Buying a high-end luxury item is about more than just the product. People who can afford such things pay the additional premium not only because of the promise of better quality but also for the luxe experience. Consequently, those products tend to come with more elegant packaging which is frequently just as integral to the purchase. For some it matters and for others it does not, but nobody likes to purchase an expensive item only to have it come packaged in a cheap, flimsy box. Ideally, the box should have shelf appeal, be aesthetically pleasing, and serve a function. Pelikan’s Souverän line, which has seemingly tried to push more into the luxe market as the years have worn on, has always had very specific packaging for its high end models. As best I can tell, there have been approximately seven major revisions to the standard assortment of presentation boxes serving the Souverän line over the past 40 years. That number is not necessarily all encompassing since it is beyond the scope of this article to recount each and every one of the regional variations and model specific gift packages that have come about (e.g. the M815) but it does a good job of approximating most of the mainstream offerings that have been employed over the years. In the last few decades, we’ve seen new presentation boxes emerge along the frequency of roughly every 8-9 years. The earliest presentation box for the Souverän from Pelikan was the GV400 and today, new for 2022, we have the G30. Several people have asked me if the new packaging is legit or some kind of knock off. The suspicion is understandable given that most people are accustomed to the G15 packaging which has been the standard for the last decade, but the new box is indeed genuine, representing the latest revision to occur during the reign of the Souverän. I thought that it might be a worthwhile and fun exercise to take a stroll down memory lane and look back at some of the unique packaging that has accompanied our Souveräns over the years before detailing this newest version. To paraphrase Maya Angelou, it’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.