The Cuban Connection
Introduction
Most fountain pen enthusiasts enjoy to see what’s going on in their fountain pen’s. Pelikan offers that option with their entry model for the Souverän-line; the 200. This pen is know as a value-for-money pen with a smooth nib, good quality and a pleasant writing experience. But what if you prefer a gold nib? Well, then you can always turn to the less known brother of the 200 Transparent; the 250 Transparent.
Barrel
Pelikan offers the Transparent collection in 5 colours; red, green, blue, anthracite and amber. This review features the amber coloured 250, a beautiful, warm colour that gives you in combination with the gold plated accents the idea of a sunny day in Cuba, complete with linen suit, panama hat and of course a Cuban cigar.
The translucent barrel reviles all the secrets of pen, including a few that you are probably not looking for. Even on modest winter day in The Netherlands you can clearly see the signs of condensation inside the barrel. On warmer days you can also see the condensation in the cap when the pen is closed. Although normal with fountain pen’s it isn’t really attractive to look at.
A big plus for this pen is that Pelikan succeeded in making it not look cheap. Despite the fact that it is made out of ordinary plastic it looks really nice, tasteful and, yes even classy! Perhaps can Pelikan share this knowledge with car manufacturers?
Cap and clip
The cap features the famous Pelikan-shaped clip which is quite flexible and can even be put into pockets made out of thicker cloth. The clip is gold plated and it’s Art Deco-looks are really adding style to this pen. The cap itself is a screw down, simple and smooth, no complains in that area. The top of the cap is made out of black plastic and is probably the least attractive part of the pen. The golden Pelikan logo on top of the cap is very nice, but the plastic top still looks kind of cheap. Because the cap is translucent it is also very clear when it is time to clean the cap again, although I’ve noticed that with careful use you don’t have to do this too often.
Filling
It’s always a pleasure to use the piston filler of this Pelikan. Very easy to use and now also a feast for the eye! It probably will not be a crowd-pleaser since there is not a cartridge-version available of this model, but then again it was probably not created as a crowd-pleaser in the first place. Interesting now is that the colour of the ink you use also has effect on the appearance of the pen itself. Not in an extreme way, but it is noticeable. The pen in the pictures is currently filled with Pelikan Brillian Brown, to stay in the Cuban-theme.
Nib
One of the best parts about this pen is without a doubt the 14K gold nib. This pen features a fine-nib that is not elaborately decorated nor in two-tone like we are used from most contemporary Pelikan’s. Actually that is a very good thing because it looks more in style with the design of the pen although one can easily confuse it with the gold-plated nib of the 200. Let’s call it a private pleasure.
Sizes
Nib: 19mm
Barrel + nib: 121mm
Cap: 57mm
Nib + barrel with posted cap: 147mm
Closed: 125mm
Writing
Writing is where the 250 proves it value. This is one of the most smoothes F-nib’s I’ve ever tried. Hardly any scratching and no skipping; it writes like a warm knife sliding through butter. The line is wet and together with the quite responsive nib it is capable of a dynamic handwriting. The size of the line is quite broad for a fine-nib, and it comes very close to a medium. The ink flow is like we are used from Pelikan; steady and reliable.
The thickness of the pen where you hold it when you are writing is average. People who put there fingers higher have more to grab on to, including a quite uncomfortable thread. But when you write like me, with your fingers almost touching the nib, this pen is quite small between the fingers.
Balance barrel only
Writing with the barrel only gives the feeling that you are writing with a purse pen. It’s not really uncomfortable, but you miss the weight.
Balance with cap
When writing the 250 with the cap posted on the barrel it seems like you’ve entered a different world; from a purse pen to a full size writing instrument. The pen is more in balance and much easier to control, giving you the smooth writing experience that we know from the larger Pelikan’s.
Packaging
It’s the pen that matters but the packaging is usually the cream of the cake. In this area Pelikan doesn’t disappoint at all! The pen comes in a very nice box that features the classic Pelikan colours. Of course the box is made out of cardboard and synthetic silk but it looks quite classy and more then one would expect from a pen with this price tag. The box is made in such a way that it can house 3 pens quite nicely, so it can even double as a storage box when you are not into really big pens (but then you wouldn’t have bought this 250 in the first place).
Papers
The papers are pretty standard but nicely in the theme of the box. It explains simple and clear how to use your pen in half a dozen languages on nice thick paper.
Price
The current list price for this pen is $135,- and with that price it is one of the cheapest fountain pens with a gold nib on today’s market, and not to forget one of the cheapest demonstrators with a gold nib ever!
Competition
Competition is very difficult to find for this Pelikan. With it’s price of $135,- it is positioned as a gold nib entry level and there is finds the Waterman Charleston ($140,-), Parker Sonnet ($125,-) and the Cross Townsend ($165,-) as it’s main competitors. However none of these provide a view on the action inside the pen and are all cartridge/converter filled. The cheapest pen providing you with a translucent body and a gold nib is the Visconti Van Gogh Crystal, but that one is with it’s retail price of $275,- more then twice as expensive as the Pelikan.
If you don’t care about the golden nib but do want to see what’s going on insight of your fountain pen can turn to the 250’s brother; the 200. This fountain pen is prized at $75,-. And when that’s above your budget you can always turn to the Lamy Safari. Okay, you don’t have a fancy piston filler and have to settle for either a cartridge or an converter but with a price tag of $25,- you can hardly ask for more!
Conclusion
So basically what we have here is a $135,- pen that looks like a $75,- pen but writes like it’s $200,- plus siblings. For this amount of money such a writing experience is rare. Especially when it is made by a premium German pen manufacturer and provides you with an inside on how the pen works! Some details could be worked out a bit better and the pen still is a bit small but can provide you with an “adult” writing experience. Overall a very intresting fountain pen for a very good price.
Special thanks to Dennis Bowden for providing the price information on this pen.
Thank you.
. Great minds think alike don't they? 
Inspires me to do some more reviews....which gives me an excuse (if I need one!) to buy more pen's...to write more reviews....so that I need more pen's......etc. etc.
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a condition that is more often than not, admired. 
