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.

When Size Matters: Pelikan Toledo - Manufacture

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)

When Size Matters: Pelikan Souverän 600 writing types

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. When Size Matters: A comparison of pen sizes

When Size Matters: A comparison of pen sizes

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.

When Size Matters: Classic K200 v Souverän K600

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.

When Size Matters: Pelikan Souverän Fountain Pen Sizes