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Review Of The Pelikan M1000


kaz_taj

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The Pelikan M1000 is the largest fountain pen in Souveran range. It is a distinguished signature pen which features a flexible 18 carat gold nib with rhodium decoration.
The M1000 has a brass internal mechanism, 24 carat gold plated trim on the Pelikan clip and rings.
This model is Pelikan's signature Green striations with black cap and filler knob - the Black stripes are actually transparent, so when the pen is held up to light, you can see the level of remaining ink. Also, you can just about see the mechanism moving through the stripes when you turn the filler knob.
Weight - 33g
Length (closed) - 14.5cm
Length (cap posted) - 17.7cm
Holds 2.0ml of ink (a standard short cartridge holds 0.75ml and a standard large cartridge holds 1.45ml)

 

 

Guillaume’s Review

 

How do you go about reviewing a top-of-the-line pen like the Pelikan M1000? This is the top (well, maybe not the very top but close enough anyway) and so, what?, are you going to be disappointed? Will you relish the job of finding faults with the thing?

 

My M1000 came after a long saga involving countless email messages over 4, no 5, continents. It was meant as a present for my 40th birthday, a gift of the best fountain pen my wife could find (we discovered a shared lack of interest in the Mont Blanc company), and damn the consequences. Even my parents, not the wealthiest folks you’ll meet, decided to contribute to make it all happen.

 

My job was to find an M1000 at a price that would still make it possible for us to send our children to university some day. I played the Malaysian roulette for a while; very nice people, no M1000 to be had in the striped green version. I then looked into North American options; how can anyone afford anything in Canada? And finally ended up in Old Blighty, where a decent price and a smiley email service made it a reality. After a few other juggling acts involving friends travelling to Canada and back for Christmas…the M1000 was mine.

 

So, what do I make of it?

 

It feels like the top. It’s big, it’s loud, and you wonder if your hand is large enough to hold it, and if what you’re going to write with it will be worthy enough of the thing. Somehow I feel it’s going to criticize me if all I do is doodle on cheap paper. Like a friend of mine would say, this thing is made to sign international agreements, not take notes during a staff meeting. He calls it my MOU Pen.

 

First things first. It comes in a nice enough cardboard box, wrapped in a small vinyl pouch. It’s all a bit tacky, especially the white vinyl pouch (white?) and you’d think that, for the price, they could put the pen in a decent box (the Chinese will sell $19,99 pens on eBay that come in a large wooden box actually worth more than the pen inside). Anyway, this is not the point. The point is the pen.

 

Listen, I like my fountain pens to be straightforward. I like basic marbled celluloid or solid colours. I don’t buy pens with Kabuki figures etched on them or a reproduction of Churchill’s signature in gold appliqué. So, to me, the M1000 in striped green is absolutely perfect. It’s the same damn look the pen had 200 years ago and that’s exactly what I want. The celluloid is smooth like butter on a picnic table on a sunny day and the finishing job is Teutonically perfect. The nib is the two-tone steel and gold, which I find nicer looking than the gold-filled one. The cap has a nice Pelikan logo at its end.

 

The pen holds well in the hand although, it must be said, someone with longer fingers than mine would probably enjoy it even more. I can’t believe that anyone would seriously want to use this pen posted since you get dangerously close to one foot of writing gear in your hand if you put the cap at the end of the body. It’s like writing with a plastic tent peg.

 

But now…how does it write? Well, for one thing it’s a flex nib. Not a wet noodle but flex it is. I’m too much of a dilettante to truly appreciate the power of the flex but it sure is an experience in itself. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I bought a medium size nib. Friends, medium for flex is like broad, XB even, for your regular hard-nibbed Lamy. And when your nib is about an inch long, that’s even broader stroke flex action for your writing pleasure. I was reading something on the net today where they were warning potential M1000 buyers that “most people prefer a fine-size nib given the flex nature of the nib”.

 

Actually, the nib is excellent. Ink flow is superb, not a scratch will ever trouble your peace of mind as you are drafting your next MOU and, well, the pen is a foot long, what would you expect? XF? Chicken scratches, 500 words to a page? This is the M1000, for the love of God.

 

The filling mechanism is the Pelikan trusted-and-loved pump action. I like the fact that you only unscrew the end of the body a bit and the piston inside goes all the way up. All inks I’ve tried have worked like a charm. Of course, with that much liquid squirting out on the paper, you’re bound to have some amount of feathering. Ink that takes ages to dry will obviously not improve after a ride in the M1000. Get a blotter.

 

Altogether, the M1000 does exactly what it is supposed to do. It announces to the world that you wanted the top and someone loved you enough to give it to you. It pushes the other pens on the sidelines, turning your previous favourites into a bit of a disappointment: they’re too small, write too thinly, are just tepid. It’s like getting off the Harley and riding on the 125cc again. It was such a great little bike but now it’s so…pathetic.

 

I wish I could say that, with the M1000, I’ve reached the end of my fountain pen obsession. It’s got everything and more. Nothing can top that. Nothing.

 

And yet…

 

Originally published at: http://kaffehauz.com/?p=205

 

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I recognize your sentiments! I recently bought a M1005 in black and silver and really love it.

The size is good, the balance is good, the piston works good (the best in the industry) and of course the most important piece: the wonderful big soft nib.

I chose a B nib and had it grind to a stub by Oxonian: writes like a dream!!

Never expected the nib to feel and behave so different from a 800 nib. Like you said about your Harley: after a M1000 a nice M800 feels a bit ... pathetic.

