Pelikan M200 Vs Edison Beaumont. Which To Invest In?

[DrPhilth]

For a while now, I have had my eye on both of those pens. I've read reviews about both, but none of which help...

I write unposted to start. I understand both are indeed small, that isn't really an issue though considering I write with my Scheaffer Craftsman (Thanks again Matt!) unposted. And That pen is considerably small.

I will not take any nibs larger than a fine. I write too small and all nibs larger than fine, make my handwriting unreadable.

So, what is the better pen to invest into? What has a smoother nib? A nicer feel in the hand?

Any help is appreciated.

And thank you all for taking time to read my thread!

~Phil

[TimGirdler]

Phil,

You've targeted two wonderful pens. I'll take my shot at answering your questions:

For a while now, I have had my eye on both of those pens. I've read reviews about both, but none of which help...
I write unposted to start. I understand both are indeed small, that isn't really an issue though considering I write with my Scheaffer Craftsman (Thanks again Matt!) unposted. And That pen is considerably small.
I will not take any nibs larger than a fine. I write too small and all nibs larger than fine, make my handwriting unreadable.

The Pelikan and the Edison are both available in fine, so either would fulfill that requirement.

So, what is the better pen to invest into?

A pen is not necessarily an investment. But, I think I know what you're asking... You want to know which pen is more worthy of you spending your hard-earned money on, right?

There are a number of factors to consider, all of them are purely subjective, which is to say it's up to your preferences.

What has a smoother nib?

This should be a non-issue, if you buy your pen from someone who tunes them. I don't sell Pelikan (I'd love to...they're wonderful pens); I do sell Edisons, and I own two Beaumonts (which are wonderful pens). Every pen I sell I tune so that it will be smooth.

Any untuned pen has the potential to be messed up when you get it, and Pelikans are notorious for having to be tinkered with...

A nicer feel in the hand?

This is up to you. There's no way we can make this decision for you. You'll need to decide which pen feels better in your own hand. I happen to like both pens, but for different reasons. I can't imagine that you'd be very disappointed with either pen.

Any help is appreciated.
And thank you all for taking time to read my thread!

~Phil

Glad to help, and I hope what I've replied here is helpful.

If you want to go the Edison route, you can visit my site (in the signature below). We carry all four versions of the Edison Beaumont. And, again, I tune every pen before it goes out.

If you decide to go with another retailer for the Edison or the Pelikan, I wish you all the best in your search. I think you'll enjoy either pen.

Blessings,

Tim

[Lady P]

Here in Europe, an M200 can be had for less than half the price of an Edison production line pen. But I guess in the States, the difference in price is not as steep.

I like my M200, and my M215 works even better for me (because I like the extra weight). You should also consider the fact that the M2xx pens are piston fillers, whereas Beaumonts are CC pens. My experience with CC pens has been less than stellar (ink flow problems), and that's pretty much the only reason I haven't yet bought any Edisons, in spite of the fact that many of those pens look drop dead gorgeous.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Any reason why you don't want to post standard sized pens that have much better balance when posted like a 200/400 Pelikan or Esterbrook?

Is it religious or you have just not tried it much?

If you wax the pen, you don't get any mars.

 

As you can guess I grew up in the silver dime days of B&W TV and standard sized pens like a Esterbrook, or Wearever, so I do post. I do have better balanced pens.

 

I have grown to admire the steel nibs of the 200.

I trans-mailed 5 of them. 2 were as good as my 120 steel nib...a very good springy vintage regular flex nib.

3 were even better, as good as the very nice springy regular flex as my '90's M400 and two '90's Celebries, one with a gold and one with a steel nib that are equal to each other.

If you order your 200 through Richard Binder, perhaps he can root through his 200 nibs and find one with a bit more spring than others.

 

If you want a metal C/C pen the Celebry has a very good nib. It being a Large pen, you can get by with out posting.

It does post nicely too...assuming you let the pen find it's own resting place...ie resting in the pit of the web of the thumb.

