Three New Mechanical Pencils

If anyone out there is still holding their breath waiting for a new blog post… well here you are.

Whilst I haven’t been blogging for ages, and haven’t made a lot of additions to the collection, I have still been pencilling away, in one form or another. Three mechanical pencils were recently added to the collection, and here’s a little something about them. All three were a gift from a long time pencil friend. They were from the estate of a relative, and he thought I might get some enjoyment from them, which I certainly have. So here we have them.

Pelikan, Parker and Montblanc

Parker Vacumatic Mechanical Pencil

The one that initially attracted my attention was the oldest of them, the Parker Vacumatic pencil. Definitely old school, from the good old days.

The barrel imprint reads “PARKER VACUMATIC REG” and “MADE IN CANADA T.M.” I am no expert on Parkers but a quick bit of internet searching indicates Vacumatics were made from 1933 – 1948, although I believe that is USA production. Presumably Canadian manufacturing would have been similar dates. The exact details of the arrow clip and the central body band can be used to date it more precisely and it seems mine is post 1942. My pencil-friend has a family photo from 1949 showing this pencil. If anyone can date it more precisely then please yell out. The colour is apparently called Silver Pearl, one of the mainstay colours of this classic. I quite like the colour scheme; the pearl sections reflect light and give the pencil an ever changing appearance depending on the angle of view. Lead diameter is 0.9mm and lead advance is a screw mechanism. All exactly as expected for this period.


Trying out the B&W setting on Picasa photo editor. Note the detailing on the arrow pocket clip and the barrel band.

Pull the barrel apart to reveal the eraser, which has seen better days.

The Vacumatic is a nice pencil to write with, although I would prefer a 0.7mm lead version.

Pelikan Celebry Mechanical Pencil

Next we have the Pelikan Celebry.

This thing weighs a ton! It should be the Pelikan Clubby or Pelikan Basher, not Celebry. Some sort of cross between a mechanical pencil and a length of lead piping... handy in a dark-back alley brawl. Despite the colour, to me the weight makes it a "mans" pencil. (Sorry ladies, please don't take offence). One for the man cave downstairs.

Some more internet searching tells me mine is a Pelikan Celebry D565 Mechanical Pencil, Poppy Red with Black Chrome Trims (PEL 906487). Celebry was produced between 1995 and 2007.

0.7mm lead, twist advance mechanism. The top half of the barrel pulls off to reveal eraser and access to the lead storage magazine. The only wording on the pencil is CELEBRY just above the middle band.

Pelikan logo on end cap

A fine mechanical pencil, classic German quality, built to last.

Montblanc Meisterstück Mechanical Pencil

It's finally happened. Dave has a Montblanc. A Montblanc Meisterstück, the timeless classic.

At a current retail of US $415 (USA Montblanc website) this is not something I would ever buy myself, but I am very happy to have received this near new one as a gift.

For the past week I have been Montblancing it, or perhaps Ich Montblance? My trusty Lamy 2000 has been left in the drawer, and my new Meisterstück has been my daily use mechanical pencil.

To start with I have always considered the price of Montblanc to just be ridiculous. I am no stranger to paying one or even two hundred for a luxury brand mechanical pencil, but four hundred? When you are buying high end writing implements you are really buying jewellery, jewellery that just happens to also write, but even jewellery has price limits. The Meisterstück is just a plain black resin body with gold plated trims. Sure, it's a superior quality body, trims and mechanism, but to me there's just no way the price can be justified. If the body was made of exotic materials or uncommon design features then that's some justification for pricing, but the Meisterstück is not. The price simply cannot be justified. Still, Montblanc have been around a very long time and are still going strong, so clearly a lot of people disagree with me.

Having said all of that, a week of Montblancing has tempered my indignation to a degree. Its plain classic styling really is classic. Using it really did begin to give me delusions of grandeur.

The engraved centre band.

You will have to excuse my photography. I just couldn't get the engraving to show clearly.

The famous snow capped mountain.

My Meisterstück is a 0.5mm lead twist advance ratchet mechanism which my friend believes dates from sometime around the 1980's. The Montblanc website has its current description and code as Meisterstück Classique Mechanical Pencil, Ident. Nr. 12746. There is also a 0.7mm version available.

You pull the cap off to use the eraser or refill the lead chamber.

So, there we have it. Three new pencils. I started out placing them in the order Parker, Pelikan, Montblanc but finished up the reverse - Montblanc, Pelikan, Parker.

Once again, thanks to my friend for this most generous gift.

Pelikan No 1 Mechanical Pencil

The Magnificent Seven - Part 2

Pelikan No 1 Mechanical Pencil

By Pencil Paul

The Pelikan No.1 pencil designed by Luigi Colani, a brave move by Pelikan at the time of its introduction in the 1980s. Produced in collaboration with the Swiss born designer Professor Luigi Colani, the pencil and pen share the same molded one piece body with integrated clip, a very clever and practical item in use. The side button in black advances the 0.5 lead, is very comfortable in the hand, and easy to pocket clip. Unusually the leads are fed into the open nozzle end as the rest of the pencil is a sealed unit The pencil is shown with its usual black plastic packaging, from which it is 'hatching'. Packaging also by Colani. The 'bone' white colour is the most common, however there are several others and if you have a spare arm and a leg they can still be purchased from some online sites. I would strongly encourage all interested in this design to visit the online Colani Design Museum. In his career spanning over 50 years, and still going strong, he has designed over 5,000 industrial and consumer products. I also show the pen variant to illustrate the 'Shark in a tank' packaging. I wonder if this influenced Damien Hurst?

