Pelikan M620 Place de la Concorde

[Guest Denis Richard]

But, you did mention using a "man purse", right?

No no no... even though I have pointed people to some models (which I admit may have been a mistake ), I use a courier bag...

[Guest Denis Richard]

Is seems to be the first in the City Series to have its section made out of the same material than the barrel and cap.

[Roger]

I use a courier bag... 

Quite right! I was incorrectly extrapolating from your posts.

[Guest Denis Richard]

I use a courier bag... 

Quite right! I was incorrectly extrapolating from your posts.

Even though... I remember being may be 10yo and having one... my grand-parents bought it for me, and I was rather proud of having one, just like the adults. Then my feelings got really hurt when we entered a museum with my grand-parents. There was security (I guess we had some kind of terrorist attack at that time... was twenty years ago, so I don't remember which one...), and they asked to check everyones bags. I opened mine for them to see inside, and the security woman started to laugh

 

I think that this spoiled the sacoches for me... they bring back hurtful memories

[Roger]

Is seems to be the first in the City Series to have its section made out of the same material than the barrel and cap.

Yeah, but that notwithstanding, you bought it because of the name, right? After all, Place de la Concorde is French, so that explains it. And just so you don't think I'm just some dumb 'merican who don't know no French, I know what Place de la Concorde means. It's the hangar where the Concorde is housed, right?

 

Mea culpa, Louis. See, I'm doing it again. Tryin' to fun some, and probably failing, yet again. <_< But seriously, Denis, what is the significance of the colors and design of the pen? I don't understand what the connection is with the Place de la Concorde. If it had a guillotine on it with the head of Marie-Antoinette in place, I might understand.

[Stylo]

And just so you don't think I'm just some dumb 'merican who don't know no French, I know what Place de la Concorde means. It's the hangar where the Concorde is housed, right?

 

Mea culpa, Louis. See, I'm doing it again.   Tryin' to fun some, and probably failing, yet again. <_< 

Well, I find it funny

 

But seriously, Denis, what is the significance of the colors and design of the pen? I don't understand what the connection is with the Place de la Concorde. If it had a guillotine on it with the head of Marie-Antoinette in place, I might understand.

 

The hues of the tricolor stripes are obvious, but the pastelish lavender, I really don't know. Perhaps the picture colors aren't very accurate, and it is supposed to give a sense of blue, which would be French to me. Perhaps the lavender evoques a certain nostalgic retro Paris chic to the Germans. Who knows. But I am with you on the obvious connection to the Place de la Concorde. Perhaps it is meant only to evoque one of the most historically significant French places?

 

Perhaps Pelikan's aim was just to generate a lot of discussion about this pen and they have succeeded?

[Guest Denis Richard]

Is seems to be the first in the City Series to have its section made out of the same material than the barrel and cap.

Yeah, but that notwithstanding, you bought it because of the name, right? After all, Place de la Concorde is French, so that explains it. And just so you don't think I'm just some dumb 'merican who don't know no French, I know what Place de la Concorde means. It's the hangar where the Concorde is housed, right?

 

Mea culpa, Louis. See, I'm doing it again. Tryin' to fun some, and probably failing, yet again. <_< But seriously, Denis, what is the significance of the colors and design of the pen? I don't understand what the connection is with the Place de la Concorde. If it had a guillotine on it with the head of Marie-Antoinette in place, I might understand.

It did make me giggle, Roger.

 

I bought it partly because of the name. I've been wanting a Pelikan (I had a 150 once, but it's way too small for me) and the regulat colours really don't attract me. Since this one was announced, I thought that if I like the colour, it's gonna be the occasion to get one... et voila

 

And I forgot... the blind cap too is of the same material/pattern.

 

On the colour scheme... I'm not sure. It's definitely not the visual imprint of the square, except on a sunny day, as it is wide open, and the blue sky will definitely fill your vision field. May be the sky blue also comes from the little known characteristic of the square : the largest sundial in the world. It is also right on the banks of the Seine river, and there is a big fountain in the middle. So the blue may be water too. The ministry of the Navy is (was?) right on the square too... but that's a bit of a stretch. As for the stripes' colours, the light brown is rather well representative of the buildings' stone colour, and the darker one of the stoned road.

 

Wouldn't it have been nice if the blind cap was removable and shaped as Louis XVI's head on one side, and Marie-Antoinette on the other. You could do historical reenactments... Seriously, I think most of us Parisians don't really associate the square with the era of "La Terreur" and the flying head fest. It was just a time in the life of Paris, like any other... or almost.

 

I don't think that Pelikan ever gives a detailed explanation of their colour choice, so I guess we will be left wondering...

