Does anyone here own an M425, M450, M625 or M650? Am refering to the Pelikans with the full gold plated Sterling silver caps or the All Silver caps!

Could you share your experience? IS the craftmanship good? Any downsides? Am thinking of getting into this field of Pelikans but I can hardly find any articles on them.

My 625 is still in the greedy clutches of DHL. I'll let you know when it arrives. I read a review in which the review claimed the metal cap didn't post as snugly as the celluloid(?) cap.

With that in mind, I handled a 625 at Fahrney's Pens while I was in DC. I didn't notice any difference in cap adhesion (didn't that sound scientistic!) And I loved the cool feel of the metal grip section. The threads seemed very well machined--very distinct, but not jagged in any way. I'll be interested to see if there are any long-term drawbacks (ink evaporation and such).

One of the 'purists' in the store sounded off while I was handling the pen. He claimed that the 625 wasn't a 'real' Pelikan. He opined that it looked more like a Conway Stewart with a Pelikan nib.

I opined that it looked as if his face had caught fire, then been beaten out with wet chains.

I make friends everywhere I go.

Will

By the way, what is that top pen in your avatar? It's purrdy. (The blue and silver one.) Actually, all of them are nice.

Will

I have a m420. Silver cap, silver knob and black body. I also have a m405 in black. Both are exactlie the same size so can be compared with eachother.

To be quick, I really like it!

More info:
The m420 (and the other metal capped pels) have a 18k two tone nib compared with the 14k nib of the m600 and m400's. I can not feel the difference between them when writing. So no real advantace here for me.

The weight difference is only in the cap. The silver knob does not feel more heavy than the normal one. So it is basicly just a m400 with a lovely cap and knob. No more, certenly nothing less.

Different story with the m625. This one has a real different toutch than the m600 its based on. Feels more like a full metal pen and no souverain pelikan. For example, screwing on the cap feels a lot different because the threath is made of metal.

The only downside for me is:
It is to nice for every day use. My m600 and m405 are far better daily users. The m420 can certanly be used every day. But risking a scratch or losing it does not let me taking it daily. A true "only for special occasions" pen

Here is a nice artikel about the pel m450 and m420.

http://www.stylophilesonline.com/09-04/pel

First of all, thank you all for your imput. I can now say with cretainty that I will be getting some metal cap Pelikans into my flock in the near future.


Will, the pen you noticed at the top of my avatar is my Azure 1946 Parker Vaccumatic Junior.

[I have a m420. Silver cap, silver knob and black body. I also have a m405 in black. Both are exactlie the same size so can be compared with eachother.

To be quick, I really like it!]

Hey! A fellow M420 owner! I haven't heard of anyone else with one of these on here. I love mine! I got my F nib switched to XF from Chartpak not long after I got the pen over a year ago. I don't have any complaints with this pen--the nib is perfect for me and I love the design of the silver cap and knob.

Does it really look like that? Man, that's a cool color and pattern on that pen. I wish Pelikan would do something like that! If "Neo" from The Matrix has a pen, that's it.

Will

There is one review on the M625 in the reviews section. I remember other comments within the last two years but mostly dealing with the nibs and not issues surrounding the metal caps.

Bill

Like in the artikel I linked above, I think people like the m450 and the bigger ones (m625 ect.) more. For me the m420 is the perfect balance between black and silver.
Well, keeps it special

My new 625 is riding pretty in the pocket today with Parker Quink blue black in the tank. I've had it about two weeks and love it more each day! Don't know about posting, I don't post any pen and certainly not a sterling pen. I can't see where anyone would say it doesn't look like a Pelikan?? I guess it is unusual to have a metal section and fill nob. Like all metal sections it feels a little different in your hand but with the threads in the metal it is easy to grip.

Try it you'll like it.....

I was extremely impressed with the workmanship of my M450. It was flawless!

Regarding the weight, I do not post the caps of my pens - but if I did, I would find the M450 cap too heavy to post.

Now, I know I have trundled out this picture on many occasions... but so what... it's pretty...

I own a M450, and it's really a beauty. But I also like the M425, silver with horizontal lines, and a nice dark green barrel; somehow I ended up with three of them! They are a bit top heavy when posted, but they look good that way, too.

No sooner did I recieve my 625 than I sent it to Chartpak for a nib adjustment.

My impression while writing with the pen was that it was a bit cap-heavy, but not as much as the 4xx variants. It might be that the metal grip section of the 625 brings it back into better balance? Either way, it is a heavy pen. Since I am accustomed to writing with laquered brass barreled pens, it doesn't bother me. If you prefer the feather-light feel of a typical 6xx, the 625 might not be your cup of tea. I like how solid the pen feels and I love the deep red barrel--it looks black unless under sunlight or very bright indoor light.

Perhaps it's my imagination, but it seemed that the silver grip section was more 'slick' than the plastic grip sections of my other pens. Once I get more writing time on the pen, I'll post a more thorough review. If the grip continues to feel slick, I might just have it engraved (I wonder how thick the silver plating is...hmm?)

Will

I love that picture. So much so, that I have been on the quest for all 3 pens and finally have them all! I was going to do a remake of the picture. I will say I feel a bit of a different with the cap on the 450, it's top heavy. I also have an M625 on the way, thoroughly excited about that. I don't post my pens though, so the effect of the extra weight doesn't matter to much.

-Tom