This post is a bit late due to an unexpected family illness so please forgive the delay. On Thursday, Pelikan announced a long-awaited and highly anticipated new model. In 2023, Pelikan introduced the “Art Collection,” a series inspired by the company’s deep catalog of historic advertising posters. These were the first pens made with the “Aurora” process, using engraved and guilloched brass barrels instead of resin for a holographic effect. The first model was inspired by a 1909 poster by Glauco Cambon and was well-received. Now, two years later, we have the Rudi Rother Special Edition M600, set for a September release, which builds on the innovation of its predecessor with some new features added.
Pelikan set for themselves an ambitious timeline of October releases with no less than five models slated to hit store shelves during the autumnal month. While the reasoning behind such a self-imposed glut of new models remains unclear, it seems that Pelikan has not been able to stick to their own timeline. To date, just two of the promised five models have made it to market with All Hallows’ Eve just around the corner and October rapidly drawing to a close. The pens that have already made it into consumer’s hands include the high end M1000 Maki-e Dragon and the M600 Glauco Cambon. The M205 Rose Quartz, which had been pushed back due to post-production issues, and the M600 Red-White are still anticipated for a late October release and evidence suggest that these may be making their way to retailers now. Unfortunately, the M200 Copper Rose Gold looks to be delayed for an as of yet unknown duration. As the Glauco Cambon has now arrived on people’s doorsteps, it’s certainly worthy of a review given that this is perhaps the most innovative pen that Pelikan has put out in years. The “Art Collection” conceit used here is actually decades old. Sometime during the late 1980s/early 1990s, coinciding with Pelikan’s Harmony Und Präzision marketing campaign, the historical art collection first came to life. That initial iteration took the form of special tin packaging featuring one of Pelikan’s historic posters from 1903, ‘The Lady of the Lake‘ by Georg Tronnier. The very same concept again surfaced in 2021 but nothing seemingly came from it, not until August of this year when Pelikan announced the M600 Glauco Cambon, the first in a proposed series of pens based on the company’s extensive collection of historic posters, many of which were derived from competitions that saw entries spanning a wide range of artists, both big and small. Pelikan’s newest M600 doesn’t only bring with it a re-invigorated concept and a fresh design, it launches an entirely new production process for Pelikan, one that achieves an effect not previously seen on any of their pens. Continue reading for an in-depth exploration of this new M600’s nuances in order to help you figure out whether or not you should add it to your flock (Spoiler alert: the answer is an emphatic YES!).
Now we’re talking! That’s the first thing that leapt into my mind when news broke last evening of the next release due out from Pelikan. You might recall a story featured on this blog in August 2021 that detailed Pelikan floating the notion of a series of pens whose designs were derived from one of the company’s many historic posters. That back catalog is deep and, in addition to being vehicles for advertising, many of Pelikan’s historic posters were works of art, created by some of the early twentieth century’s notable artistic talent. Three different prototypes were previewed in 2021 and a survey asked respondents to vote for their favorite. Aside from a few unsubstantiated rumors, little has surfaced since, leading many to believe that the concept had withered and died on the vine. With Pelikan having a lot on its plate already, there was little optimism that we’d see the concept brought to life anytime soon, until yesterday that is. The company surprised us with the rather unexpected news of the new Souverän M600 Art Collection – Glauco Cambon Special Edition. Not only is this a concept and design that’s a bit unique amongst Pelikan’s pantheon of pens, the actual construction of this M600 takes a twist all its own. As if that weren’t enough already, this is just the first in a projected series of special edition fountain pens that Pelikan has planned. Hannover must be listening because this is just the direction that they’ve needed to go in order to breathe some life back into the brand. Read on to learn all of the exciting details about this upcoming release.
Pelikan is a brand whose longevity now spans nearly two centuries. In that time, there have been significant revisions to the company’s branding as well as a prodigious amount of advertising materials created. In that cause, famous artists have been employed including the likes of O.H.W. Hadank, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, El Lissitzky, and Kurt Schwitters. A lot of the advertising created around the brand and its products are truly works of art. The archives are full of such posters, many of which you may have come across in the past. These have served as inspiration for product packaging and were the subject of 2013’s book The Brand by Detmar Schäfer. By way of recent example, the Iconic Blue M120 from 2018 featured a poster advertising Pelikan’s watercolors designed in 1899 by Käthchen Münzer which was originally submitted as part of a sponsored poster competition, something Pelikan did fairly frequently at the dawn of the twentieth century. It seems that the company would now like to highlight some of those pieces that reside in the archive but, before doing so, they have an idea they’d like to run up the flagpole. Read on for all of the details including how you might participate in bringing a future pen to market.