 

http://perso.inooi.com/v2/cmn/paris/img800/IMG_2321.jpg

Edited September 2, 2005 by Denis Richard

[Roger]

It may grow on me. It sure is a departure for Pelikan. If it sells well, maybe we'll see Pelikan add some sex appeal to their colors. Nah! It's German, and German is as German does.

 

Look at automobiles. Same sort of nationalistic differences. The German cars are superbly engineered and built; always have been. The seat in a German automobile says, "You WILL sit in this fashion and you WILL drive well". The Citroen, by comparison, invites you to relax in their softer seating and be comfortable while driving.

 

Understand that I'm a good 20 years out of the automotive loop and what was then, may not be today.

[Elaine]

You guys are grasping at the wind. The colors don't mean anything. What is the significance of the colors in the New York City pen. Cows in NYC?

[Roger]

You guys are grasping at the wind.  The colors don't mean anything. What is the significance of the colors in the New York City pen. Cows in NYC?

I think that you're correct. Why, then, does Pelikan call them a city series or whatever it is? That seems disingenuous, at best!

 

If they were to merely say that it was their attempt to inject that element of panache into an otherwise very ordinary lineup of colors, I would champion their effort. As it is, it seems as though a Madison Avenue type is running their marketing department.

[Titivillus]

oh thank goodness.

 

at first blush... i'm not tempted.

 

looks interesting and not unattractive.  i wonder what it looks like up close and personal though.  such light-colored pens are hard to appreciate in photos.

Still don't like it ?

Nope don't like it one little bit. It's too washed out for my taste and I can imagine that if any inke ever got into the threads what changes would be made to the pen.

 

Up to this part the only thing I didn't like about the cities pens was their size ( too small). Now Pelikan has a pen with two strikes against it for me.

 

Kurt H

[Stylo]

You guys are grasping at the wind. The colors don't mean anything. What is the significance of the colors in the New York City pen. Cows in NYC?

For the Chicago and NYC pens, you can relate the colors to the downtown skylines of concrete, tinted glass, and the shades of grey you see in big cities. Shanghai has at least the right reddish tones. I am lost on Berlin and Stockholm, but at least these are all city names, so you can have a lot of room for interpretation. Starting with Piazza Vavona though, Pelikan started using the names of specific loacations in cities rather than city names. The Vavona's colors make sense, but those of the la Place de la Concorde don't.

 

But I think the bottom line is indeed that we are grasping at the wind and trying to make too much sense where there needn't be any

[Guest Denis Richard]

You guys are grasping at the wind. The colors don't mean anything. What is the significance of the colors in the New York City pen. Cows in NYC?

I think their is definitely a meaning of the colours. The mystery is sometimes to find which one. In the case of the Athens, the Piazza Navona or the Berlin, I think the choices and meanings are pretty evident. The New-York... it reminds me of the 1920's-1930's jazz club/art deco atmosphere.

[Louis R]

What does Place de la Concorde evoque?

 

Maxim's (in the picture, behind the right side of the monument on Royale street) another restaurant I can't afford -- but a reminder of Franz Lehar's Die Lustige Witwe / La Veuve Joyeuse / The Merry Widow, a nice german operette in a Paris setting.

 

Behind the picture, le jardin des tuileries with a small version of the arc de Triomphe, this leading to the Louvre Museum.

 

On the left side, Avenue des Champs Elysées: shops, cafés, la FNAC (books, records, computer games), and loads of people, with quite a few in nice skirts. Also the place where you will find we live in a small planet, as you have chance meetings with people you know, from elsewhere in the world.

 

Across the bridge, the Orsay museum which has a wide variety of great paintings, (Manet, Toulouse Lautrec, Monet,... Rodin Sculptures)

 

I do not care so much for Louis XVI's and Marie-Antoinette's heads.

 

Although Place de la Concorde is not where you want to be (you would be competing with cars), is is in the middle of quite a few places where you want to be.

 

The pen does not evoque any of the above.

[Guest Denis Richard]

I am lost on Berlin and Stockholm, but at least these are all city names, so you can have a lot of room for interpretation.

Berlin is the western capital with the largest surface of parks and trees. It's a green city. Stockholm... I have no clue.

[Roger]

I love it! If highly intelligent folk, like us, are going way out on the interpretive limb for meaning to the cities series, then it's like modern art. Those who like it will find pleasure in speculating what it is. For blokes like me who require that art depict something that I can recognize as existing and real, it doesn't cut it.

 

I'm beginning to realize, however, why my accumulation is leaning mightily toward Henry Ford's sole offering in colors in the early days... BLACK! Got a Sailor Professional Gear, today (scored a brand new "in the plastic "and everything example on the Bay). Two more blackies are en route (Pel. 1000 and the Legacy Heritage now having been stubbed by Deb Kinney). My real concession to the "wild side" is the Stip. Etruria 991 which should be wending its way back from Italy soon, assuming all of Italy did, indeed, return to work in September. The 991 may be as outrageous as I can manage.

