Review: M600 Red-White (2023)

January 20, 2024 By Joshua in Reviews Tags: Fountain Pen, M600, Pelikan, Red-White 13 Comments

Released alongside the M205 Rose Quartz, the M600 Red-White continues the practice of cladding the M6xx line in white resin. That is a tradition which began in 2012 and was last seen with 2021’s M605 Green-White. This is the seventh model to do so over the past decade, a total comprised of five M600s and two M605s. I have been slow to get this review out simply because of the number of great releases that we have had in the last few months. It’s hard to put the M600 Glauco Cambon (2023) down in order to use something else. The new Red-White comes as an M600, a medium sized pen with gold-plated furniture. Its color scheme was apropos for the holiday season which we recently found ourselves in, reminiscent of a traditional candy cane or peppermint. Personally, I prefer the bolder, red stripes over the pastel hues incorporated on past models. While the Red-White is a solid fountain pen, it perpetuates a few bad habits that will be a turn off for some. Even though the pen has no glaring faults, it fails to inspire in the way that the Tortoiseshell-Red or Tortoiseshell-Black did. That doesn’t make it a bad pen but one that you’ll want to consider carefully before making an investment. Continue reading to see if the Red-White is worthy of your time and money.

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News: M200 Orange Delight Special Edition

January 18, 2024 By Joshua in News Tags: Classic series, Fountain Pen, M200, New Release, Orange Delight, Pelikan 53 Comments

Pelikan M200 Orange Delight Fountain Pen

While a good portion of the country is grappling with below freezing temperatures, Pelikan brings the heat with the first official fountain pen announcement of 2024. Prior to today, the only forthcoming release publicly announced was the M200 Copper Rose Gold Special Edition, a model whose Fall 2023 release was delayed until the Spring of 2024. We now have yet another pen being added to the Classic line, the M200 Orange Delight Special Edition tentatively launching in Febuary. This is a model that breaks the typical Pelikan mold and I’m here for it. First off, you can literally count on one hand how many orange pens have been released by the company in the last several years. Off the top of my head, I can recall the M320 Orange Marbled (2004), M600 Vibrant Orange (2018), M640 Indian Summer (2009), and M800 Burnt Orange (2015). That makes the Orange Delight the newest member of a rather exclusive club. Pelikan is nothing if not a creature of habit. Time and again, we’ve seen the well-worn trope of “same pen, different color.” By creating what appears to be a hybrid type of demonstrator, the company expands their horizons and the result is certainly an attractive new bird. Vendors are taking pre-orders now. Continue reading below to learn all that we know about Pelikan’s newest Classic series fountain pen.

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Review: M205 Rose Quartz (2023)

December 14, 2023 By Joshua in Reviews Tags: Fountain Pen, M205, Pelikan, Rose Quartz 16 Comments

Pelikan has had a busy and slightly turbulent fall season. A large slate of October releases was marred by several delays, the most significant of which turned out to be the M200 Copper Rose Gold which is now tentatively planned for release in the Spring of 2024. The long awaited M205 Rose Quartz was likewise held up due to production issues which seem to have been more easily remedied. Retailers started receiving stock in early November which makes this one ripe for a review. The 2023 release that has towered over all others remains the M600 Glauco Cambon. I would place the M1000 Maki-e Dragon in the same company but that is an eminently less accessible model for most. Pelikan has been releasing pens to match their Edelstein Ink Of The Year line since 2015. The Rose Quartz is the latest special edition fountain pen to continue that trend. The majority of these pens have hailed from the M205 family, a model line characterized by chromium plated trim, giving the furniture a silver appearance as opposed to gold. The Rose Quartz fountain pen is no exception, its warmer pink tones blending well with the cooler silver elements, making this one of the nicer looking pens in the series. That is saying something when you consider the eight other models released to date, including the M205 Amethyst (2015), M205 Aquamarine (2016), M200 Smoky Quartz (2017), M205 Olivine (2018), M205 Star Ruby (2019), M205 Moonstone (2020), M200 Golden Beryl (2021), and the M205 Apatite (2022). Pelikan thankfully avoided any major gaffes with this one, leaving the glitter on the shelf and bringing back the chromium plated crown nut. Continue reading to discover whether or not the Rose Quartz deserves a place amongst your flock.

