Oversized Flagship Piston Filler Comparison

[loplop]

Excellent review, thanks for taking the time to post. I have become enamored with Pelikans, and have 2 M400's and a m800. I find the 400's to be more in my comfort zone with regards to size, but I do enjoy hefting the m800 on occasion. I will have to grab an m1000 someday, as well.

 

I was going to mention the "easy to clean" aspect but you got to it first. For some reason, Pelikans just seem to be super easy to flush. It's a nice aspect.

 

The biggest complaint I have is ink storage. My m800 has a Medium nib, but it's nearly a Broad, and pretty wet. Lots of fun to write with, but drains the ink supply very quickly. This is not so on my m400's, or at least I don't notice it there. So lovers of the B+ sizes might find the ink capacity to be a little low.

 

Otherwise, it's pretty close to the perfect pen, IMO. You really hit the nail on the head with how I feel about the Pelikans.

[southpaw]

I'd post a picture, but unfortunately I've used up all my 4.88mb. I probably should have resized the pictures more so I'd be able to fit in ones of the packaging.

 

First, excellent comparative review. You obviously put a lot of time and thought into it. Well done!

 

As to photos, I'd suggest a web hosting site like Photo Bucket or something similar. You can post a lot of photos with their free account and going to a paid account (not much per year) opens it up quite a bit more. I'm still using the free one.

 

Thanks again for the great work!

 

[Tsujigiri]

Ok, thanks. I'm new to posting images, so I really appreciate your help. Here are the additional images, then:

 

Of the packaging:

 

Pelikan m1000:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3180.jpg

 

Montblanc 149:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3176.jpg

 

Omas Paragon:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3171.jpg

 

Of the ink and pen cases:

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3174.jpg

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3181.jpg

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3183.jpg

 

Some more pictures of the pens:

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3184.jpg

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3185.jpg

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3190.jpg

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3187.jpg

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3188.jpg

 

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj309/tsujigiri01/_MG_3189.jpg

[CharlieB]

Great photos! Thanks for posting them!

 

I was just thinking that Stipula should consider making a slightly larger version of their piston-filled Etruria to compete with these three pens as a "large, flagship piston-filler".

[Tsujigiri]

Update:

 

Today, I was using my OMAS when I noticed that the nib was skipping more than usual. I looked at the page I had just written and saw that it had been getting progressively lighter. Once again, the ink has run out with no warning because there is no ink window... so I turned the piston to see if I could push any residual ink to the nib, and all of a sudden, the piston starts turning with no resistance. I start to pull the piston back, and feel no pull. Then i realize that I am able to unscrew the blind cap entirely off the pen, and that the plunger is no longer connected to it. When I get home, I unscrew the nib and try to push the piston back with a toothpick, but the plastic rod is not connecting, it appears that the threads are stripped or something similar is broken. So much for the "handmade craftsmanship." Now I'm wondering, if I didn't pay for the name, didn't pay for the useability, and apparently didn't pay for the build quality, why are these pens so expensive? It appears that the pen is under warranty (I don't see how it could possibly be anything other than a "manufacturer's defect," I've barely used the pen. It's new, and usually out of my rotation), but does anyone know how good OMAS customer service is? I hope it's as good as people have been saying Pelikan's is, but of course that's not what I need right now. Also, has anyone else encountered a similar problem? Looks like it's time to ink up the m1000....

 

Part 2 of the update, also concerning OMAS: So the pen came with a notice advising me to "register" my pen online at their OMAS society. So I finally did do this, and looked around the features of my new username. It had something called, "the OMAS test." Intrigued, I decided to give it a try. This might have been a mistake... the test is a series of vague and very strange questions (What punctuation mark symbolizes you the best?) with choices that are overly descriptive and probably intended to be poetic. I didn't really consider the exclamation point to be daring and courageous, or whatever it was that they attributed to it. But I was curious to see where these questions were going, so I answered them to the best of my ability. I finish, and they recommend as my next pen.... my very least favorite OMAS model. They would have been better off just looking at the pen I registered...

