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Why Pelikan?


SlowMovingTarget

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22 hours ago, SlowMovingTarget said:

Almost :)  Which pens beat them? For beauty? For flow and feel? For it-just-works-and-I-forget-I'm-using-a-pen?

 

Thank you for the response.

good catch.... I did write that carefully as not to insult my beloved Pelikans.  :)  I also have a Nakaya with another one on order.... now those are exquisite pens and they are by far the smoothest (thanks to nib tuning by John Motishaw at nibs.com)   To me the Nakaya pens cross the line between a perfectly functioning pen and artwork. 

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Hi,

I like Pelikans for few reasons:

  • how they perform and how they feel
  • their modular engineering and serviceability
  • their simplicity, ingenious design, high precision manufacturing and good materials
  • the fact that they have never been status symbols (except for few gold overlay models, perhaps). They’ve been made for work.

Of course, my opinion counts for Pelikan “golden years” (1929-65) - I haven’t written with their modern pens. In the beginning they have been just an ink company who decided to enter the pen market. For that, they needed good ideas and good engineering (recognizing and licensing ingenious patents of S.E. Penkala and Th. Kovács).

Their Model 100 “transparent fountain pen” was probably one of the most innovative pens ever, IMHO - and they still work if properly treated.

The rest is history.

🙂

 

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17 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

I also have a M815 Metal-Striped, which frankly I don't like much and it spends months on end in the dark, uninked and unused.

 

De gustibus...

 

I find the M815 to be one of the more elegant and impressive Pelikans out there. It's the sort of pen that would be highly appropriate for a corporate board meeting. I like it much better than the M805 Stresemann or the MB 149. It's an EDC pen for me (in a leather case in a bag, not in a pocket).

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

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27 minutes ago, jmccarty3 said:

 

De gustibus...

 

I find the M815 to be one of the more elegant and impressive Pelikans out there. It's the sort of pen that would be highly appropriate for a corporate board meeting. I like it much better than the M805 Stresemann or the MB 149. It's an EDC pen for me (in a leather case in a bag, not in a pocket).

 

As you said... I´ve got both, too, the M815 Metal Striped and the M805 Stresemann and I have a hard time deciding which one I like better. Maybe the Stresemann just a tiny little bit. Both are very elegant, unobtrusive and yet very present.

I clearly remember the M815 Metal Striped making me stop in my tracks and hold my breath when I saw it on display at my stationer´s for the first time, entering the shop and impulse buying it on the spot. It was a case of "Must... have... No... way... restraining... myself... from... buying... this... pen..." so I just went with it. 🤷‍♀️

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1 hour ago, stoen said:

In the beginning they have been just an ink company who decided to enter the pen market.

 

So, the Noodler's of their day? 😁

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Office supply company like Soennecken, MB and later after the war Geha. More than just an ink maker.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

Ransom Bucket cost me many of my pictures taken by a poor camera that was finally tossed. Luckily, the Chicken Scratch pictures also vanished.

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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21 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I'd love to someday have the money for a vintage 100

Are you looking for a specific year or version? I picked up my 1940's green marbled 100 for 85€ but I was following an eBay listing earlier today (simply out of curiosity) on a stunning early days 100 that ended up selling for a whopping 910 bucks..

What is this money pit obsession hole I have fallen into? 

 

My other passion

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7 hours ago, carola said:

They are reliable workhorses and robust (I don´t hesitate a second when it comes to carrying them around with me)


Do you carry the vintage ones too? The 60 to 90-year old specimens you mentioned? 

I have on occasion carried my 100N with me, mainly to show it to a fellow Pelikan enthusiast, but I just about wrapped it in 187 layers of bubble wrap before I head out the door. 

What is this money pit obsession hole I have fallen into? 

 

My other passion

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34 minutes ago, Bikerchick said:


Do you carry the vintage ones too? The 60 to 90-year old specimens you mentioned? 

I have on occasion carried my 100N with me, mainly to show it to a fellow Pelikan enthusiast, but I just about wrapped it in 187 layers of bubble wrap before I head out the door. 

 

I do. I have zippered leather pen cases for 3 and 5 pens that do the trick. And the pen case goes into my messenger bag. That´s it. I also use them at work. The colleagues have learned to leave my pens alone. 😁

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37 minutes ago, carola said:

I have zippered leather pen cases for 3 and 5 pens that do the trick. And the pen case goes into my messenger bag.

 
My 100N is still very new (to me, obviously). I'm sure I'll get that adventurous with it someday. 

 

34 minutes ago, carola said:

The colleagues have learned to leave my pens alone.

 

I don't know why but really this cracked me up. Probably because I can totally imagine me giving one of my colleagues a death stare from hell if he or she as much as reaches for the pen on my desk going, "Oh that's lovely. This yours?"

You trained your colleagues well. Bravo. 

 

What is this money pit obsession hole I have fallen into? 

 

My other passion

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Pelikan probably is the only pen company with a consistent design through out all its pens.

Take any number of pelikan pens from any era (not pelikano). They will fit together nicely in a display case without looking out of place.

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Simply because it pleases the eyes, the touch and they talk well with me.

As in a fulminating love affair!

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5 hours ago, Switala said:

Simply because it pleases the eyes, the touch and they talk well with me.

As in a fulminating love affair!

