I was looking for a "backup" for my Pelikan M605 when Farhney's put up the Grand Place for $180. That's less then I could find an "ordinary" M600 for so I bought it. It's hard (for me) to photograph because there is some deep blue swirley stuff, and translucent/pearlescent material that gives great shimmer and depth to the finish as you twirl the pen around. I can't capture that on camera (yet).



Actually, the background letter is a deception. It was actually written with a Pelikan M605 (Binder .5mm cursive italic). Why? I wanted to take a few photos of the Grand Place with the nib exposed and didn't want to ink it. Noodler's Lux Blue will creep all over that two-tone nib in no time!



Oh well, maybe one more of the nib since it will never be this clean ever again:



Okay, I'm inking it now. Thanks for looking.

Doug

Looks good!

Man your handwriting is nice. I wish I could write as nicely as you.

BTW what were you listening to, I can read Jimi Hendrix and Janine Ja.... but don't know who the second artist would be.

Those are very pretty pens, and from what I have seen of images of them, very hard to capture. Even Richard Binder said that he could not capture the essence of the pen in a photo for his shop.

Cheers,
SG

Thanks SG. That would be Janine Jansen. Her new version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons really makes that familiar work fresh and new again.

As far as my handwriting, I'm not satisfied with it at all. I'm trying to keep the lines straight without resorting to any guide sheet and it's gradually getting better. But it's still usually wavier than I want. Plus some of the letters aren't clear when I write at "letter" speed. But I'm working steadily on that too.

Here's is a scan of the entire fake background letter to "Dear Paper."



Doug

Very Cool. My wife and I used Four Seasons as the theme song for our wedding. I will have to check this new version out and see how it differs from the Von Karajan version we used.

Your writing is very even and pretty straight to me. I can see some waviness, but I can't really compare as I cannot write at all without guide lines on the paper. I do like the look of writing without the guide lines though, it is less visually distracting.

Cheers,
SG

just curious as to what paper you used.

Picking jaw off floor. I love Pels. I really love how they write. But I would like to see some that just LOOKED different. This is gorgeous!!!!!

Crane's, monarch size, ecru. The surface is textured but smooth, and takes ink really well. Love this paper.

Doug

just as i thought. i have that same paper, with a gold border. crane is fantastic.

Oh, my, do they ship internationally?

Nice pictures, to be sure!

Wow Doug, that pen just ROCKS! Truly beautiful colors and how the gold furniture brings out the colors even more dramatically! I'd love to see that pen in person, alas, doubt one is available at my local pen shop (last time I was there, only a few Pels were available).

Is the ink level visible or (like my traditional pels), do you have to hold it to light to see?

Thanks. Enjoy the pen!

Paul

There is a pen shop in Omaha?????

When I have time, I'll post some kind of animated image because it's impossible to capture the depth of the finish and the way the angle of light affects the look. But to your other question, it doesn't have an ink view window, unfortunately. The body doesn't seem translucent enough for a light to help, but I'll experiment today and there may be a secret spot in the swirls that will allow me to monitor the ink supply.

Doug

Have you inked it yet? How does it write? Man, I just love this pen lookswise.

I inked it shortly after taking the photos. The supplied fine point writes very smoothly and wet, but as I expected, a bit too broad for my hand. I ordered the pen to be a backup for my Pel M605 with Binder .5mm cursive so I had ordered another one from Mr. Binder just for this pen. Just installed it today. I'm very pleased to report that it writes just like the so-equipped M605, which is a sharp but smooth, and wet.

I like Binder's quality control. I have three .5mm cursive italics from him, 2 for Pel 600, one for Namiki VP (Pilot Capless), and they lay the same line and have the same grind. If you order from Binder you get what you want. No need to cross your fingers and hope.

Doug

I can't wait to get my Grand Place with a medium nib. Too bad shipping to the Philippines always takes two weeks. I'm so excited! All reviews say that even the best photos do not do the pen justice, so I'm very eager to see the pen in person. Maybe when I get the pen I can have a hand at writing my own very first pen review.

Very nice pen and some great photos and comments. Thanks for sharing.

I had no idea could make 0.5mm cursive italics! I have an 0.7 italic thinking that was small already....looks like I need to order something next!

Warning, it costs extra! I think I paid $119 (including delivery) for each of the 600 size two-tone gold nibs, $66 for a VP in the same size. They are very uniform in size and grind, and they each came in a week (Wednesday seems to be his mailing day). Well worth it, IMO.

Doug

my grand place just arrived today from fountain pen hospital, and it is just perfect! i understand now why people have been saying that it's a hard pen to photograph. The blue swirls are actually three-dimensional! they weave in and out of the cocoa-ish swirls, and at some points visibly go underneath and then resurface again. the blue is deep and rich but translucent, and this translucence further adds to the three-dimensional quality.

the browns are wonderful. and i've always thought that there was gold there, basing from the photos i've seen online, but there is no gold. what looks like gold in the photos is actually a pearlized dark beige/very light mocha.

it really looks good, and the size is perfect. it's even more comfortable in my hand than the M205, perhaps because of the added heft. and true to the pelikan promise, it writes perfectly out of the box.

and now finally i can use this smiley: 9