Some time passes, and I get a thick envelope in the mail, from Bologna. I wasn't expecting this... I almost put down a false address for my personal information. Inside, I find a glossy square booklet detailing the OMAS tradition and legacy, a funky-smelling but nice-looking cleaning cloth, a user ID card, a letter of welcome, and a pad of OMAS Society-branded paper. It looks like they spent about $10 to send it all, too. A very nice gesture, in my opinion. I haven't encountered any other pen company that provides follow-up with their customers. I can also see that OMAS is trying to build a cult around their brand. I was almost pulled in, until the pen broke. But I do have to admit it was a nice pen when it was working.

[georges zaslavsky]

Tsujurigi, 149s are easy to clean. I always have cleaned and flushed my 149s with no probs. I always used waterman ink in them and before that used quink had no probs. Concerning what happened to your Omas, it is quite sad I have the same pen than you with a fine nib, I wrote with it a lot but the lack of visibility of ink was the reason why I flushed and cleaned it. About Omas customer service, Tytyvyllus made a thread in the italian pen forum explaining how bad it was when he wanted a nib exchange. I know I bought mine used and was very delicate and careful when using it.

The 149 is a real writer and I prefer its piston filling system to the Omas piston filling system much tighter and perhaps more fragile.

[Tsujigiri]

Well, I'm not saying that it's a defect in the pen for the 149, but it doesn't get the ink out quite as well as the Pelikan does (neither does the OMAS). It's just that I've found that I need to keep flushing and drawing water in with the other pens to get all the ink out. It take a long time for the ink water in the pen to get clear again. Is the piston on your OMAS really stiff? I've found my 149 to be the stiffest by far. But I can't argue with you on the superior durability of the 149, obviously. That pen has lived up to its price as far as durability is concerned: I dropped it nib-down from eye-level and dented a Cross pen box with it, but I could find no marks on it when I picked it up. It wrote perfectly, too...

 

I did see Tytyvyllus' thread (awesome username, btw. I find it very cool that calligraphy has a patron demon...), but that seemed to be more about OMAS' little quirks with switching nibs than repair. Has anyone tried OMAS' repair services?

[Gandalfandula]

very nice pictures! quick question: does the M1000 come with all those peripheral things? the ink etc., or are those extra purchases you have made?

[punch]

Very nice review! Very well done!

 

I have not tried the Oman, but I have tried the Pelikan and the Montblanc. I have to concur with your findings for the most part. I would easily take the Pelikan over the MB 149, and for most of the same reasons that you scored it higher. In fact, I almost purchased a M1000 today, but instead opted for the smaller (yet just about as heavy) M640. After handling the M1000 for a while (and on multiple occasions), I could not get out of my mind that the only purpose for this pen is to prove that you have the biggest pen Pelikan makes. My M600's seem to be a perfect size, and I have not yet used a poor writing Souveran of any size.

 

However, I still have to stick with the Dupont as the ultimate pen. I agree with your not including it due to the converter fill vs piston fill. But once they are inked up, I have yet to find a pen that feels better or writes better than my Olympio. This was one of the reasons for choosing the M640 over the M1000 today - the M640 felt the most like my Olympio. I could not see paying the extra $100.00 on the M1000 for what still feels to me like a plastic pen.

[georges zaslavsky]

Well, I'm not saying that it's a defect in the pen for the 149, but it doesn't get the ink out quite as well as the Pelikan does (neither does the OMAS). It's just that I've found that I need to keep flushing and drawing water in with the other pens to get all the ink out. It take a long time for the ink water in the pen to get clear again. Is the piston on your OMAS really stiff? I've found my 149 to be the stiffest by far. But I can't argue with you on the superior durability of the 149, obviously. That pen has lived up to its price as far as durability is concerned: I dropped it nib-down from eye-level and dented a Cross pen box with it, but I could find no marks on it when I picked it up. It wrote perfectly, too...

