Pelikan M805 Review

[dashdotdot]

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My Pelikan Souvrän M805 just arrived in the mail today and what better way to celebrate the start of summer?

I chose the blue striped version with rhodium hardware and I find this combination to be extremely pleasing to the eye.

After some hesitation over whether to choose a fine or medium nib, I finally threw all caution to the wind and took a chance the IB (Italic Broad) nib.

 

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Taking the pen in hand for the first time, one notices the pleasant heft and girth which both bespeak quality--not surprisingly since the 800 series is the penultimate model, surpassed only by the M1000--but although it's a big pen, it's not huge or bulky and it feels comfortably balanced un-posted in my not-too-large hand. I would only rarely write with the pen posted, as it is just a bit too long for my hand.

The quality of the hardware is evident, as would be expected of a pen of this class, and the style is classic Pelikan: the lines are lightly and elegantly curved, the resin feels and looks substantial and the finial and clip with the Pelikan logo in bright silver on a mat silver background give the pen an understated elegance that is highlighted by the striped blue barrel. The piston filling unit is very smooth in operation. I believe it is a brass assembly so it should last several lifetimes. Like all Pelikans, the nib must be completely immersed in the ink in order to fill the pen.

 

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The 18 carat nib is fairly large but well proportioned to the rest of the pen and was pretty smooth out of the box, although a later inspection under the loupe revealed that tines were slightly misaligned. This explained the (ever so slight) scratchiness and minor skipping I'd experienced on the first ink-up. Nothing too bad, but it is a disappointment for a nib of this price. Having said that, I acquired this pen at a steep discount, so I don't mind getting my hands a little dirty tweaking it. If you are not comfortable adjusting a nib, you would do well to buy from a supplier who will test and adjust the pen before shipping.

 

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This pen will challenge your penmanship if you're not used to a broad italic nib. It lays down a nice thick line that requires a goodly amount of space to breath. The nib, once properly adjusted, is buttery smooth, and to accommodate its width, the feed is set rather wet. This pen will go through ink at a good pace, although the reservoir is very generous. The nib also has a some spring which increases the line variation even more with a little bit of pressure. However, it already writes just fine with no pressure at all and the line variation is even greater than I expected. The down stroke measures just over a millimeter on Rhodia paper and the cross stroke is a veritable hairline --which surprised me since I'd heard that these nibs did not present an especially varied line.

This is a fat, juicy line that tapers sweetly on the cross stroke. This is a line that commands respect.

 

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It runs long because I ramble on and on, but you may enjoy it, I know I did.

[jandrese]

Nice, I've got to finally add this nib to my Pelikan flock. Thanks for sharing and enjoy!

[ink mixer]

Nice review. I enjoy my two IB nibs, although I had them ground a little further.

[goldiesdad]

The force is strong in those broad nibs ... I feel it daily ... Congrats on yours mine will have to wait ...

[quinden]

This is a great combination of beautiful pen, penmanship, and photography - thanks for this review!

[AndyLa]

What lovely handwriting! Makes me want a peli IB nib.

[PenTieRun]

Nice pics. I'm actually looking forward to adding the 605 version of this pen to my collection.

[dms525]

What a handsome pen, and a great review! I generally prefer the gold hardware, but the rhodium is extremely attractive on the blue/black Pelikans.

 

I have a Pelikan IB nib on a BO'B. It seemed to improve after writing with it for a few pages. I thought about sending it off to get tuned but ended up satisfied with it as is.

 

Enjoy your new pen!

 

David

[phoenixrising]

Great pen and excellent review. I have a blue striped M800 and a black M805 -- your one seems to be 'best of both worlds' as far as the cap and body goes

[david1600]

great review and awesome pen

[georges zaslavsky]

If I had to buy an italic broad I owuld buy one from the previous generation of m800

[Ghost Plane]

Have one of these and find it very angle specific, which is tricky for me as it forces me to hold the pen closer to the section than I normally would to form the steeper angle. That being said, it's definitely not blobby compared to the obliques and turns out a lovely line.

[stano679]

Great review here and on youtube!

[dashdotdot]

Have one of these and find it very angle specific, which is tricky for me as it forces me to hold the pen closer to the section than I normally would to form the steeper angle. That being said, it's definitely not blobby compared to the obliques and turns out a lovely line.

 

Since writing the review, I've been trying different grips. Right now, I'm posting the pen (in spite of what I said) and holding it high up, above the threads and I really like this as it forces me to stay loose and write mostly with the arm.

[Ghost Plane]

Ahhhhhh...you are learning the secrets of the pen, Grasshopper.

[alvarado]

Hi dashdotdot,

 

Just wondering on two things, have you sent along to have a grind on the nib and does this pen skip a lot ?

 

I am planning to get one by mid July

Edited June 21, 2012 by alvarado

[comatose5519]

absolutely gorgeous pictures! kudos!

[fabrimedeiros]

Great review! I love this pen with IB nib. I own the green striped one.

 

Unfortunately, the misaligned tines is very common out of the box, or even after some weeks or months of writing. The softer the nibs are, the more prone to the misalignment. But it's pretty easy to tune the tines just using your nails. There are some videos where nibmeisters show how to do that. And you need a magnifying glass too. Probably, this is the main reason why current pen brands hesitate to make and sell springy- flexible nibs. People nowadays don't know how to tune the nibs themselves (I'm not saying this is you case, of course). Sure, it's hard or even impossible to do something, if you have not seen once at least.

Edited June 21, 2012 by fabrimedeiros

[enricof]

Have the same pen (previous version, black disk), but I choose a (quite stubbish) BB nib.

 

It has a good variation, but not like the IB (I'll post a sample on first occasion).

Using it requires a bit of care, but the sweet spot is wide enough (both speaking about rotation and angle) for practical everyday use.

 

 

BTW, nib was perfect out of the box.

 

Love it...

Edited June 21, 2012 by enricof

[hari317]

Your pictures are a treat, thanks!