Is The Stola Iii A Good Representative Of Pelikan?

[Toast]

Does the Stola III represent the reputation Pelikan fountain pens have for excellent nibs and writing quality? Or, If I really want to experience the Pelikan reputation do I need to get something like the M120?

 

Thansk

[savingbirds]

I'd say that the Stola III represents the "general writing" line of Pelikan quite well: very reliable nibs, consistent yet moderate flow, and a generally pleasing aesthetic. I don't think it represents Pelikan's other two writing instrument lineups well though, the school pens (Pelikano, Twist, etc.) and the premium pens (Souverans, Toledos, or even the Classic range).

 

I'm sure you are more interested in the latter group. The M120 or even something like the M100/M150/M200 will represent the feel of the higher range of Pelikans much better than the Stola III. Not to say either of theses pens are objectively better, but if your end goal is to get a feel of Pelikan's commitment to quality, any of these will do. Another way to experience higher end Pelikans is to look into vintage models. The vintage 400 is very similar to the modern M400 in terms of size and general aesthetics but can be found at a fraction of its cost.

 

If you like the M120, then you should buy it; it is a great pen! But if you just want to test the waters, you'd be better off going to a brick & mortar pen store (or even better, a pen show) to try out the Pelikan that you really want and not waste money in the process. If you want a back-weighted brass piston, or a gold nib, or just generally a larger pen, the M120 won't demonstrate the experience that you're seeking!

 

As an aside, if you want to try out modern Pelikan 18k gold nibs for a bit lower cost, the Cross Townsend 18k nibs are made by Pelikan and have a similar writing feel to it.

 

I hope that this helps!

[Bo Bo Olson]

It depends on how many pens you have and which they are.

 

I'd not even known about the Stola III....a Pelikan answer to the Lamy Al-Star and like that pen, a hard rigid nib. (A nail)

A nail is a good nib for a 'noobie' and lots of veteran users like a stiff nib.

 

If its a Pelikan I'd expect it to write well.

There can be no representative Pelikan.... there are different nib flexes rates in the Pelikan range.....from nail like this pen and the Large 800, (explained under), semi-nail like the modern 400/600, some slight bend to the tines......regular flex like the 150-200 and semi-vintage....'82-97 or semi-flex like the huge 1000 or vintage '50-65 pens.

 

The M120 is IMO rather expensive when the original can be gotten cheaper in the used pen market for the original....which could be missing the gold plating. My original has a regular flex nib and I expect the new one does too....but have never tried it. I do have a original 120...with all the gold plate.

 

"""The Stola III fountain pen is a nice alternative to the Lamy AL-Star, a very similar pen at a similar price point. For those of us who don't like the Lamy's grip section, the Stola offers a smooth grip with a brass (rather than aluminum) barrel. The Stola is significantly shorter than the Lamy (4.625 inches vs. 5.12 inches unposted). I tried posting the Stola and the cap kept popping off, so if length is important to you, the Stola might be too short. The Stola is heavier than the Lamy at 1.2 ounces vs. 0.78 ounces. Unlike the Lamy, you don't have numerous color choices with the Stola, but the Stola seems much more sophisticated in design."""

 

It has an economical price. It is a bit heavy being brass bodied and aluminum capped. On the whole Pelikan is a lighter pen. The 215 has a brass barrel but plastic cap...weighs only as much as the Lamy al-Star above.). It is heavier than the normal 200; has a smoothness built in for those who want a touch more weight. Have one....have a few Pelikans. One 150 (140's 2...older model of near that size), 200's (3),a 215, 400's (6 or so, mostly vintage) and a 600. Light and nimble pens.

I have three vintage metal Pelikans that are not quite as heavy as they could be......none of the heavy modern discontinued Flagship level Ductus.

Having just looked up the weight of the Ductus and my Celebry pens....the Stola 3 is middle heavy nor all that short, though heavier than my Celebry (2) and 381 metal cartridge pens.

 

For the price, a good starter pen.

 

Check the used market for other Pelikan pens, where every you come from's Ebay. It does help to know what country you are in so we can guide you better.....no use of telling you of US paper when you live in Europe ....same goes for inks.

Depends on how much money you are willing to spend.

A 150 is a bit small if not posted (don't notice it as small when using it), the 200 is for me an ideal size; posted. They can be had cheaper used, and will be good. Those have regular flex nibs. (as does the '82-97 400, the modern 400 is a semi-nail, but butter smooth.)

The 200 and the 400 are the same size.