 

I did see Tytyvyllus' thread (awesome username, btw. I find it very cool that calligraphy has a patron demon...), but that seemed to be more about OMAS' little quirks with switching nibs than repair. Has anyone tried OMAS' repair services?

I know that on all of my 149s , the piston is very smooth to use and as I told you the ink is easy to flush and clean. My 149s are 60's and 70's models and not modern models maybe the piston on the modern variants is stiffer to use than on older ones I don't know. I have two other OMAS pens: a 360 Magnum and a 360 Colonial which have a smoother piston than my Paragon but their piston filling system is more delicate to use than my MBs and my Pelikan piston filled pens. I don't write with my Omas pens anymore. I am either using my vintage parkers, my mBs or my Sheaffer no nonsense demonstrator.

Don't get me wrong I like my Omas pens but when I need to fill a pen, I need a quick and smooth action piston. I fill any of my MBs very quickly. My Pelikan m800 has a slightly much tighter piston than any of my MBs but it is still a better piston than on the Omas. The 149 like the M1000 are daily writers that are not made to be babied but written with daily this makes the difference between a pen which is a "hangar queen" and a real daily writer.

Edited March 16, 2008 by georges zaslavsky

[Tsujigiri]

Ah, that's probably it, then. My father has an older 149, which inspired me to get mine, and it has a completely different piston. The newer one is brass, which I like, but the plunger has that odd conical shape that I mentioned before, which is most likely the root of the problems. The older model also doesn't make a scratching noise when the cap is placed on and off; it rotates smoothly. So, I would say that I'm torn on which is a better pen: one has 4 extra karats on the nib, better-looking plating, and a brass piston, and the other seems better-built overall. The feed also looks different, that probably has something to do with how easy it is to clean them out. Haha, harsh criticism for OMAS there, that you'd rather use a Sheaffer Nononsense...

 

very nice pictures! quick question: does the M1000 come with all those peripheral things? the ink etc., or are those extra purchases you have made?

 

Mine didn't come with the ink, and none of them come with the leather case. Apparently, they now come with the ink (if you do get it with the ink, that's the bottle. That particular shape is hard to find) and a larger, satin-lined box. You might want to check with the seller. Other than that, it's just the Pelikan warranty, which I've heard is as good as gold, if you ever find the need to use it.

 

 

Very nice review! Very well done!

 

I have not tried the Oman, but I have tried the Pelikan and the Montblanc. I have to concur with your findings for the most part. I would easily take the Pelikan over the MB 149, and for most of the same reasons that you scored it higher. In fact, I almost purchased a M1000 today, but instead opted for the smaller (yet just about as heavy) M640. After handling the M1000 for a while (and on multiple occasions), I could not get out of my mind that the only purpose for this pen is to prove that you have the biggest pen Pelikan makes. My M600's seem to be a perfect size, and I have not yet used a poor writing Souveran of any size.

 

However, I still have to stick with the Dupont as the ultimate pen. I agree with your not including it due to the converter fill vs piston fill. But once they are inked up, I have yet to find a pen that feels better or writes better than my Olympio. This was one of the reasons for choosing the M640 over the M1000 today - the M640 felt the most like my Olympio. I could not see paying the extra $100.00 on the M1000 for what still feels to me like a plastic pen.

 

I have to admit that that may have been a big part of the reason why I bought the m1000, I didn't want to have that nagging thought of "why didn't you just get the biggest one?" in the back of my head every time I uncapped an m800. But I also like larger pens, and those are harder to find. All this talk of ST Dupont is interesting, the company doesn't seem to be very represented on the forums. I'd have to say that I'd be reluctant to buy from a company that emphasizes fashion so much, but these do appear to be very well-built pens, and the hand-done lacquer really makes them stand out. I guess for me, if I'm going to pay that much money for a pen, the filling system had better not be cartridge/converter. But I think I kind of know what you mean about still liking them better: my Sailor 1911 Sterling (which I'll be posting a review of soon) is snap-cap, c/c; I would expect to hate it. But I although it's not my favorite pen, it ranks very highly because of the build quality and nib performance.

