I've been researching which model to buy for my first Pelikan and found myself lost in the forest, there's just so many different choices for the barrel, nib and of course the prices. What I've found though, is that I'm awfully attracted to the Place de la Concorde special edition M620. It's a gorgeous looking pen at about the same price of it's M600 counterpart. So I'm up to a few dilemmas here to make the most of my first Pelikan experiance...

1) Does it make sense for me to start at the middle range? Should I buy a M200 first just to see if Pelikan is my thing?

2) While the Place de la Concorde is pretty, one downside to the design is that there is no ink window to the piston filler. Is this a concern for daily use?

3) My current daily pen is a Sailor Sapporo F nib, which I quite like and the F nib is just smooth as silk. However, I'm aware that Japanese nibs tend to run thinner than Western and I don't think I can tolerate any thinner a line than my Sapporo Nib; at the same time, as I use my Sapporo as a bit of a jotter at work, nibs that runs too wide isn't ideal either. Without a direct comparison at hand, would a Pelikan XF or F fit me better?

I'm not actually too sure if I want to invest this much money on a pen of so much unknown to me. With the cost of M620 plus shipping and custom to import to Canada, I'm looking at well over $300CAN to have it on my hands. Any comments to convince me one way or the other is appericated.

I have a Place de la Concorde and I really like it. It is bigger than the Sailor Sapporo and they write differently. Pelikan nibs run wide. I find that the fine is way too wide for me, an xf is good for my handwriting. Pelikan nibs have a little more "give" to them than a Sailor nib which is much more rigid. All this having been said the pens I use most are a Pelikan M200 and a Sailor 1911 (I also have a sapporo as well). The ink view issue doesn't bother me at all. If you can get an M600 or 620 in hand I'd try it out as it is a bigger pen (though light and comfortable) than a sapporo. Maybe starting with an M200 to see if you like it and then go from there. They're cheaper so if you don't like it you are not out tons of cash and if you like the Pelikan idea you can sell it on the board and put that money toward the 620....unless you get bit by the custom nib bug as so many of us have.

I would say go for the one you really want instead of the cheaper one. If you decide you don't like it, you can resell it and you won't be out much money. If you decide you like Pelikan, you already have the one that caught your eye.

The Place de la Concorde is on sale at a good price at The Pear Tree Pen Company

You might want to have a look.

Usual disclaimers apply.

I would get yourself the Pelikan Place de la Concorde.If the nib is not great right out of the box, send it to Chartpak for a replacement. As fatehbajwa says, Pear Tree seem to have a good price for one at the moment (it's where I bought mine from) and I agree with BearsPaw sentiments about going for what you want.

Good Luck

Thanks for everyone's reply.

From what irish_monk suggested, along with his illustration of the line widths, I can pretty much say I need an XF nib for this. The only thing is, the one on sale at Pear Tree is a medium nib but would I be able to get it replaced with a XF from Chartpak? Are they the Canadian supplier for Pelikan as well?

Hello Mypatpat,

Welcome to FPN

I am in Canada as well and Chartpak is also the service center for Canada. You can check it here!

Thanks JFT.

I'm slowly convincing myself to buy the pen, but $300 isn't a small amount for a pen so I need time to build up my courage to push the big button...

Another thing is that from all the researches I've been doing on the Concorde, I have not seen the availability of an XF nib for it. Does it even exist?

According to here I would say yes

About being uncomfortable spending that much on a pen I can relate. When I got my M620 Grand Place I would have prefer to wait a bit (in my case I paid close to 400$ with taxes and all) but since it was a limited series I actually felt compelled to buy it. If you are really crazy about the Place de la Concorde but dont want to spend the cash now you may still be lucky later on and still find one NOS or on Ebay later. The important is to buy something you are comfortable with, pen and price wise. Pens are supposed to be a pleasure

In the end I couldn't bear the risk of never having a Grand Place so the pen got me

I've got a Place del la Concorde and its a good pen.

I wouldn't waste money by an M2XX first.

I would say go for the Concorde. That was the pen that got me into Pelikans. I now have a couple. they are addicting

Mine arrived today. It's my fourth City/Square pen, and I think my second favourite (Shanghai was a Grail pen so that is still tops. But then I may see an Athens or SF in the plastic one day, so who knows?).

As everyone says, pictures don't quite do it justice - firstly for the illusion of depth in the resin and the flecks that catch the light as you turn it, but secondly for the incredibly subtle plain colour of the blind cap and section. Appropriately it's that slightly lilac/blue sort of grey known as 'French Grey'. From a lot of the pictures I have seen, I was expecting some of the bands to have a sandy beige sort of a tint to them, but no - greys & blues all the way. The silver trim looks especially fine too.