Pelikan No. 1 Mechanical Pencil

Pelikan Auch

In German, ‘auch’ means ‘also’, ‘too’, or ‘as well’.

I’m told that Pelikan made their first branded fountain pen back in 1929. Then in 1934 they introduced their first mechanical pencil. Like the fountain pen it was also a Pelikan, hence its model name ‘Auch’ Pelikan 200 – the ‘Also’ Pelikan, or the Pelikan ‘Too’, model 200 mechanical pencil.

A while back one of my Scandinavian friends, a fellow who in the tradition of nicknames or ship-names I have named Manuka Pooh, went a-Viking and returned home with pocket loads of Pelikan plunder. Being a generous fellow he thought I might be interested in a Pelikan Too too and sent one down to me on the far side of the globe.
The web tells me that Pelikan made these green and black Auchs from 1937 to 1951 and this particular Auch supposedly dates from 1938 although I’ve no proof of that claim. It is in extremely good condition, virtually ‘as new’. There is no brassing or corrosion on the metal trims. The plastic body is in great condition. The wording ‘AUCH Pelikan D.R.P.’ is engraved into the top section of the pencil. Apparently D.R.P. stands for ‘Deutsche Republik Patent’.
The push top mechanism is quite stiff and clicky compared to most modern mechanisms, but this could be from age rather than design. Back in the day, this was quite a modern and sophisticated mechanism – many (or most) pencils were still using screw type mechanisms back then. The lead is 1.18mm. It tends to chew leads a bit, perhaps modern leads are not quite to this old birds taste.

The Pelikan Four

Well, here's my little flock of pelicans, or "mein schwarm pelikane” as they would say in their native tongue, but since they are writing instruments I think we should be a little more poetic and adventurous with our collective nouns, so lets call them “my scoop of pelicans”. In German perhaps something like “meine parade der pelikane” might be appropriate.
I haven’t previously reviewed all my pencils of a particular brand in quick succession, so it seems appropriate to have some sort of a wrap up at the end.

Price points and marketing indicate that Pelikan position these 4 pencils with the Souveran D800 as the leader, followed by the Souveran D400, then the Pura and lastly the Technixx. I must say I disagree significantly with this order. The Souveran D800 is the top of the line, but in my book the Technixx is second, not really all that far behind the D800 and definitely way ahead of the Souveran D400. It’s a little debatable, but I’d put the Pura ahead of the D400 as well, although it’s a fair way behind the Technixx.

So, here's my version of the pecking order within the flock.

Pelikan Technixx D99 Mechanical Pencil Review

Pelikan Technixx D99 Mechanical Pencil Review

This pencil is blue, really blue. Fantastically blue even. It’s a mid sort of blue, almost azure-ish, with a semi metallic gloss. It’s great. Really great. One of the best colours out there in a whole world filled with colour. The Technixx probably comes in other colours, but why would you bother? The blue is great. The sort of blue that reminds a land-lubber he lives on a water-planet. The sort of blue that Neil Armstrong saw when he looked homeward from a long long way away. The sort of blue that...OK, OK, I’m going over-board here, but it is a very nice colour.

Clearly I like the looks of this pencil. Blue body with matt steel / chrome trims. Very nice. The gently tapering lower body, the break at the centre ring to a slightly wider upper body, the long straight bold pocket clip, the colours and textures – everything just fits together to produce a pencil that looks new, cool, modern, etc, etc, etc. Without wanting to insult Pelikan, I am surprised that this pencil hasn’t got “Lamy” on it, because to me, it just reeks of their styling.

In the hand the Technixx has got a very good heavy cold solid feel to it. At 32 grams weight and a top heavy balance you know you have got something in your hand. This pencil feels ready to write something significant. The metallic finish is slightly textured so the grip is quite reasonable wherever you choose to hold it. The cool temperature of the metallic body also adds to the effect the first time you pick it up.

The lead sleeve is a fixed tapering cone so this is for general writing only, and not totally pocket-safe. It’s another Pelikan twist-action ratchet mechanism, the whole top half of the body twists to activate the lead advance mechanism. Unlike the Pura, this one is reasonably easy to operate one-handed with the pocket-clip available to help if necessary. The 0.7mm lead mechanism appears to be another Schmidt like the Pura and other Pelikans, so I won’t repeat the complicated little game to refill your Technixx – just read the Pura review. But just to keep us on our toes, this time they played a trick on us. When you pull the top half of the body off to expose the eraser, if you then pull the eraser out of its housing there is a lead refill hole. Disappointment soon follows, it’s a just a hole to nowhere. (“Fooled yah”. You can hear those pelicans cackling away at you with their rotten stinking fish-breath.)My pencil arrived with a nice Pelikan label stuck on the body to identify the pencil model number etc. Now I’m generally all for this sort of thing, BUT this time around the label adhesive was totally unsuitable for the job. It was definitely not an “easy-peel” type of adhesive and it left a dirty sticky residue behind that really took some significant cleaning effort to get rid of. Very strange and disappointing.
The pocket clip is a strong powerful looking spring-loaded piece of matt steel. This in particular really looks Lamy to me - it is definitely not your Souveran pelican beak clip. It is held in the top cap by two little grub-screws, which are seemingly flaunted as part of the overall design appearance of the pencil.

