In the closing days of 2022, Pelikan brought two final models to market, capping off a year of scant releases. The first of these was the M205 Apatite special edition which was reviewed on the blog earlier this month. The second release was the Pelikan 40 Years Of Souverän fountain pen which is the model under scrutiny today. “What is a Souverän?” you might ask. For the uninitiated, it is simply the term that Pelikan gives to those models hailing from their high end fine writing instrument product lines. The concept has a strong precedent. Montblanc, perhaps one of the best known manufacturers of luxury items, has been using the “Meisterstuck” branding for their high end writing instruments since the 1920s. The word ‘meisterstuck’ translates to English as ‘masterpiece.’ Pelikan’s marketing simply followed suit, coming up with the term Souverän, which translates into sovereign or commanding. The Souverän moniker was first born in March of 1982, and it came at a time of great peril for the company. It was that same year that Pelikan was forced to declare bankruptcy after facing heavy losses across multiple business sectors, in part a consequence of the business’ rapid expansion during the 1970s. The early 1980s saw a fountain pen renaissance of sorts and Pelikan attempted to capture a share of that market by going back to a design which had been so successful for them thirty years earlier. That first Souverän was the Black/Green M400 and, at least initially, it was little changed from its predecessor.  The company would ultimately be taken over, various divisions parted out, but Pelikan’s fine writing instruments division would survive the bankruptcy proceedings.  The Souverän line would continue to grow and flourish over the ensuing forty years. Other models would follow including the M600 in 1985, the M800 in 1987, the M1000 in 1997, and the now discontinued M300 in 1998. This past year marked the 40th anniversary of that first Souverän and Pelikan chose to commemorate the occasion with a special limited edition M800. Only 888 pieces, laden with plenty of gold embellishments, were produced for worldwide distribution so I thought that it was worth taking a closer look at this one. One of the things that I and many others love about the Pelikan brand is their heritage, so I take any homage to such very seriously. Unfortunately, the design of this new model leaves me wanting and I cannot help but feel that opportunities were squandered. Read on for an honest review of this commemorative fountain pen as seen through the eyes of a true Pelikan fan.