 

Do check the prices of other Pelikans on our sales section on the com....the price might be a bit higher than on your local Ebay but the pen & nib will have no hidden flaws.

 

Next question....has to do with your experience. The old 150 &200 have a nice springy regular flex nib. It's easier to bend if you are very new to fountain pens. Many new to fountain pens....have Heavy Hands........ Yep, I was Ham Fisted my self, when I came back to fountain pens after 4 decades a slave to a ball point.

 

First you have to hold a fountain pen behind the big index knuckle, not before it like a ball point.

Second, you need absolutely no pressure to write with. It is not like the ball point, which is like trying to plow the south 40 with out the mule..........that ball takes a lot of pressure to make it roll.

 

Second a fountain pen should be held with the same pressure as you would a fatherless baby bird.

Don't make baby bird paste.

 

That Stola 3 seems a good priced solid beginner's pen. At that price you can't go wrong.

Do be warned....Pelikans fly in Flocks! ........... They are addictive.

[Toast]

Okay now. There is what I call informative posts. Thank you for the time and effort put into these replies. I think of myself as an intermediate fountain pen user. I'm not having issues with destroying nibs etc with too much pressure. I would like learn to use flex nibs with more smoothness and finesse (waiting on a shippment of less absorbant, fountain pen friendly paper).

 

Do the vintage 50s and 60s pens have specific model numbers I can be looking for?

 

By the by, I live in Houston.

[sirgilbert357]

Okay now. There is what I call informative posts. Thank you for the time and effort put into these replies. I think of myself as an intermediate fountain pen user. I'm not having issues with destroying nibs etc with too much pressure. I would like learn to use flex nibs with more smoothness and finesse (waiting on a shippment of less absorbant, fountain pen friendly paper).

 

Do the vintage 50s and 60s pens have specific model numbers I can be looking for?

 

By the by, I live in Houston.

 

 

Very few people casually destroy nibs these days by writing with too much pressure. Modern nibs are quite stiff and your standard "ham fisted" ball point user, as Bo Bo likes to call them, wouldn't even be using enough pressure to destroy a regular nib. I have several ball points and none of them require THAT much pressure to write. Trying to flex a nib that isn't meant to do so is much more likely to damage a nib though. But vintage flex nibs that were CAPABLE of flexing didn't go away because of nib warranty claims, they went away because of a shift in use/culture, and with it, sales. We are starting to see more modern "soft" and "flex" nibs come to market though, so the demand seems to be inching higher lately, which I am very happy to see.

 

Anyway, let me just encourage you to read a thread that discusses the pros and cons of flex nibs - follow the link below. They require much more patience and skill than you might think. There are vintage options, yes, but there are also modern ones of varying degrees of flex for less money. There are also dip pen nibs for super cheap (I got my "pen" -- a nib holder, basically, and three nibs for less than 20 bucks). So you don't need to spend a lot to test the waters.

 

An alternative: A good stub nib can provide glorious line variation, a smooth writing experience and you can still use a very light touch and hold the pen with very little pressure. There's a range of options for making your writing look "fancy", so enjoy yourself and explore them!

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/335196-these-arent-the-flex-pen-you-are-looking-for/

[Bo Bo Olson]

Living in Germany, one is often behind the moon...they are often half a decade behind the States is some stuff.....and with well over 200 free ball points had never wasted money much less the thought on a Gel pen cartridge....which is much easier to write with than a ball point....much easier.

 

If I didn't have fountain pens, I'd have only gel or hybred ball points. Even if I had to spend my very own Money on it.

Last year after clearing out the 200 free ball points a decade ago....some how 30 had showed up. Well..... four or five were Gel Pens.

 

Do agree with much of the rest of the previous post.

A lot of people come from ball points over real ham fisted. Could bend a nib regular flex or a semi-flex nib real easy.

 

It was cheaper for repair, to use a nail nib like Parker....there were still some semi-flex nibs made by Sheaffer in the early '50's.....regular flex made many years later...but more and more stiffer nibs came in.....some claim for carbons. I think it was like when Pelikan went from regular flex in '97 to semi-nail...it was for repair costs......and when a choice is not offered.....no one missed it. It was like when one bought a pen in a regular store often M was the nib on the pen, with no choice.

The Germans made semi-flex as a main product well into the '60's up to @ 1972 in some cases. Culture hadn't changed.....costs had.

Of course in the '50's I was a bit young for culture in the day of the big nickle Snickers and 26 cent gas.

Esterbrook was still offering regular flex and a hard semi-flex besides manifold nibs all the way to the end.

