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When Size Matters: A guide to Pelikan pen sizes
When Size Matters: A guide to Pelikan pen sizes
Pelikan creates beautiful pens from hand turned resin with dedicated craftsmanship and subtle details which make each writing instrument an individual work of art.
Pelikan uses letters and numbers to distinguish their pens writing types and sizes across ranges. This makes it hard to know what pen will be right for you without a lot of extra research.
To help the Pelikan newcomer, we’ve tried to get down to the core of the issue and show the Pelikan ranges in all their glory.
Writing Type
The letter in each pen’s name denotes the writing type. These are fairly easy to decipher as they are generally the first letter of the German name for that writing type.
M – Piston filling fountain pen
(Mechanik-Füllhalter)
P – Cartridge / converter fountain pen
(Patrone - meaning cartridge)
R – Rollerball pen
(Technically also Kugelschreiber like ballpoint in German so known as Rollerball to differentiate)
K – Ballpoint Pen
(Kugelschreiber)
D – Mechanical Pencil
(Druckbleistift)
Pen Sizing
Fountain Pens
Generally speaking, in each range the larger the number, the larger the pen itself. For example, the Souverän M1000 is Pelikan’s largest Souverän pen at a whopping 177mm long when the cap is posted! However, if you try and compare range to range it gets a bit more complicated. Across the ranges many fountain pens have been made to reflect the size of a pen in the Souverän range, but have been named differently. The image below shows the relative sizes of each Pelikan fountain pen to one another with their range name and number listed above.Pelikan Fountain Pen Range | Length (Posted) | Length (Closed) | Diameter |
Souverän M300 | 133mm | 110mm | 9.9mm |
Souverän M400 | 148mm | 127mm | 11.7mm |
Toledo M700 | 148mm | 127mm | 11.7mm |
Classic M200 | 148mm | 125mm | 11.9mm |
Classic Special Edition M120 | 154mm | 130mm | 11.9mm |
Souverän M600 | 154mm | 134mm | 12.4mm |
Pura P40 | 155mm | 140mm | 12mm |
Toledo M900 | 165mm | 142mm | 13.1mm |
Souverän M800 | 169mm | 142mm | 13.1mm |
Souverän M1000 | 177mm | 147mm | 14.1mm |
Pelikan rollerball pens follow the same conventions as their fountain pens and will match up size wise to the fountain pens when closed.
Ballpoints & Pencils
Pelikan ballpoint pens and mechanical pencils vary in both size and mechanism type. Overall their range sizes match the fountain and rollerballs, but the mechanism type distorts the sizings of some ranges, meaning they don’t match properly with the fountain/rollerballs.
Pelikan Pen Range | Mechanism | Body Length | Overall length with mechanism | Diameter |
Souverän 300 | Twist | 110mm | 110mm | 10.5mm |
Souverän 400 | Click | 124mm | 134mm | 11mm |
Classic 200 | Click | 125mm | 134.5mm | 11mm |
Souverän 600 | Twist | 127mm | 127mm | 11.7mm |
Pura 40 | Twist | 137mm | 137mm | 12mm |
Souverän 800 | Twist | 139mm | 139mm | 12.7mm |
The extended click mechanism on the Classic K200 and Souverän K400, make their overall length larger than they should be for their range size, whilst their body size stays in line with their range.
But which pen is best for me?
It’s all very well listing sizes to you, but what you really want to know is how which size of pen will suit you. Here’s a quick run down:
300 – A pocket size pen. Perfect for putting in a pocket or bag and ideal for travelling.
200, 400, 700 – An average size pen in diameter, but a little shorter than usual. Great for most people, but especially those with smaller hands.
120, 600, 40 – A standard size pen. Ideal for everyone.
800, 900 – A chunky pen. Generally suited to larger hands, but due to lightweight construction doesn’t feel too heavy and could be used by anyone.
1000 – A distinctly oversize pen. Suits large hands.
Comments
Love the Souveran's. Bought a 1000. Love it. Love the 3 smaller ones too. And love the mechanical pencil. Much pleasure using beautiful, well designed and well made things.
Love the Souveran's. Bought a 1000. Love it. Love the 3 smaller ones too. And love the mechanical pencil. Much pleasure using beautiful, well designed and well made things.