Pelikan M400 Review

[jakelogan]

Pelikan M400 White Tortoise Fountain Pen

As I pondered upon what next pen to get, I looked around the “for sale” subforum. I knew it was not going to be a Parker, nor a Lamy since I already have many of them. Pilot? I already have a Vanishing Point. I’ve heard many great things about Pelikan, so I looked at a sales post. Oh my, what a sight. The polished honey white with gold trims and a striped tortoise body – I could not resist. Here lies the review and my take on the pen.

First Impressions:

I waited little more than a week to receive the pen, and that week was personally a long, long time. The nice presentation box opened up to show me the gleaming first Pelikan I have ever bought.

Appearance & Design: 9/10

The beautiful polished striped green tortoise design with a honey off white and gold trims are gorgeous. The screw cap moves smoothly in about 1 and ½ turns. It feels very modern yet has the traditional vintage tortoise body of older Pelikans.

Construction & Quality: 9.5/10

There are no flaws except that the cap is a friction-fit for posting and may do damage in time. Generally very well built.

Weight & Dimensions: 9/10

The section fits snugly for my three finger pinch and is a small and lightweight pen. Great for longer periods of writing but for the price I expect something with a little more “substance.”

Nib & Performance: 9.5/10

The tortoise is a true writer which performs very well, just as well as my friend’s 146 (albeit stiffer). The nib is a stiff two tone 14k-585 standard solid gold modern Pelikan nib. It writes a true medium that is slightly on the wetter side and is super smooth on regular copy paper and slightly toothy (for sidestrokes) on low-quality papers. There is a definite sweet spot perfectly angled with my three finger pinch. The pen never skips, starts on time after about a minute of being uncapped, and overall is a pleasure to write with. The part which prevents it from getting a 10/10 is because there is a very slight squeaking on contact with paper when I write on copy paper and can be annoying at times. I wonder if this could be fixed, but I am currently using black permanent Quink (my favorite free-flowing ink).

Filling System/Maintenance: 9/10

The smooth twist piston filling mechanism works flawlessly but the ink capacity could be a bit larger. The twist nib is easily replaced.

Conclusion: 9/10 (not an average)

This has left me with a good impression of Pelikan, and I may buy another one. For $175 shipped with box & papers, the White Tortoise was excellent value considering it is out of production and the regular MSRP is over $200. I will be saving up for an M800 on my next purchase.

 

Right now it is my favorite daily writer

[iroshizuku]

Daily writer! Same here.

[Mark Mck]

I have the very same FP and I use it in a rotation with some others. I have become a fan of Pelikan because of this pen and am glad you like yours as well. This is one pen that does attract attention from others due to the stunning looks.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Look for a '50's semi-flex nib for that 400.

Or have a nib master make a nib semi-flex for you.

Semi-flex is flying, regular is not.

 

Not though the '56 400NN which is friction feed....so much for plan A.

 

I wouldn't worry much about posting mars. I don't see any on my 400NN, or 140, 120 or '90-96 400 Tortoise . If so a minute of SemiChrome will do the job.

If that is a modern 400 with little metal rings on the end like the 605 I have, there can be no mars.

 

Seeing how I post everything....the 400 has a much better balance posted as not...IMO.

 

My advice is to post and be happy.

Edited June 16, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[Basset]

I don't think any modern pen competes with Pelikan for reliability and enjoyment. The fact that the M400 nibs screw out so you can replace them with customized moderns or with flexible vintage nibs is an added bonus. Now if only Pelikan would crank out some tortoise M800s...

[FountainPen58]

Hello all,

I am considering to buy a Pelikan FP on Ebay. But my only dilemna is that I do not know what model it is. So I sent the seller a message asking him what it was. He told me that he knew it was in the Souveran series, but it had lots of numbers and they all looked the same to him. I believe that its a 400 but I am not an expert at Pels so I was hoping someone had an idea to what it was! The link is http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180542377224&_trksid=p2759.l1259. Please take a look

 

Thanks to any and all help,

 

Jared

[FountainPen58]

P.s i know about the slight cap crack. Also, I feel that it is a m400 white tortoise like the one discussed in this forum! But I still am not sure!!

 

Thanks again,

 

Jared

[irbyls]

My White Tortoise was my grail-pen-that-I-could-afford-someday. I have it now, and I'll never let it leave my collection.

 

Great review! I'm glad you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine.

[razr]

Great pen, I've owned one in the past.

[veganmark]

Nice pen. I love that it has an oblique m nib as well because the oblique usually works much better for me as a lefty. Very cool. Will definitely have to get me one of them. I currently have a bid on a conklin, which I've been after for awhile. Frankly, I was surprised that the auction is ending in 3 days and no one else had bid on it.

 

As for Pelikan, I agree with you that they make some great pens. I have a pelikano, which is one of their models made especially for lefties. That pretty much tells me that it's simply an oblique medium as most pens that call themselves lefty models are usually oblique mediums or in the case of my inoxcrom, oblique fine. Still, of all the pens I own write now the one that I constantly come back to is my Pelikano, which as you all know is a sister company to Pelikan I believe, if not the same company.

 

Oh, by the way, does anyone know who is still carrying the white m400? I can't seem to find the 400 in that color.

Edited September 10, 2010 by veganmark

[lowks]

Is the white tortoise more rare compared to the brown tortoise?

[jgrasty]

The M400 White Tortoise is the pen that goes to work each day with me. It's little brother, the M320, tags along most days as well.

[piembi]

Is the white tortoise more rare compared to the brown tortoise?

 

At least it is more recent.

 

The brown tortoise had been produced in the 1950s and 1960s. There had been a pre 97 pen and some special editions. The white tortoise had been intoduced a few years ago (bought mine about 3 years ago). AFAIK the brown tortoise is out of production for more than a decade (except for the special editions mentioned above).

[breaker]

a very nice pen but I still prefer the brown tortoise

[penznmaine]

I just received mine in the mail from eBay having won it at a great price. An FPN member pointed out to me that in the photos on eBay there are some very fine cracks on the cap from approximately 1/4" from the lip through the gold bands. I did not notice it but when I received it they were there.Has anyone else had this malady? They extend through the cap and they are visible on the inside. I wonder since I bought it from eBay and don't have paperwork if Pelikan would replace it as a warranty? Maybe? Otherwise I love this pen.

Edited December 4, 2010 by penznmaine

[DanielleE]

Re the cap with cracks, I would suggest you contact Chartpak, the USA distributor and repair center. This was a common problem with the white tortoise pens. They came up with a replacement cap. Mine was replaced. The replacement has been fine and has not failed.

 

If you search on this site you will see other dialogue re white tortoise pens. My replacement cap has a mother pelikan and one chick on it.

 

 

Danielle

[penznmaine]

Re the cap with cracks, I would suggest you contact Chartpak, the USA distributor and repair center. This was a common problem with the white tortoise pens. They came up with a replacement cap. Mine was replaced. The replacement has been fine and has not failed.

 

If you search on this site you will see other dialogue re white tortoise pens. My replacement cap has a mother pelikan and one chick on it.

 

 

Danielle

[penznmaine]

Thank you very much!!! Nelson

[YeOlCaptain]

What a great pen!

[sannidh]

My take on a recently purchased pelikan m400. However, the initial nib problems did make me unhappy:
http://iwonder-thecartographer.blogspot.in/2014/07/pelikan-souveran-m-400-review.html