For me posting with large pens is a whim factor; some times I do, other times I don't.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[andymcc]

 

Here in Europe, an M200 can be had for less than half the price of an Edison production line pen. But I guess in the States, the difference in price is not as steep.

 

I wondered about that too, in the UK an M200 is around £60 with a gold nib bringing the total to £100 but the Edison pens are all £115 with a gold nib they cost £228

I've read good reviews about the Edison pens but the price has put me off a little, for the price of 1 Edison you can have a gold nibbed M200 and a pen like a Platinum #3776 or Sailor Sapporo...I know which route I'd take

Edited January 8, 2014 by andymcc

[heymatthew]

Phil,

Glad the Craftsman is still working out for you. I'll throw in my 2 cents as I've had experience with both Edison and Pelikan. If I were to buy one or the other today, it would be the Edison (any Edison) hands-down. I've had three Pelikans and the third was the only one I liked, but only because I spent 50% more to have the nib professionally tuned. For that money, I could have bought an Edison. I've had three Edisons (a Hudson, Pearlette and Morgan) and all three wrote absolutely perfectly right out of the box.

 

Unposted, an Edison will be a good bit larger than an M200 unposted. Posted, most Edisons are mammoth by comparison. I like this so that's a selling point for me. My M200 had to be posted to be used comfortably (and I, like you, tend to not write posted).

 

If it were me, I'd get the Edison. The nibs offer less character than the steel nibs on the M200, but the pens are well-made and don't require tinkering right out of the box for the most part. My first Pelikan was a Medium and wrote like a double-broad, the second was a fine and wrote like a broad and the third was an extra-fine that wrote like a broad (all compared to Lamy, TWSBI, Edison, etc.). I finally just quit buying and selling them and sent the third one off to be tuned and it was darn-near writing perfection when I got it back.

 

If you've got the time and patience and will to do the nib dance, buy the Pelikan. If you're lazy like me and want a pen that you'll love right out of the box, get the Edison.

 

Last little bit... If you like the Edison lineup, but want an M200-sized pen, look at the Pearlette. Almost identical in size.

[Ted A]

You might think about going to the Long Island Pen show where you could handle both I would think. The only problem is that it's not until March and you might not be able to wait that long. I know I probably couldn't wait. That would, though, give you a chance to evaluate how they feel.

[heymatthew]

You might think about going to the Long Island Pen show where you could handle both I would think. The only problem is that it's not until March and you might not be able to wait that long. I know I probably couldn't wait. That would, though, give you a chance to evaluate how they feel.

 

March? MARCH!? Why don't you just suggest he wait 'til he's 97 to buy his next pen?

This guy with the March... Sheesh!

 

 

You're right, though. The sensible thing to do would be to handle both, fall in love with both and then buy both. Listen to Ted A. He knows what he's talking about.

Edited January 8, 2014 by heymatthew

[Lady P]

March? MARCH!? Why don't you just suggest he wait 'til he's 97 to buy his next pen?

 

[Lady P]

I've had three Pelikans and the third was the only one I liked, but only because I spent 50% more to have the nib professionally tuned.

 

 

Hey heymatthew,

Just curious: when did you buy your Pelikans? I ask because I remember reading that Pelikan had a period with poor quality control, but that it's gotten quite a bit better now. So if you bought your Pelikans a while back, this could explain your bad experience. Personally, I've had very good experience with Pelikans. I don't own any Edisons, though, so I can't do a direct comparison.

[casualmerlinconstant]

 

If you wax the pen, you don't get any mars.

 

 

off topic, but what type of wax do you use to wax your pens?

[heymatthew]

Hey heymatthew,

Just curious: when did you buy your Pelikans? I ask because I remember reading that Pelikan had a period with poor quality control, but that it's gotten quite a bit better now. So if you bought your Pelikans a while back, this could explain your bad experience. Personally, I've had very good experience with Pelikans. I don't own any Edisons, though, so I can't do a direct comparison.