 

 

P.S. I'll try searching the Italian forum for mentions of OMAS customer service, now I see why that forum exists in the first place: so Italian pen owners can occupy themselves while their writing instruments are off for repairs

[smoore99]

 

Mine didn't come with the ink, and none of them come with the leather case. Apparently, they now come with the ink (if you do get it with the ink, that's the bottle. That particular shape is hard to find) and a larger, satin-lined box. You might want to check with the seller. Other than that, it's just the Pelikan warranty, which I've heard is as good as gold, if you ever find the need to use it.

 

 

Actually, I think it was a few years ago that Pelikan presented their M1000s in a box with an ink bottle. One can often find said boxes on ebay or with some of the previously owned M1000s that PENguin sells on his site. It does seem odd that as they are trying to compete with OMAS and Montblanc, Pelikan offers only their standard blue box even for their "flagship" pen. That said, I would still rather write with an M1000, however plainly presented, than either of the other two pens.

[Tsujigiri]

I recently got my OMAS Paragon back from repairs in Italy. It doesn't look like they repaired the pen at all, but replaced it. Those OMAS people took about 6 months to return to me another pen, which has the plating on the clip worn off and a nib that's been glued in instead of being removeable. It seems like they'd at least check to make sure that the pen that they were sending back to replace a defective item isn't defective itself... But anyway, I'm sick of this company, so I eventually returned the pen to Swisher. Buyer beware of OMAS pens...

[omasfan]

... But anyway, I'm sick of this company, so I eventually returned the pen to Swisher. Buyer beware of OMAS pens...

 

So sad to read, as I love their old-stock pens so much. However, so many people here have complained about their customer service (and I'd include myself) that your cautionary note seems to be absolutely warranted. What a shame, OMAS!!!

[diplomat]

Thanks for this review, I love comparaison reviews, and this one is particulary informative and not so "as expected" in opinions.

 

I agree with you that the lack of an ink window is a great fault for the Omas. I have the old version, which I prefer for the celluloid section, but has the stiff piston (as you noted). I am sorry to hear your misadventure with the brand.

 

I am looking forward for the new year to purchase (finally) an M1000. I was sure to buy it in the classic green striated color, but your review gave me something to think about.

 

Thanks again,

 

p.s. loved the pics in black shade!

[pankajwillis]

 

I like big piston fillers, and these three pens are the best in my collection. I remember when I was searching for the perfect pen, these three seemed to stand out. The Meisterstuck 149 had the appeal of being a classic design, almost unchanged since it was first introduced in 1952. The Pelikan was very similar, and the company was recommended among fountain pen enthusiasts. And the Omas had an interesting modern approach to a classical design. So having now accumulated all three, here are my thoughts on them. I got a chance to use a good camera to take these photos, but some of them might be a little unfocused because I am not very experienced with photography. Also, feel free to leave feedback on the format of the review. This is my first, so I just structured it in a way that seemed logical to me, but I’m sure it could have been clearer.

 

 

Build Quality:

 

Montblanc 149 9/10

Omas Paragon 9/10

Pelikan m1000 10/10

 

Comparing the resins of these three pens, the Pelikan’s definitely has the best feel. The black finish is smooth and flowing, and looks like it’s made out of lacquer. The pieces of the pen fit together perfectly; the cap screws on and off smoothly and silently. The cap removes in only a few turns, something not true of the other pens. The m1000 has a good weight to it that makes it feel like more than just cheap plastic. Pelikan seems to have paid attention to detail. Their pen is the most solidly built of the group. The Paragon is nice, as well- a simple design, but well-executed. But as for quality control, the facets and cap band didn’t line up, something I would not expect with such an expensive pen. Even the one in the picture that OMAS uses to advertise the Paragon had misaligned facets. The clip is nicely made, a silver arc springing from an otherwise uninterrupted black surface. I’m not sure exactly what the material is (labeled as “cotton resin”), but it is the only resin of the three that is completely black. The other two pens, as seen when held up to a bright light, are actually made of a very, very dark red resin. I can detect no color when holding the Paragon up to the light. The Omas has a good, sturdy weight, and the solid sterling silver section really gives it a classy feel, despite complaints about it being slippery and tending to pick up fingerprints. The one complaint I can raise about the resin is that it feels a bit plasticky when removing/replacing/posting the cap. Otherwise a very solid pen. The Montblanc feels a little cheap and light in comparison to these two. The star on the cap doesn’t line up with the clip, and the cap makes a scratchy noise when it is removed. The pen doesn’t quite have the inexplicable sense of presence and gravity that the m1000 has. There have also been complaints about the resin shattering, although I have not experienced this, even when I accidentally dropped my Classique ballpoint from full height.