My pen came with a nice M, which is quite thin for Pelikan, and a lot narrower than some of my F nibs!

John

Very interesting bits of information about your small M nib. I had the exact same thing happen with my Grand Place, it is written M but it is more of an F too... I wonder if all the city pen have that peculiarity...

I was at a famous pen shop in downtown Toronto today, handled the Shanghai M620 and dipped a M600 fine nib to compare with my Sailor. I have to say the pen feels really good on hand and on paper, although the fine nib I tried was a bit hard starting. In any case, it looks like the Fine nib is good enough for me, if all Pelikan fine are made the same...

I'll need to find this pen somewhere now, perhaps ebay. Peartree no longer has the Concorde and my local shop wants 595 CAN + 13% tax for the pen...

Anyone know if this seller is reliable? It seems really fishy that the seller is offering the pen without the original box but instead with the standard blue Pelikan box.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...hlink:middle:us

Personally speaking I would rather have the original box with it. Keep hunting as they are great pens.

Ronin

Regina Martini is absolutely reliable. Ask Rick Propas (a noted Pelikan collector) if you need more confirmation.
Sometimes closeouts ship to stores with generic boxes or without boxes altogether.

THANK YOU! Now I know where I'm getting my pen!

@Ronin: To be honest, I would want the original box and documents with the pen as well. The thing is, I'm looking at a difference of about 100 Canadian Dollars for just the presentation. If in the future I do want to resell the pen, I'll just sell it cheaper...

YES, you should buy an M200 or an M215 first, just to see if Pelikan is your thing!
Then you can get into business, e.g. maybe you'd prefer to try out next an M450, M600 or M800 etc instead of something "unnecessary"!

Mike

Nothing suspicious about Regina Martini, she's super reliable. Often she doesn't like to send the heavier boxes overseas. Make sure to tell her which nib you want!

Ehhh. I've owned eight Pelikans, and I've kept two as "my thing."

Fortunately, for the ones that weren't, they sold quickly.

She is a well known pen seller and reliable. I had purchased few pens from her. She has her own auction-net site - martiniauctions.com. (No attachment here though)

Just a quick update on the pen...

I won an auction from Regina Martini this past Sunday and my Place de la Concorde arrived at my office this morning. Very fast shipping and the best part was Canadian Custom let it go so I didn't have to pay any duty!

I paid a total of about 220 CAN for the pen including shipping, which is a great deal and I opted for an EF nib. The only downside was that the pen came with Pelikan's classic blue box instead of the garnished Cities Series box, but for this price I can't complain.

Just had a quick dip of the pen and I have to say I'm quite amazed, especially with all the horror stories with Pelikan EF nibs on the forum. The smoothness is up to par with my Sailor F nib (which is my yardstick for XF/F nib smoothness) and the width is about 0.05mm to 0.1mm thicker, which is exactly what I wanted! I'm glad that I took the chance with the EF nib instead of going for the F, as I was certain that anything that write wider than 0.4mm would not satisfy my daily use.

Very much looking forward to inking and writing with the pen tonight. Thanks a lot for all the advice!

Did she send it by FedEx? If so, you may get a bill from customs/FedEx in a month or so. Regina sent me a couple of pens on 1st July and today I got the bill from FedEx for $10.81 ($5.81 duty and $5 for FedEx).

Nope, it came through Canada Post, by Express Airmail I believe and I don't see any FexEx marking on the envelope. Hope I don't get a bill later for the duty.

Congratulation! I am happy you are enjoying your pen My Grand Place came with a blue Pelikan box as well I think. Have you decided yet which ink you will pick? BTW don't forget to flush it before inking, the screw nib is a joy to work with when it's cleaning time

Congratulation! Enjoy your new pen! Hope you wont get tax later.

Hi Mypapat from just west of you in the wilds of 905 in Oakville. As a big Pelikan fan, I am going to suggest, just pull the trigger on the Concorde, you won't be disappointed, XF nibs can be purchased seperately and screwed in.

Cheers

Bill

PS depending how the pen is shipped you may or may not get dinged duties and taxes. If it's shipped by mail, it's a chance you won't get hit, get the pen shipped by courier, you will, period.

Thank you!

I'll most definitly do a bit of plain cold water flushing before inking it. Probably just going to fill it with my trusted Quink blue black for now, until I find something better fitted anyway. Blue black seems to match the pen quite well I think.

If you are going for a lighter blue to somehow match the lighter body I suggest you give Noodler's Navajo Turquoise a spin

I'll keep an eye out for that! Too bad pen shops aren't easily accessible to me to try different varity of inks...

I have one of this and I like it very much. I hope you enjoy yours