 

 

The Medium was an M100 new old stock so I'm not sure if that fell in the "poor QC batch or not". The second and third were both brand new in the last 12-18 months and were an M215 Fine and M205 Extra-Fine, respectively.

[Sham69]

the edison is the superior pen hands down.. buy a collier if you want to write unposted

[Lady P]

 

The Medium was an M100 new old stock so I'm not sure if that fell in the "poor QC batch or not". The second and third were both brand new in the last 12-18 months and were an M215 Fine and M205 Extra-Fine, respectively.

 

Interesting. I wonder if you got unlucky with Pelikans, or I got lucky... My M215 is pretty much a writing perfection as far as I'm concerned.

[Anna Cecilia]

Unfortunately I don't have an Edison pen yet, so can't compare, but I've had my Pelikan M200 for nearly 20 years and I still love it - I've bought some higher end Pelikans in the mean time, but I still use the M200 almost daily, so it has been well worth the investment (by my parents at the time). The steel nib is really smooth and nicely springy which I love. I do agree with Heymatthew however in that Pelikan nibs tend to be quite a bit broader than other brands, so if you only want a Fine that's something to consider.

[Nibwitz]

I never tried nor do I know the Edison pen...anyway a M200 is a fantastic fountain pen; nice wet steel nib with feedback while heaving a relatively soft 'nose', a very well balanced pen (posted that is), and personally I like light weight pens. As always; try the pen in a shop or get it from a nib technician to be sure to get a good writer.

[DrPhilth]

Hey guys, didn't think I would get THIS many responses so quickly! Thank you all very much!
I will try to address all comments.

 

Tim, Thank you for all of that information! Definitely helped a bit on my decision!

 

 

 

Here in Europe, an M200 can be had for less than half the price of an Edison production line pen. But I guess in the States, the difference in price is not as steep.

I like my M200, and my M215 works even better for me (because I like the extra weight). You should also consider the fact that the M2xx pens are piston fillers, whereas Beaumonts are CC pens. My experience with CC pens has been less than stellar (ink flow problems), and that's pretty much the only reason I haven't yet bought any Edisons, in spite of the fact that many of those pens look drop dead gorgeous.

 

The Pelikan M200 has a very weird price range for me. It can range from $76 to about $120. So the price aspect is never really a huge issue in this instance.

I also don't really mind CC pens. I do agree though, that the piston filler on the Pelikan is indeed a plus.

 

Any reason why you don't want to post standard sized pens that have much better balance when posted like a 200/400 Pelikan or Esterbrook?

Is it religious or you have just not tried it much?

If you wax the pen, you don't get any mars.

 

As you can guess I grew up in the silver dime days of B&W TV and standard sized pens like a Esterbrook, or Wearever, so I do post. I do have better balanced pens.

 

I have grown to admire the steel nibs of the 200.

I trans-mailed 5 of them. 2 were as good as my 120 steel nib...a very good springy vintage regular flex nib.

3 were even better, as good as the very nice springy regular flex as my '90's M400 and two '90's Celebries, one with a gold and one with a steel nib that are equal to each other.

If you order your 200 through Richard Binder, perhaps he can root through his 200 nibs and find one with a bit more spring than others.

 

If you want a metal C/C pen the Celebry has a very good nib. It being a Large pen, you can get by with out posting.

It does post nicely too...assuming you let the pen find it's own resting place...ie resting in the pit of the web of the thumb.

For me posting with large pens is a whim factor; some times I do, other times I don't.

 

I just simply don't post because no matter what pen I have used (exception with my Parker 51) they always seem to feel unbalanced to me. And I actually love writing with small pens unposted. Maybe I'm just weird haha.
I do enjoy both nibs both spring and nail alike. So that is never an issue.

Phil,

Glad the Craftsman is still working out for you. I'll throw in my 2 cents as I've had experience with both Edison and Pelikan. If I were to buy one or the other today, it would be the Edison (any Edison) hands-down. I've had three Pelikans and the third was the only one I liked, but only because I spent 50% more to have the nib professionally tuned. For that money, I could have bought an Edison. I've had three Edisons (a Hudson, Pearlette and Morgan) and all three wrote absolutely perfectly right out of the box.