 

 

Grip, balance, and feel:

 

Montblanc 149 10/10

Omas Paragon 10/10

Pelikan m1000 10/10

 

All the pens have good balance and a wide, comfortable grip. The Montblanc lends itself to posting especially well, and looks great. It has a straight grip that fits the fingers reasonably well. The Pelikan works well posted or unposted, and has a curvy section that fits the fingers perfectly. Due to the oversized nibs, the 149 and m1000 feel a little odd in the hand at first, but they can easily be adapted to. The Paragon’s smaller nib feels a little more natural, and the section is sloped for comfort. The pen feels just a little more comfortable in my fingers than the others. Despite being much heavier, it is well-balanced, but only with the cap unposted. It’s difficult to get the cap posted at all because of the facets, and it slips off easily. The facets do, however, make the pen stand out, and they catch the light well.

 

 

Filling system:

 

Montblanc 149 9/10

Omas Paragon 6/10

Pelikan m1000 10/10

 

All three pens are filled using the piston mechanism, the king of all filling mechanisms. They are easy to use and have a good capacity, and are made of metal in these three pens. The 149 was a little stiff, even stiffer than the notorious Lamy 2000 piston. The rubber plunger has a kind of cone shape instead of a flat disc, which means that ink gets stuck around the edges, an unnecessary annoyance. But the 149 does have my favorite ink-viewing window, or rather, windows. It’s transparent without looking cheap. Pelikan had a slightly different approach: they darkened the ink window so as not to disturb the flow of the design, but allow ink readings if the pen was held up to the light. This system seems to work well, too, although it is slightly harder to read. The green color is much darker than the green that Pelikan uses on the m200. Of course, Pelikan’s piston mechanism is unrivaled in smoothness. Pelikan makes the hands-down best filling mechanism I know of. The Paragon also contains a smooth piston mechanism, which I understand is a major upgrade from the previous version of the pen. It’s still not as smooth as the Pelikan filler. And here is my biggest problem with the Paragon: there is no ink window! I don’t know how I’m supposed to know how much ink I have left. I can’t twist the piston until I see ink in the feeds to check, because this particular pen has a tendency to spit ink and bubbles out of the nib’s breather hole. I don’t see why it would have been such a big problem to put in an ink window. The designers at Omas had a chance at a fresh start with the advent of a redesign of their flagship model, and they didn’t see fit to correct such an annoying problem. This is especially important because when the ink is about to run out for this particular pen, maybe because of the wide line size, the flow goes from full blast to completely dry in a few sentences.

 

 

Nib: Writing feel

 

Montblanc 149 7/10

Omas Paragon 9/10

Pelikan m1000 9/10

 

