Pen Review - Pelikan MK

[Vercin]

Pelikan MK - 1957-1984


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First off i'm still not sure what exact model this is, but for the point of the review it won't matter that much. The differences are in the trimmings (gold or chrome plated), the cap (Pelican beak or bar-shaped), the nib material (plated steel -chrome or gold- or 14K gold) and the body color (green or black).


This pen series are similar with the Pelikan Slivexa line, with the difference being in the cap. The Silvexa have metal cap while the MK series have plastic cap. This would be a good place to mention that the MK stands for: M - piston filler, K- Kunststoff (plastic in german) for the cap material. And 10-20-30 for the various options mentioned above. They all have a push on cap and ink window (green or blue) for the piston fillers.

Appearance and Design

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Mine has the solid black body with pelican beak cap and gold plated trimmings with blue ink window. So it's maybe an MK30S (missing a 14C stamp on the nib for this *wishful thinking* .. not sure that they would leave golden nib with no stamp on it tho) or a black MK10 with a cap from a green MK10. Also all black MK10 I've seen on the bay have "Pelikan MK10 Germany" written on the cap trim, while mine is missing the model designation. Only has "Pelikan + Germany" on the trim.


Pen was all gunk-ed with ink and looked to be in terrible shape when I got it in the antique store .. but after some warm water it turned up great. Doesn't even have a scratch on, and plastic is all nice and shiny looking. With no plate loss anywhere on the pen.

The cap features the straight pelikan beak with a pelikan logo stamped on the top of it (which is indented) and on the trimming has "Germany + Pelikan" which adds a nice touch. It sits tight when posted and doesn't move/rattle at all.

Weight and Dimensions

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Length: 13.4 cm with cap on -closed.
14.4 cm with cap-on - open (posted would be the correct term?).
12.6 cm whit no cap on.

Weight: around 20 grams (sorry don't have an accurate small scale, the kitchen one has ~3 grams tolerance)

Filling System and Maintenance

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Ink capacity: around 1.3 ml, Piston filler.

Piston was a bit stiff going down, but with some helpful pointers and tips from Doug-Nemo, now is smooth as butter and works great. Big Thanks to Nemo!

The Nib is friction fitted half hooded. Putting it back is fairly easy because the nib has indentation over the feed and the feed has a groove that needs to be matched with the body. Also the pen can be disassembled more but it requires some skill and tools to do so and I haven't tried that on mine. It's not as easy as on its bigger more expensive brothers, and from what I have read its threaded bellow the ink window and hold up with some epoxy. So if its undone it needs to be sealed up once more so it wont leak i.e. not for beginners.

Nib Performance

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Nib on mine is marked with "Pelikan EF" under the hood .. it's simple in design, solid with just a little circle indentation where the tines part. For it being EF it writes smooth and doesn't feel scratchy at all. Nib is stiff (mine is most likely gold plated steel) and has no flex to it, so line is nice and uniform. Doesn't skip a beat in writing, and cap keeps it sealed good and ready for writing, doesn't skip at starting up. It dries up if left open for longer period and needs few strokes to get it going.

Conclusion

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Solid pen, writes greatly and holds lots of ink (which can be monitored thru the ink window). Sleek black design with nice gold trimmings. Smooth grip (this may be a problem for someone with sweaty palms) and can easily be held at any point from the nib to the ink window. Not to thick but comfortable (to me and my palm size at least) to write even at extensive lengths. Lightweight with no cap on, but with cap is not bad at all .. although I would have preferred it maybe a bit heavier. All in all great pen especially given the fact that this was Pelikan's student line up of pens at the time.

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[Vercin]

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[rider4life]

Nice review! Great find at a hopefully great price!

Cheers,

M.

 

[syngent]

Nice Review Vercin, Glad your enjoying the pen, and thanks for taking the time to share it

 

[celestino]

Great detailed review and pics! Congratulations and enjoy the pen! Those Pelikans are great writers!

 

[Vercin]

on a recent ebay sale of this pens .. I noticed someone claiming that this is airplane safe or what not .. like some complex nib/feed section .. no chance of ink drops and similar claims. What do you gents think? just seller marketing to make it more attractive offer or there could be some truth in it?

 

[rider4life]

on a recent ebay sale of this pens .. I noticed someone claiming that this is airplane safe or what not .. like some complex nib/feed section .. no chance of ink drops and similar claims. What do you gents think? just seller marketing to make it more attractive offer or there could be some truth in it?

Well I don't know about this pen specifically, none of my pens has ever had any issues with me flying. I've taken all of my pens on business trips and/or vacations (except my Visconti Rembrandt) and not one has leaked, burped or what-have-you. It's possible that prior to this pen there were issues as my oldest is my Sheaffer (1978) but definitely nothing special since then. Unless you fly in an unpressurized plane and/or leave your pens in your luggage (typically unpressurized) then you shouldn't have any issues. I call marketing gimick on this one.

Cheers,

M.