 

If I could merely look at the Place de la Concorde and not feel that I had to somehow relate it to the Place, then, as when I first saw it, I could simply say... it's pretty!

[Stompy]

I am lost on Berlin and Stockholm, but at least these are all city names, so you can have a lot of room for interpretation.

Berlin is the western capital with the largest surface of parks and trees. It's a green city. Stockholm... I have no clue.

From Nibs.com

 

"Built on 14 islands, the Swedish capital, Stockholm, is called the "Venice of the North", surrounded by blue water."

[Stylo]

Instead of speculating, I decided to go to the Pelikan site for some answers

 

Berlin - The series Berlin is presented in a lively green, as Berlin is the greenest metropolis in Europe with a quarter of its acres consisting of woods and lakes. The multifaceted design of the pens captures ones fascination with the pulsating German capitol.

 

Stockholm - The development of the "Stockholm" pen saw the designers being inspired by the fact that the Swedish metropolis is often considered to be the "Venice of the north". The blue design patterns on the pen give a feeling of the traditional and the modern, nature and culture - aspects that no other city in the world combines as gracefully as Stockholm.

 

Madrid - According to surveys, Madrid is making its residents, the Madrilènes, happy. The unequalled dedication of this metropolis and its citizens is enough reason for Pelikan to honour it in a very special way. [i guess the red is too obvious too explain? )

 

Chicago - Chicago is the city of superlatives: modern, proud and cosmopolitan. The "Chicago" writing instrument is characterised by an inimitable charisma, created through the interaction of the black/white design of the sophisticated cast materials with the silver plated rings, and the abundance of subtle contrasts typical of the metropolis it is named after.

 

San Francisco -Hardly any other city is as welcoming to foreigners as San Francisco. Rising against the unequalled sunsets of the California coast is the ruddy orange Golden Gate Bridge... a world- famous landmark as well as a symbol of tolerance and open-mindedness.

Pelikan honors this cosmopolitan, colorful city its own way.

 

New York City - Just as the spirit of the American Dream lives on in the streets of New York City, the magic of this city that attracts everyone lives in each piece of this Special Edition. With this writing instrument, you hold in your hands the charm of the metropolis in an accomplished form.

 

The Special Edition "New York City" is absolutely unique. The black and white design of the elaborate artificial resin materials, framed in silver-plated components, give each writing instrument its inimitable attraction: as full of contrasts and with as many layers as the metropolis that gave it its name.

 

Athens - Sun and Sea. An eternal interplay of power and tranquility, a legacy of undying fascination. To carve out creative space. To set the right mood. To capture bright ideas. To reach Olympic heights.

 

Shanghai - No other Chinese town represents the opening of a new chapter in the national history as strongly as this city does: Shanghai. China`s most glamorous and complex metropolis at the banks of the Huangpu with its 14 million inhabitants took off for the 21st centrury with breathtaking speed.

 

Piazza Navona - Rome‘s historical square in the valley of the Tiber at the foot of the Quirinal Hill is impressive in a number of ways:

the Piazza Navona.

 

Built by the Emperor Domitian in AD 86 as a stadium for Greek athletes in competition, even today the foundations of the neighbouring houses there follow the course of the grandstands of antiquity. Architectural masterpieces have repeatedly been created on their ruins in the past two thousand years.

Alongside the family palace built by Pope Innozenz X. Pamphilj in the Baroque era and the house church bordering it, one of the most beautiful of Baroque fountains, the “Fontana dei Fiumi” – (Fountain of the rivers) was built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1648-51.

 

Into the 1800s, Piazza Navona was used as the stage for many imposing spectacles, for which it was even flooded to recreate historical sea battles.

 

Extravagantly fashioned, amber-coloured delicately cast resin material set in gilded elements afford each writing instrument an inimitable charisma.

 

Place de la Concorde - We will soon find out?

 

 

Explaination of the colors seems highly optional.

 

So does anyone have the entire collection?

[Stylo]

Some new pics I found:

 

http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/images/pelikan_images/PECONCFP.jpg

 

http://onebeagle.net/oscarbraun/pens/placedelaconcorde.jpg

[Roger]

Instead of speculating, I decided to go to the Pelikan site for some answers 

Fine, if you're happy with those explanations, buy 'em and enjoy 'em. Me? I stll want Marie-Antoinette's head!

 

Also, I had been there, read that, and I strongly suspect that the others contributing to this thread have also; yet we still "speculated". That sorta tells me that the Pelikan site was lacking in their explanation.

 

Please understand, I like Pelikan. I own two M250s and have a 1000 in the mail. (Thanks to The Noble Savage's %^&$$ review!) I just happen to think these cities examples are right outa a Madison Avenue ad agency.