Here is arguably the most important characteristic of the pen, the way it writes. The three pens tested all had different nib widths, but the Pelikan fine and Montblanc extra-fine write about the same line. The extra-fine I got on the 149 felt a little wide, so I asked a sales rep about it, and he said that I could get a finer extra-fine, but it would be scratchy. Being newer to pens at that time, I wondered what exactly he meant by a finer extra-fine. It seemed to me that one size meant a certain size for all nibs labeled so, and anything else was bad quality control. But I decided to keep what seemed at the time to be an incredibly wide nib, a decision I am glad of now. I have started to like broader nibs over time, and these three pens show that progression, with the broadest nibs being my most recent acquisitions. Whether the reason I like broader nibs now is because I’ve gotten more used to thick lines, or because I’ve found out how much easier it is to write a two-page journal assignment with a broader nib, I’m not exactly sure. All of these nibs are smooth; my grading in this area is harsh because I know that there’s always the possibility for a better nib. The 149 seems below average for a fine writing instrument. It’s not really scratchy, but the nib just feels crude for some reason. Nib flex is virtually nonexistent. The Pelikan is smooth, with just a little bit of feedback. And it’s flexible, the most of any pen I have. This nib is truly a pleasure to write with. The Paragon nib is the smoothest of any nib I have, but this is not so much of a feat considering its broad line. The nib glides across the paper, drifts so effortlessly that I don’t even feel the paper’s existence. It is certainly a well-made nib, and also features some nib flex. But the flex and line variation are somewhat less impressive compared to that of the Pelikan. I imagine that the Pelikan nib would be a little smoother in medium size, too, but the smoothness of the Omas is still incredible. They seem to have gotten the most out of the line thickness. The Paragon currently has both the broadest and smoothest nib in my collection, and I anticipate a lot of use out of it.

 

 

Nib: other (as the nib is the heart and soul of the pen, I feel that one category wouldn’t quite justify the topic)

 

Montblanc 149 9/10

Omas Paragon 7/10

Pelikan m1000 9/10

 

The 149 nib is, without question, the most beautiful of the group. It is a massive, triple toned tribute to the essence and history of the fountain pen. It has a feed matched to appropriate size, and a very conspicuous iridium tip that glimmers when I write with the pen. The two problems I can level against the nib are that it cannot be unscrewed and replaced, and that it is not labeled with the point size. Considering the experience I had earlier with the “finer extra-fine,” I wonder if Montblanc even knows the nib size, or if they just churn out a large quantity of nibs and then categorize them to the closest size. Pelikan provides a fine counterargument to the Montblanc nib, with a great feed and sophisticated-looking nib. It doesn’t have quite the decadent feel of the Montblanc nib, but it can be unscrewed from the barrel, and it has the size clearly labeled. The Paragon nib doesn’t seem to fit in with these aforementioned behemoths. Apparently, Omas saw fit to provide their largest pen with just a normal-sized nib. It works fine, and isn’t a noticeable detractor, but to compete with the other big pens, I think a big nib is necessary. The 149 and m1000 have nibs of identical length, just shy of one and one eighth inches each. The Omas nib is just under one inch. It can be unscrewed (and even has an o-ring, which is nice), and has the nib size labeled in miniscule print on the side of the nib. It doesn’t unscrew as well as the m1000 nib, but I don’t anticipate having to take out the nib very often anyway. The Omas also has a hand-cut ebonite feed, a feature that sounded interesting. But having the pen now, I have to say that I think this particular job is better left to the machines. The feed is shallow, and therefore cannot hold as much ink. In addition, you can’t see how much ink is in the feed because the slits are cut in the side, not the bottom, and the cuts are a little lopsided. The feed is also misaligned with the nib in my case, and the plating is off. It doesn’t look like an advanced feed at all, the part that is inside the pen is just a solid block. Probably because of this, when the ink gets low, it starts to seep out at the foot of the grip when the pen is capped.

 

 

Other:

 

Montblanc 149 10/10

Omas Paragon 7/10

Pelikan m1000 7/10

 

