even heavier then M1000 (2,5g). Weight difference is obviously due to brass stripes. Wight is distributed differently than in M800 – a centre of gravity is moved 3 to 4 mm to the front. And that is why it handles perfectly. If you have a M800 and wondered if a heavier M815 would suit you – the answer is YES. It is very comfortable even in long runs. Of course, it is a big pen so could be pain for someone with small hands. NIB and WRITING (8,5/10) Another area without real differences to M80x series. 18c-750, monotone, rhodium plated nib, available in F, M and B, and EF with additional charge. Very slight spring but do not expect line variation. In my pen there is a medium nib and its very reliable, very smooth, rather wet and slightly broader than typical medium, and I like it. I have M800 with a fine nib and it is one of my workhorses but I usually skipped it then wanted to write for pleasure, for “steam of consciousness” writing etc. This one will be much better. Other Pelikan nibs I’m using are gold fine in M250 “old style”, gold OB in M250 “old style”, fine in M400 (modern) and bunch of vintage nibs – most of them with different levels of flex. And I do like them all, sometimes due to differences. SUMMARY Well it is my first review on FPN. And I’m glad that is a review of a pen not yet reviews (according to review index and search). And I’m glad that it is a Pelikan review and a pen I really wanted, and it did not disappoint me at all. It is great Pelikan, a great pen. At the same time it is elegant and bold. Its realizable as all Pelikans, VERY comfortable (for me even more then M800). I do recommend it - grab it while it is still available in some places. (PRICE: well it is expensive. But I will not discuss money I got a good deal and I’m happy. I would probably buy it even for a full price.)

Hi, I was pretty happy with my new Pelikan M805 Stresemann (my second M800 - I couldn't resist the grey stripes!!). But very unfortunately it has developed some nasty stains, apparently *within* the walls of the barrel. I've attached a photo that shows the problem. This is a *completely full* pen. If they were regular ink stains, then I don't think that they would be visible with a filled barrel. This is only the 3rd time I've ever filled the pen. And the only ink I've ever used is Aurora Black!!! Weirdly the ink seems to creep up in the celluloid material..? You can see that especially at the base of the barrel, where it meets the black section. Frustrating... I got the pen for a good price from Cult Pens, and did email them about this, but have never gotten any response. Would much appreciate your advice! Has anyone ever witnessed anything similar?

Pelikan M805 Stresemann. Bought it today with an "F" nib and the Edelstein ink, was a gift. Writes amazingly, feels excellent, it is surely my "holy grail" for now !

We currently have in stock the Pelikan M805 Stresemann in Anthracite black with Medium 18k rhodium plated nib. In my opinion, It has a really elegant feel to it, sort of reminds me of a tuxedo . The pen has a subtle combination of anthracite and clear stripes with the finishing touch of palladium accents. It comes packaged in a Pelikan gift box with a soft white pen pouch. Retails for $850 Our price $678 Visit our Website to order or call our toll free 855-565-1818