 

Yup... Love affair. That´s probably the right expression. 😁

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7 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

 
My 100N is still very new (to me, obviously). I'm sure I'll get that adventurous with it someday. 

 

 

I don't know why but really this cracked me up. Probably because I can totally imagine me giving one of my colleagues a death stare from hell if he or she as much as reaches for the pen on my desk going, "Oh that's lovely. This yours?"

You trained your colleagues well. Bravo. 

 

 

I don´t have a waiting period. I receive my pens, ink them up and those inked up at any given moment get carried around.

 

For my colleagues it was mostly sufficient to a) know me, b) know there were only fountain pens lying around on my desk and c) know you don´t touch a fountain pen without the owner´s permission. Most of them went straight for the cup with ballpoints set out especially for them.

It was my boss who got the death stare from hell he needed to put down my Pelikan he had just snatched, turning the cap in the wrong direction until the pen creaked. He has always taken the time to politely ask me for a ballpoint since that day. Not sure if it was the death stare though or my hands slowly reaching out to strangle him... maybe the combination of both.

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11 hours ago, NumberSix said:

Noodler's of their day?

Please, don’t let me be misuderstood. I have no experience with Noodlers and have no knowledge of their history or today’s significance.

 

Being just an “ink company” at the beginning of 20th century in Germany was quite a big deal, even though they produced no handwriting instruments before 1929. Germany of that period had one of the world’s most advanced and propulsive chemical industries. One should take a broader view of what would have been considered ink 100+ years ago.

Pelikan thus produced industrial inks (and derived supply products) for all kind of printing and typewriting instruments and processes, from typewriter inked ribbons, carbon copy papers to poster and graphical industry inks. Some art and design paint as well, AFAIK.

 

So their being an “ink company” without a market share history in “handwriting” instruments does not mean they were a minor company, by no means, on the contrary...

🙂

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Re: Carrying vintage Pelikans.

 

I have carried mine for years as EDC without any problems including a trip across the pond and to Switzerland. That hardshell case does help though...

 

I do not haul them to places where there is no use for them though, like to the store, gym etc. Otherwise? Yeah, they are with me.

 

2021 EDC edition pics below. I’ve used the green 100N the longest, it has been continuously inked and in mostly daily use for... at least five or six years now?

 

 

F55C8532-1FE2-4B17-9BB4-18C991E517E3.jpeg

56C33132-D359-4E4A-A56E-7EDF29C4765A.jpeg

0A99CC5C-85EC-4E6A-A156-25058C6702CB.jpeg

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As an overall experience, I find the Pelikans to be special.  They are a good example of the total being more than a simple sum of the parts since I can't really think of any single attribute unique to Pelikans.    They pass with flying colours the reliability test.  All my Pelikans simply write, without ink flow issues and without drying out between use.  The only achilles heel is that the cap of a couple tend to loosen for whatever reason, despite being undisturbed.

 

Ergonomically, I think they are fabulous.  An M200/400 for instance appears very compact, but uncapped, it's really not that short compared to many other pens that are much longer than the M200/400 when capped.  The magic of the M200 comes when it's posted.  I don't post my fountain pens, but the M200/400 is an exception that I welcome with a smile.  The Kaweko Sport is another exception.  A posted M200/400 in my hand, is an ergonomic achievement, and I don't think that comfort came by accident.  So for me, an M200 as an overall experience (comfort, reliability, compact form) is really an engineering feat.

 

My other favourite producers are MB, Pilot and TWSBI.

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5 hours ago, mana said:

Re: Carrying vintage Pelikans.

 

I have carried mine for years as EDC without any problems including a trip across the pond and to Switzerland. That hardshell case does help though...

 

I do not haul them to places where there is no use for them though, like to the store, gym etc. Otherwise? Yeah, they are with me.

 

2021 EDC edition pics below. I’ve used the green 100N the longest, it has been continuously inked and in mostly daily use for... at least five or six years now?

 

 

F55C8532-1FE2-4B17-9BB4-18C991E517E3.jpeg

56C33132-D359-4E4A-A56E-7EDF29C4765A.jpeg

0A99CC5C-85EC-4E6A-A156-25058C6702CB.jpeg

 

 

 Excellent! This gives me confidence, thank you, Mana. And as luck has it, I think I have the very same hardshell case as the one in your pictures:

 

VJhH0Jn.jpg

 

It isn't as pretty as my leather one,  but it'll do a much better job at protecting my precious pens in transit, I'm sure.

What is this money pit obsession hole I have fallen into? 

 

My other passion

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12 hours ago, stoen said:

Please, don’t let me be misuderstood. I have no experience with Noodlers and have no knowledge of their history or today’s significance.

 

Being just an “ink company” at the beginning of 20th century in Germany was quite a big deal, even though they produced no handwriting instruments before 1929. Germany of that period had one of the world’s most advanced and propulsive chemical industries. One should take a broader view of what would have been considered ink 100+ years ago.

Pelikan thus produced industrial inks (and derived supply products) for all kind of printing and typewriting instruments and processes, from typewriter inked ribbons, carbon copy papers to poster and graphical industry inks. Some art and design paint as well, AFAIK.

 

So their being an “ink company” without a market share history in “handwriting” instruments does not mean they were a minor company, by no means, on the contrary...

🙂

I was just being silly. But the parallel did strike me. 

 

That said, it's highly unlikely that 50 or 75 years from now, Noodler's will be known for making some of the best pens in the world. 

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