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News: Pelikan Remains In Malaysian Hands While Disposal Of Assets Continues

November 26, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: Asset Sale, Hamelin Group, Pelikan, Pelikan Group GmbH, Pelikan International Corporation Berhad 4 Comments

It has now been six months since Pelikan’s May 23rd announcement regarding the sale of their assets and business interest to Holdham SAS, a holding company for the French based Hamelin stationery group. I have seen several comments since then that have attributed some of the company’s recent design choices as well as the surfeit of October releases to the direction and perhaps over exuberance of new ownership. In actuality, it appears that the company has yet to officially change hands, not surprising when you consider the complexity of the entities that now need to be disentangled. While there hasn’t been much information made available in the public domain, a few recent regulatory filings do shed some light onto the current state of affairs. When Pelikan entered into the conditional share purchase agreement (CSPA) with Holdham, they hired KAF Investment Bank Berhad (KAF IB) to advise and negotiate the terms of the transaction. A filing with the proposed arrangement was first made to Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on June 29th. In that document, a “Long Stop Date” was established. Specifically, the filing stated, “If the Conditions Precedent have not been satisfied by (and including) 31 October 2023 (“Long Stop Date”), any party may, within 10 business days as from such date, at its entire discretion, terminate the CSPA by written notice to the other party…” A few additional stipulations were attached to that statement which you can read about here if so inclined. October 31st has come and gone so where do we now stand? Continue reading below to find out.

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Review: M600 Art Collection – Glauco Cambon Special Edition (2023)

October 29, 2023 By Joshua in Reviews Tags: Art Collection, Aurora Process, Fountain Pen, Glauco Cambon, M600, Pelikan 70 Comments

Pelikan M600 Art Collection Glauco Cambon

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!).

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The Devil And The Inkwell: Pelikan Jewelry For The Dapperly Dressed

October 23, 2023 By Joshua in Reference Tags: Ephemera, Jewelry, Pelikan, Tchotchke 20 Comments

Various Pelikan pins and other assorted jewelry

There is an old legend that tells of an encounter between Martin Luther and the Devil. Martin Luther (11/10/1483 – 2/18/1546) was a German priest, monk, and theologian who sparked the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, and the Devil needs no introduction. As the story goes, Luther was plagued by evil spirits throughout much of his childhood. These were the Middle Ages, so such occurrences weren’t out of place, likely fostered by a strict upbringing rooted in religion. Luther was a god-fearing man and defended himself against such spirits with prayer and song. His views and religious zeal would see him branded an outlaw. While in hiding at Wartburg Castle over a period of 10 months, he took to translating the Bible. The Devil himself is said to have called upon him during this time, frequently trying to disturb his work. Different versions of the story relate these distractions taking several forms such as a fly incessantly buzzing around his head, or a large, black dog in his bed, or even by making enough noise to keep Luther awake, depriving him of much needed sleep. Awakened one night by Satan himself, Luther grabbed the ink well off of his desk and threw it, defending himself against the evil spirit. Legend says that the ink stain was visible on the wall long after the Devil had been banished from Luther’s presence and, to this day, Satan is said to avoid anyone with an ink well as much as holy water, having learned a hard lesson from Luther. Of course, this story is almost certainly a fabrication, a personification of Luther’s devout Christian views which painted life as a constant battle with the Devil. Luther couldn’t have been using Pelikan’s inks at the time but that didn’t stop Pelikan from trying to offer some symbolic protection to its patrons in the 1980s and 90s. Read on to discover how they accomplished this while also learning about some unique pieces of ephemera/jewelry, many made from silver or gold, that Pelikan once commissioned.

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News: M1000 Maki-e Dragon Limited Edition

September 23, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: Dragon, Fountain Pen, M1000, Maki-e, New Release, Pelikan 22 Comments

On the occasion of the 2023 Pelikan Hubs event which came and went just last evening, Pelikan dropped yet another new release and guess what, it’s due out in October. That makes this supersized Maki-e model the fifth release tentatively scheduled for the autumn month. As I recently discussed, it will share space on the calendar with the M600 Glauco Cambon, M600 Red-White, M205 Rose Quartz, and M200 Copper Rose Gold. While the new M1000 Maki-e Dragon will surely add to the surfeit of fall releases, this one shouldn’t be too burdensome as it will be out of reach for most. The new M1000 Maki-e Dragon limited edition follows the 2022 models Snow, Moon, and Flowers as well as the Phoenix. Available only in ultra-limited quantities, the Dragon is expected to command a price commensurate with its grand stature. It strikes me as interesting, and perhaps it’s just a coincidence, that the Dragon follows the Phoenix since Pelikan has already included both creatures on a single past release several years ago. Some of you may recall 2005’s M1000 Maki-e Dragon & Phoenix which was made in a run of just 88 pens. Continue reading to learn all about the newest model from Pelikan to marry Western European design with Far Eastern artistry.

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