Pelikan M200 nib -- Iridium tipped?

[david3000]

Is the Pelikan M200 gold-plated nib tipped in "Iridium" or is the writing surface steel? Thanks.

[Johnson]

QUOTE (david3000 @ Feb 27 2007, 01:22 PM)

Is the Pelikan M200 gold-plated nib tipped in "Iridium" or is the writing surface steel? Thanks.

Iridium.

[rbbrock]

QUOTE

Iridium.

 

Yep.

[david3000]

Thanks. That's great to know. I love the way the nib writes.

 

Do you know if the M250 nib is made the same way as the M200? (machine tooled tip) Or is it like the M400 nib? (hand tooled tip)

[rbbrock]

I am no expert, but I believe that both the M200 and M400 nibs are machine-made. The difference, as far as I am aware, is that the M200 nibs are steel with gold plating, while the M400 nibs are a gold-based (14 karat) alloy. There are also M250 nibs which are 14 karat, but monotone rather than 2-tone (a la M400) but which will fit the M2xx/4xx/6xx pens.

[Johnny Appleseed]

QUOTE

Is the Pelikan M200 gold-plated nib tipped in "Iridium"

 

Well, it is tipped with a hard alloy, but usually it is not actual iridium. Nibmakers back in the 1800s started attaching actual pellets of naturally occuring iridium alloys (with a wide range of actual Iridium content) to the end of nibs to prevent them from wearing out. But over the years the types of alloys used have changed. See the following article:

 

Notes from the Nib Works #12 - Where's the Iridium?

and

How can we talk about iridium?

 

John