 

Unposted, an Edison will be a good bit larger than an M200 unposted. Posted, most Edisons are mammoth by comparison. I like this so that's a selling point for me. My M200 had to be posted to be used comfortably (and I, like you, tend to not write posted).

 

If it were me, I'd get the Edison. The nibs offer less character than the steel nibs on the M200, but the pens are well-made and don't require tinkering right out of the box for the most part. My first Pelikan was a Medium and wrote like a double-broad, the second was a fine and wrote like a broad and the third was an extra-fine that wrote like a broad (all compared to Lamy, TWSBI, Edison, etc.). I finally just quit buying and selling them and sent the third one off to be tuned and it was darn-near writing perfection when I got it back.

 

If you've got the time and patience and will to do the nib dance, buy the Pelikan. If you're lazy like me and want a pen that you'll love right out of the box, get the Edison.

 

Last little bit... If you like the Edison lineup, but want an M200-sized pen, look at the Pearlette. Almost identical in size.

 

Hey Matt! The Craftsman is absolutely amazing, thanks again!
The nib width is definitely a concern. That is one of the big reasons I was very iffy on this purchase, because of reading of the more than handful of people saying that the fine nibs write like a broad. And I am still a young guy that can't really afford to keep sending nibs out for tuning. (Which CAN be avoided if I just get it done from Richard Binder in the first place.)

Also, how is the pearlette? I had that pen in mind as well, but I was a little concerned with the smoothness of the #5 nib. What are the size comparisons (to other pens) of the #6 and #5?

You might think about going to the Long Island Pen show where you could handle both I would think. The only problem is that it's not until March and you might not be able to wait that long. I know I probably couldn't wait. That would, though, give you a chance to evaluate how they feel.

That actually is a good idea. Wouldn't be TOO difficult for the wait because I shop like my father... I'll want something for months but never commit to a purchase haha. That's exactly why I made this post... Because I suck at choosing.

BTW Where is the Long Island Pen show going to be located?

 

the edison is the superior pen hands down.. buy a collier if you want to write unposted

I'm not a fan of how the collier collars are AT ALL. I love the style of pretty much all vintage pens, the very.. I guess "flamboyant" (please don't kill me for that lol) colors of a lot of Edisons pens has put me off to a lot of them. That is why the only ones that had been on my radar had been the Beaumont and the Pearlette.

 

Unfortunately I don't have an Edison pen yet, so can't compare, but I've had my Pelikan M200 for nearly 20 years and I still love it - I've bought some higher end Pelikans in the mean time, but I still use the M200 almost daily, so it has been well worth the investment (by my parents at the time). The steel nib is really smooth and nicely springy which I love. I do agree with Heymatthew however in that Pelikan nibs tend to be quite a bit broader than other brands, so if you only want a Fine that's something to consider.

That is good to hear that they write well. Still though, I really can not use anything too broad nib'd because I write way to small.

 

 

Thank you guys for all your replies! Even though it is pretty much a 50/50 split on Edison or Pelikan haha.
I will probably end up having both in the future, but getting which one first is a debacle...

[heymatthew]

The #5 Edison nib is identical to the #6 albeit a bit smaller. In terms of writing quality though, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. I think Edison does a great job at making sure their pens are writing great right out of the box. I haven't read of anyone getting anything less with any Edison pen.

[DrPhilth]

I'm assuming size wise the #5 is about the size of the Craftsman nib and a #6 is comparable in size to the ahab?

[heymatthew]

I'm assuming size wise the #5 is about the size of the Craftsman nib and a #6 is comparable in size to the ahab?

 

The Number 6 is almost, if not, exactly the size of an Ahab Nib... The Number 5 might be a little larger than the nib on the Craftsman. Do you have a Pilot Custom 74 or anything like that? If so, they're similar to a No. 5, I think.