 

So it is one of my favorites, but luckily I also have some other lovely, favorite pen ;)

Edited by rvthof
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My 3B is a dream. BB is nicely stubbish for those so inclined. Pity the bean counters have to market Fs that way. It keeps people from discovering their own preferred nib sizes.

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Thanks for sharing your fun review!

 

I share your enthusiasm. I've had an M1005 for a fair while now and it is always inked. Isn't that nib a treat? Although I prefer vintage flex nibs, the M1000/M1005 nib is just plain fun and I use it for everything from writing to drawing.

 

The XF nib feels almost like a medium for regular writing and easily flexes to 3B, a very versatile nib. I laughed at your friend's description of it as an MOU pen. That's exactly what the 3B nib on my M1000 feels like! Someday I'll use it to sign that elusive winning lottery check. ;)

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Really enjoyed your review of the M1000. I was fortunate enough to receive one last month as a gift to commemorate my service as chairman of the board of a professional organization, and it is indeed a wonderful writer. I actually exchanged the F nib that it came with for an EF, and am very pleased with it. This was my first Pelikan (I tend to go for modern Italian pens and vintage Waterman's), but doubt that it will be my last.

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We really see how much this pen is important for you and how much you love it. And that's all that count nevertheless the qualities and default of the pen.

A people can be great withouth a great pen but a people who love great pens is surely a great people too...

Pens owned actually: MB 146 EF;Pelikan M200 SE Clear Demonstrator 2012 B;Parker 17 EF;Parker 51 EF;Waterman Expert II M,Waterman Hemisphere M;Waterman Carene F and Stub;Pilot Justus 95 F.

 

Nearly owned: MB 149 B(Circa 2002);Conway Stewart Belliver LE bracket Brown IB.

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I normally stick to reading reviews of those pens I am unfamiliar with and, privately rate the review on whether or not the piece persuaded me to at least consider getting the pen. Of those reviews on pens I am fortunate enough to own, I privately rate the review on whether or not the piece encouraged me to want to ink my pen.

 

I very much enjoyed the style and passion of this review and have just inked both my M1000s (green & black with M stub nib, and black with F nib) after......well, far too long it seems :blush:

 

Thank you taking the time to share your pen with us so well kaz_taj. Very much appreciated. :thumbup:

 

Pavoni.

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kaz_tag wrote:

 

"The nib is the two-tone steel and gold"

 

That's a bit of a surprise. I didn't think they were.

It is an 18k gold two-toned nib;

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It is an 18k gold two-toned nib;

 

Right--the nibs are 18k with rhodium accents. The M1005s the nibs are fully rhodium plated 18k nibs while the trim (clip/cap rings) is palladium plated.

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Kaz_Taj,

 

An interesting review and more excited about the journey that Pelikan M1000 Pen took to reach Mozambique!

 

Just wanted to share one comment on the boxes. 4 years ago the Pelikan boxes used to be different. But I guess with the advent of the creeping costs of making pens and the cost cutting excercise, the pens now comes in a cardboard box ( but still beaufiful and effective). But as many of our pen customers tell, the pen never lost its quality and that is what really matters!

 

thank you,

 

sincerely,

 

Raj Menon

Pen Boutique
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Columbia, Maryland, USA (Opp. to The Mall in Columbia)

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One of the pens on my list. It is nice to get confirmation that it is still worth perusing. Nice review.

"Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you for all the nice replies. The nib is indeed not a steel nib (nor does it feel like one at all). I would add to the review that all types of ink, big and small and dry ones too, work equally well in the pen.

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My M1000 is the older version, by which I mean the cap is crowned with the mix of plastic and plated metal. I believe most of Pelikan's M series are equipped with the gold plated crown / clip.

 

I was not aware there was a celluloid material used in the M1000 series. If so, it seems it is inserted inside the resin-based barrel.

 

I like that the fact I can lubricate the piston mechanism by removing the nib section so easily. I just wish MB does the same with their 149/146 series pens.

My collection: 149 EF/F/B/OBB, Collodi B/Twain F/Mann F, 146 M, Silver Barley F, M1000/M800 B'o'B/M800 Tortoise/Sahara/415 BT/215/205 Blue Demo, Optima Demo Red M/88 EF & Italic/Europa, Emotica, 2K/Safaris/Al-Stars/Vista, Edson DB/Carene BS, Pilot 845/823/742/743/Silvern/M90/Makies, Sailor Profit Realo M/KOP Makies/Profit Makies/Profit 21 Naginata MF&M/KOP/KOP Mosaiques/Sterling Silvers,Platinum #3776 Celluloids/Izumos/Wood pens/Sterling Silvers,YoL Grand Victorian, and more (I lost counting)

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Interesting review. I have two M1000s, one of which is a cherished gift from a dear friend with a custom Binde, I don't think so high of them but their nibs are pretty good, I feel the pens could have been made fatter.

 

Pen2009, the M1000 green striped model has the green striped binde made out of cellulose acetate(NOT cellulose nitrate, the classic camphor smelling celluloid). HTH

 

Hari

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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I still have a couple of 1000's and they are workhorses. Not very flashy but dependable every time I need one. Really is a classic much like the 149. Don't see myself parting ways with these irrespective of the direction that my accumulation should take.

A. Don's Axiom "It's gonna be used when I sell it, might as well be used when I buy it."

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Owning two 2004 made m1000s , I can echo your enjoyment. Congrats and happy writing :thumbup:

Edited by georges zaslavsky

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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Excellent review of an excellent pen.

 

Thank you for your personal perspective. I totally agree with your enthusiasm.

 

Inked

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