I don't know when Sheaffer stopped making regular flex nibs, in I don't collect them.

By then if you used a lot of carbon paper, you were using a ball point....in that culture changed. (I just saw some of an new movie covering some of the early '50's, some big shot clicked his ball point, showing he was status....seemed sort of funny.)

(They had stiff dip pen nibs for both double and single side carbon paper....from late 1860's the RR's had five single side carbon paper train orders. The Original got the Captain of the train; the Conductor.)

 

I can remember a sunny spring day, in '55, when my father, took a black Skillcraft government issue ball point to work instead of his Snorkel. It wrote on greasy motor tags of a big USAF ex-Navy landing boat, that the AF used to supply the Matagorta bombing and gunnery range.

Free Skillcraft ball points for Government workers was a culture changer.

 

I've seen a number of posts were some nail user runs into his/her first regular flex nib.....and thinks it has to be the fabled Semi-flex....the tines bent and spread!!!

It wasn't.

I keep trying to stress its semi-Flex and not semi-flex. Because when 'noobies' casually wanting to be 'cool' say 'flex' pen; I flinch....fearing they will take a regular flex or a semi-flex and look for Youtube nib flex. ....once.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Medium small 140 is semi-flex and has a longer cap, so posts to the same size as the standard sized 400. Medium-Small was very in, in the '50-60's. Pelikan's 140, Geha's flagship then was the 760, Kaweco Dia was medium-small and Osmia pens can be fount in that size too.

 

The '50-54 400, rare 400n...'55 has a longer cap, so posts the the same length as the year later '56-65 400nn.

The 400nn is the one to get in somehow it holds much more ink than it looks.....1.97 vs the 400's 1.27. It is the same width as the 400.

It took me about two years to finally give the edge in balance to the medium-long 400nn, over the standard 400.

 

I'd suggest the 400nn.....and you can get it in tortoise on German Ebay for no more than green stripped if you Hunt.

 

Do Not, use the 'Buy Now Idiot' button, you could end up paying near Stateside prices...that goes for any pen, anywhere. Half the fun is the Hunt.....and going one bid/snipe at max 10% over budget.

The pens twin brother will be there next week or the week after.

 

If you look and hunt on German Ebay....check to see if the seller takes Paypal, and will ship to America....some fools won't....you can find a tortoise 400nn for E100-120. You should hunt, you can get your nib width.....or an oblique. If your first oblique semi-flex....I suggest an OB....it is 1/2 a width narrower than modern, like a fat M. A good writing nib as is any B....not a signature nib of modern times in B.

Due to ease of tine spread, you get line variation....that old fashioned fountain pen look, with out doing anything.

The nib sizes of both the vintage '50-65 semi-flex and the semi-vintage '82-97 regular flex nibs are the same width as the modern 200 and all will give you a nice clean line....that modern don't, out side the 200.

I was once a semi-flex snob.....gold snob too but that's another story. Then I started trans-mailing 200 nibs to a pal in England because the German idiot he ordered them from, wouldn't mail out of Germany. I got to try them, and found they matched my gold nibbed Germany M 400....that one a tortoise so was between '90-96...in tortoise in those 400 started a year late in '83 and ended a year early in '96. The green stripped one started a year before and ended a year after.

Those 400's do not have the gold colored piston cap ring.

 

Semi-flex obliques nibs from the era '50-65.....are the best line variation obliques ....the rest are nothing to write home about. (of course there are semi-flex Obliques into the '30's but that costs more and is for later.) I do have nail Obliques from other companies....and even the fabled slightly more springy '82-90 W. Germany 200, don't do the trick. Has to be semi-flex.

Expect to pay more for a fabled W.Germany 400....the nib is a tad more springy.

 

Shipping to the States from Germany is cheap compared to shipping from the States to Germany......because of Congress favoring UPS and FedEx, who had a law passed saying USPS can't bribe Congress. And had the then split off Postal Service take all the pensions the government had been paying and immediately.

So the US postal service went from one of the best....and the cheapest postal service in the world to being much more expensive.

Stateside price is @ $200 and Plus.

 

There are German Pirates selling a polished up Geha School pen for only $89, when I can get them still if I look for E12....well more E19 start bid now.

Is as good as the Pelikan school pen the 120 and lots cheaper.

Best buy for regular flex is the Geha school pen.

Best buy for semi-flex is the Geha 790/760.