One important thing to remember about Montblanc is that when you buy one of their pens, you’re actually buying more than just that pen. Montblanc has spent much of their money on advertising, so as to make the pen you buy from them recognizable. That’s not so important to me, but Montblanc pens have two more advantages: customer service, and resale value. Montblanc pens are unique in how well they hold their value: the list price of mine jumped over a hundred dollars in the course of little more than a year (this is not common, though, usually the price increases are more moderate). And although World Lux did not stock the extra-fine nib I wanted, I was able to bring the pen in to one of the many Montblanc stores spread across the world and get it changed free of charge (this only works if you buy from an authorized dealer). I can’t think of another pen brand that you can just bring in to a nearby store, unless you live next to the factory that makes the pens. And the 149 is also classic design that’s been around for a while, another nice attribute that cannot be accounted for in the other categories. In this category, the Montblanc really shines. The Omas is nice because of the 12-sided barrel, and I like the concept of it being based on the classic Doric Column. The Pelikan gets favorable marks here, too, because they don’t require authorized dealers to conceal their prices, a sales tactic adopted by both the other two companies that I find annoying. It also makes ordering a little more difficult. It’s good to see that Pelikan has not bought into the marketing, and instead focuses on simply building a good pen.

 

 

Value:

 

Montblanc 149 8/10

Omas Paragon 6/10

Pelikan m1000 10/10

 

When I bought these pens, the 149, m1000, and Paragon had list prices of $585, $625, and $650, respectively. At the time of this writing, Montblanc has raised its list price to a $720, if I’m not mistaken, and the Omas Paragon is up to $700. I don’t believe that Pelikan has raised its prices. The Paragon and 149 can be found with some moderate price reductions from authorized dealers, but the m1000 is often heavily discounted, usually to the $400-$500 range. I was able to get one for $316 including shipping from Melpens, one of two popular Malaysian sellers with great prices on Pelikans (the other being Pengallery, which I have also bought from). I got the 149 for $465 with free shipping from World Lux, and the Paragon was on clearance from Swisher Pens for a total of $400.25. Those were the cheapest prices I could find from reputable dealers at the time, and of course no affiliation to any of the abovementioned vendors.

The Pelikan m1000 is probably the best buy out of all my pens. It has everything you would need in a fountain pen without anything extra. The m1000 is designed purely for being used. It is one of the best combinations of price and quality available; it has all the hallmarks of a great pen (smooth nib, good piston filler, large size, good build) without any unneeded jewelry or scarcity due to limited production. I’ve found that the Montblanc, although often criticized, is not as bad of a value as it is made out to be. Granted, the prices on some other Montblanc models seem a little ridiculous, but the price they charge for an oversized flagship piston filler with an 18k gold nib doesn’t seem as far-fetched. Especially when you consider all the pen companies that have placed their models in the same price range, but have neither the reputation nor the customer service that Montblanc has. The Omas is one such example; they offer only the pen with no extras, and yet they charge similarly to Montblanc. It seems that they are trying to emulate the exclusivity of Montblanc, but I only see them reflecting the most aggravating characteristics. Omas has no name among non-pen collectors, but they persist with their snob advertising, fashion image, and of course, designer prices. The Omas, at its full asking price, and even most of its discount prices, is priced far above what it should be. Considering the small nib, minimalist design, and poorer craftsmanship, it does not belong in this price range. The stylish design and image, impressive packaging, and sterling silver grip can only justify a moderate price hike, if any, over that of the Pelikan, in my opinion.

 

Final total:

 

Montblanc 149 8.857/10

Omas Paragon 7.714/10

Pelikan m1000 9.286/10

 

It's true. These three are the best of the batch if you are looking for all these factors: Piston Fillers, oversized, beautiful nibs, flagship model, and good build quality.

 

I would be very interested to know if there are any others. There's Waterman Edson but I don't like it's looks that much. I guess there is aurora optima which is also a good looking pen. Any others?

 

 

[JohnCruzNg]

I have a question about the 149 and the M1000, are they tough starters or do they begin writing immediately after a day of sitting?

[georges zaslavsky]

I have a question about the 149 and the M1000, are they tough starters or do they begin writing immediately after a day of sitting?

They are immediate writers, no matter how long they seat in the drawer, they are immediate starters.

Edited January 5, 2010 by georges zaslavsky

[Silvermink]

Pelikan's caps seal very well - I've never had any problems with either my Sahara or my M1050 drying out. The Sahara's sat for several days unused and still started instantly.

[cmeisenzahl]

Wow, great pics!!!