Nib-size engraving not centered - why did Pelikan do this?

[Joe_G]

For most of my life I have been living under the assumption that whenever Pelikan printed a nib-size on one of their nibs, they would for sure do this symmetrical to the main axis of symmetry of this nib. So for example, on an OM - nib, the “O” would sit left of a straight line through the middle of the nib-slit, whereas the “M” would sit in equidistant spacing to the right of it.

But than I stumbled over this old Pelikan 140 with OM - nib: The “O” is centered on the main axis of symmetry, the “M” sits to the right of it and on the left side there is blank and open space only.

Did anyone else ever see a Pelikan nib like this? If so, does it occur often?

Oh, by the way: I have no doubt this is an original Pelikan nib: It writes marvelously with some line-width- variation and a hint of flex.

Regards, Joe

[encremental]

Maybe the letters that make up a nib grade were individual, and arranged in the stamper when needed for a run of a particular size. On my oldest nibs the letters and their placement on some do look less precise than modern ones. And some grades might have three characters, so perhaps the blank space is a place marker ?

 

But I have noticed some odd aesthetic decisions in other areas,  e.g. why did Pelikan think that MS Comic Sans was a suitable font to use for the craftsman ID  and silver mark on the binde of the modern Toledo M700 & M900?  When I first noticed it I was quite taken aback... 

 

 

John

[amberleadavis]

I was looking for pictures of nibs to see if others were off centered, but then I was distracted.

[mana]

The nib width marking was stamped manually as the final step of production after the nib had been finished otherwise, might be that it just slipped through QC of that time or was not deemed that important a thing to warrant scrapping the nib (most likely the latter).

 

I have 20+ vintage Pelikans myself and I've seen quite a few, in the hundreds at least, over the years (mostly online though). Perfectly centered markings are not that common and I do find that one kind of charming as it is so extreme. What gets my goat more are the ones that have it juuuuuuust slightly off-centered... It makes me feel like a fellow exclaiming: "You had one job!" (in those memes, that is).

[dipper]

Note that when this oblique nib is used to write, with the pen body and nib angled to give good contact between the nib tip and paper, the "OM" letters will be rolled to face more upwards on top of the nib.

 

Perhaps a nib maker at Pelikan had a good idea about how to label oblique nibs in a way that would help users in the most direct way, without the user having to think about the shapes of "left" and "right" feet and then figure out what the effect of those shapes might be on how they hold the pen.

 

Good evidence for my speculation would be to find a right-oblique Pelikan nib from the same era with the letters offset the other way.

 

[Targa]

Having handled a lot or Pelikan nibs, I'd say this is just normal variation in the crafting.

[OMASsimo]

Most of the nib width markings I have seen of Pelikans from that era are more or less centred with some variation. I’d think it wasn’t considered too important at the time. And those days, most people would have ONE pen and know the nib grade anyway. The marking most likely was more important for packaging and selling the right pens when a specific nib grade was requested.

[carola]

"Hey, Karl, what have you been up to last weekend?" *clang*

"Oh... dang it, Hans! You had me distracted... there should have been a second letter on that nib..."

"Who cares, Karl, just stamp it to the side. Liese from quality control is crazy about you, she won´t tell if you ask her out for the dance on Friday."

🤷‍♀️

[mana]

4 hours ago, carola said:

"Hey, Karl, what have you been up to last weekend?" *clang*

"Oh... dang it, Hans! You had me distracted... there should have been a second letter on that nib..."

"Who cares, Karl, just stamp it to the side. Liese from quality control is crazy about you, she won´t tell if you ask her out for the dance on Friday."

🤷‍♀️

😂

[Inkysloth]

On 8/20/2022 at 10:27 PM, encremental said:

 

e.g. why did Pelikan think that MS Comic Sans was a suitable font to use for the craftsman ID  and silver mark on the binde of the modern Toledo M700 & M900?  When I first noticed it I was quite taken aback... 

 

If you have a photo of this I’d love to see it - inappropriate font choices are always interesting to see!

[wtlh]

Just like vintage breather holes on the caps of many pens, including Montblanc, I think the placement of nib size markings are more or less random, as they are not considered as a flaw nor checked in QC.

 

 

[encremental]

Just for Inkysloth:

 

(M900 top, M700 bottom) I'm guessing the laser engraving machine runs Windows ...

 

John