I am responsible for the huge rise in price....been telling folks for the last ten years how good they are. Back then they use to be under E19...now pushing 60.....can still be found if you Hunt for @ E30. A Pelikan 140 goes for in the near of E100.

The torpedo shape was Very In, in the '50's, Swan, MB, Pelikan 400nn, Geha, some Osmia.

You need the pen with three rings in the final. The school pen looks like it has a serial number and no rings, just a clip ring.

The one with three real rings cleaned up better than the picture I took as part & parcel of buying the pen, when buying the pen. That is '58?-59.

The other three ring 790/760 pen is '60-72'. When Geha stopped making pens. They were made in the same city and were aimed at Pelikan and matched, a very solid pen with a reserve tank. Balance as good as a Pelikan. Nib made by either Degussa ( a very respectable nib maker who took over Osmia's fine nib factory for debt in 1932, or Bock and a slight tad better than Pelikan. Two posters I respect said that, so I tested my 4 Geha's from then vs 5 Pelikans I have from that era, and found that true.

 

 

The 760 will cost 20-30% more than a 790...

 

 

Grumble to the max...cubed....I knew that, I bid 30% more than the normal 760 for this jewel....and finished third bidder. Went for E 150 and my bid was 143. (760 come in two versions, when it was the flagship it had a gold ring around the piston knob. When the 725 replaced it as Flagship, the gold ring vanished.

 

It is the prettiest 760 I've seen. There is a possibility it was actually a 780...which popped up as a 'new' Geha the beginning of last year for the first time. ...Ain't nothing like being a day late and a dollar short. I just thought that. Had I thought that at the time of the auction......I might have finished ....second. At a higher price of course.

I do have a gray stripped, black top 760, with out the flagship piston cap ring....a nice very pen, with a great semi-flex nib.

 

 

 

Do Not Buy, a Geha cartridge pen, no cartridge fits. In the day, the other side of the Geha cartridge fit a Pelikan. No other cartridge fits....folks have tried.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[Bo Bo Olson]

I do think you should get a '90-97 regular flex no gold ring at the piston knob 400 or a 200 before getting a semi-flex. A used 200 would do just fine.

The regular flex nibs of semi-vintage or the 200, will give you some experience with it, before moving up to vintage semi-flex.

It might not take long, but you do have time on your side.

 

I was luckily enough to move up the flex ladder one step at a time, and do advise that at all times. Many want more than they can handle and jump into superflex and find it hard work.

 

Semi-flex is relatively robust; but regular flex is a bit more robust.

It will give you more time in trying to learn lighten your Hand.

[DrSam]

I have a Stola III. I like it and it writes very well. It is an impressive pen. It is not my everyday pen mostly because of the clip (slightly harder to put back in shirt pocket).

[Toast]

I am stunned by how informative are some of the replies. I have been reading the replies over the past few days. Some required my focused attention multiple times in an effort to assimilate the information, and I've now ingested all of the info even now.

 

I do have a slightly annoying update on this post. In reading the replies I had decided to return or sell the Stola. I no longer can. The pen came in a hard plastic tube without any padding. I took the pen out of the tube to take pictures and noticed the side I could not see previously has it's finish chewed up. I don't believe that is how I originally received the pen (yay kids). So, it has been decided that I will keep the pen. On a positive note, it does write very smoothly so keeping the pen isn't the worst fate.

 

I also ordered a 52 1/2v with ideal nib #2. I know it's not a Pelikan but it was an attractive price and looks to be in fantastic shape.

 

Thanks everyone.

[JD-Be]

I will offer my grandchild (12y) a decent fountain pen (His first one). Was hesitating between Lamy ALstar and the Pelikan Stola. After reading this thread, I will buy the Pelikan!

[stefanv]

Do Not Buy, a Geha cartridge pen, no cartridge fits. In the day, the other side of the Geha cartridge fit a Pelikan. No other cartridge fits....folks have tried.

 

Off topic for this thread, but a Cross converter can be modified to fit a Geha cartridge pen: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/185420-a-converter-for-my-old-geha-school-pen/

[Matlock]

 

Off topic for this thread, but a Cross converter can be modified to fit a Geha cartridge pen: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/185420-a-converter-for-my-old-geha-school-pen/

 

Lamy cartridges work perfectly in Geha pens. I have two on the go at the moment.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I tried to get a Lamy cartridge to work in my single Geha cartridge pen, and couldn't.

 

I do know others have said it works....and others say it don't.

So I don't recommend Geha Cartridge pens....I would if mine worked with a Lamy cartridge, in if so, they are economical.