take me out tonight: pelikan m205 petrol

It is a cool, quiet night. The sounds of the day are far away, you can vaguely hear the cars rushing past in the highway, far away. The window is open, and in the distance you can see the tower of a church and roofs shining in the streetlights. You try to get your keys, your wallet, your phone. Don’t forget to wear shoes and take a coat.

Everyone has heard of Pelikan at one point in their lives. For me, it was the Pelikan 0,4 fine liner. I didn’t like them much, but they’re easy enough to come by. But I met the real Pelikan when I got into fountain pens. The classic shape of their well known Mxxx series is pretty recognisable with the beak clip and the Pelikan logo at the top. I especially love the beak clip with the eyes, it always makes me smile.

Recently Pelikan started dipping its toes into sparklier acrylics, the latest of them being the 2021 Golden Beryl with its matching shimmer ink. They seem to be pretty well received in the online community, but I haven’t been the biggest fan of the chunky glittery resin. My Pelikan pen is one that went a little under the radar, M205 Petrol. It’s a rather standard release, a black piston knob, section and a cap. The ink window is a very dark blue that looks like a black unless you hold it up to the light. The swirly acrylic is beautiful, mine is quite understated at one side and the other side is shiny with the chatoyant swirls.

This was my first Pelikan. I have a soft spot for in-house nibs and piston fillers. Apparently my boyfriend caught up on this little soft spot. He had it preordered as a surprise on our anniversary. This little pen has been inked up constantly ever since, with the same ink as well: Rohrer & Klingner Blu Mare. I almost never dedicate a pen to an ink or vice versa, but this ink and pen deserve each other. The ink is the clear blue of the summer skies, the Mediterranean, home. This ink shades ever so slightly, but in nice papers it sheens a slight pink. I love using this pen so much that it has been constantly inked for the past year and I am a little more than halfway through my bottle of Blu Mare. It might be my single most used ink, as I like to change pens and inks quite often. The nib is always as smooth as glass on the page, the ink doesn’t feather on most paper I’ve used it on, even on copy paper and a wet Pelikan fine nib.

The absolutely best thing about this pen is the ink window. I like to top off my pens before leaving the house if I’m not bored of the ink, and I can quickly check the ink level of this one. Which means that it held up to every plane ride, car ride, trains, walks in 40 degrees summer heat, (short) walks in the snow. It never burped, I only vaguely remember having to clean off a drop of ink on the nib after a flight, once. Since it’s a pen on the smaller side, it is one of my main travel pens.

When it first released, people were surprised to see the crown of the cap does not match the photographs that were released before the pen. It’s not chrome, but black. To be honest, I don’t think it as a major problem, but as a company having to do what they have to with the shipment delays etc. They released an apology later on about it.

I read some complaints online about the durability of modern Pelikan’s, but in the short-ish time I had this pen, it never once failed me. Though sometimes the cap becomes a little loose in the pen pouch. Never loose enough to let the nib dry out or the cap falling off, but not as tight as I left it on. Maybe it’s just me not being careful while capping.

All in all, this is a special pen for me. Inked with a beautiful ink. I’m happy to be the owner of this pen and I’m trying to spread the joy. I got my boyfriend his very own Pelikan M205 in white, and I’m super excited for him to start using it. But don’t let him know, okay?