Right, better call it quits before I write something even more enthusiastically ridiculous.







Final statement - this is a pencil worth owning. Full stop.

• Best Points – This pencil is blue.
• Not So Good Points – I’m currently blinded by the blueness and can’t see anything bad. (‘cept maybe the whole thing about twist-action mechanism, hard to refill, small useless eraser, non-retractable tip, but that would be being picky, ‘cause this pencil is BLUE, really BLUE, the sort of blue that…)
• Price Range – Mid.

Dimensions – Length 139mm, diameter 11mm at lower body. Balance point about 85mm up from the tip.

Hmmm, yes, well maybe I’d had one glass too many of the happy juice when I wrote this review?

Pelikan Souveran D800 Mechanical Pencil Review

Pelikan Souveran D800 Mechanical Pencil Review

This is the second of my two Souveran reviews, and since they are sort of a series it would be best if you had some familiarity with the first one (Pelikan D400) as this review is more of a comparison than an independent stand-alone review.

First off, as a higher numbered model the D800 should be larger than the D400, and as you can see from the comparative photo this is indeed the case. If the D400 is one of the smaller to mid-size models then the D800 is one of the larger sized ones.Photo - Top = D400, Bottom = D800

Overall the D800 is only 7mm (1/4”) longer, but it gives the appearance of being considerably longer because it doesn’t have the narrow push-top button of the D400. This also gives it a much more substantial and impressive look. I mentioned that the D400 didn’t really seem to weigh enough, well the D800 corrects that criticism – it weighs 27g versus 17g for the D400, and it’s a very top-heavy weight as well so you really notice it. This extra size and weight combine to produce a completely different writing experience. Far superior. Call me shallow, but in this case it appears that weight certainly does = value for money and customer satisfaction.

The change to the top of the pencil is a reasonably significant stylistic change, but also mechanistic as well – from push-top ratchet mechanism to twist action ratchet mechanism. The mechanism is exactly like that of the Pelican Pura I recently reviewed – the whole top half of the body pulls off to reveal the eraser, and then its that complicated unscrewing ‘carry on’ to get to the lead chamber.The pencil insert takes 0.7mm lead. I found this twist-action mechanism a little easier to operate one-handed than the Pura’s because of the more prominent pocket-clip. Speaking of the pocket clip, it’s the same styling but somewhat larger pelican beak than the D400 – 41mm versus 35mm long. Even better looking!
As well as looking more substantial the top of the D800 is also somewhat reminiscent of a crown, the sovereigns’ crown I guess. So stylistically I’m much more impressed with the D800 than with the D400. The colour scheme of my D800 is black pinstriping on a blue background. As with the D400 I’m not too impressed by the pinstriping apparently being some sort of sheet wrapped around the barrel.

Overall I am much happier with my D800 than with my D400, and whilst I would recommend the D800 I’m not sure that even my lax value for money system feels totally at ease with it.

• Best Points – Looks and feels substantial. Love that pelican beak.
• Not So Good Points – Complicated lead refill system, tip not retractable.
• Price Range – High.

Dimensions – Length 143mm, diameter 10mm lower body. Balance point about 95mm up from the tip.

Pelikan Souveran D400 Mechanical Pencil Review

Pelikan Souveran D400 Mechanical Pencil Review

The ‘Souveran’ (‘Sovereign’ in English) series of writing instruments are arguably Pelikans signature line. The many models within the series are primarily differentiated by size, but there are some stylistic and other differences. Each member of the series is generally available in multiple writing formats – fountain pen, ballpoint, mechanical pencil, etc.

This review is of the D400 0.7mm lead mechanical pencil, one of the smaller to mid-sized instruments in the Souveran range. Unlike many other Souveran pencils, this one is a push-top ratchet mechanism with a push-top button in the traditional ballpoint pen style. 10 clicks of the button will get you 9 almost 10mm of lead. You pull the top button off to reveal a small eraser, and under that the lead refill magazine. Down at the other end of things, the pencil tip is conical and fixed in position so this pencil is for writing and not particularly pocket safe, although the cone isn’t that sharp. There are no special grip enhancements and I’d rate the grip as average considering the body diameter and material.The D400 has a plastic body and is fairly lightweight. Technically the balance point is quite high up making it top heavy but its light so you don’t really notice. It’s very subjective but somehow being lightweight detracts from my overall impression of the D400. Weight = value for money? The weight just doesn’t seem to fit with the price tag and my expectations.

The lower half of the body is plain glossy black plastic, but the upper half is green with black stripes. Pinstripes if you will. Now, unlike the Parker Duofold, I don’t think these pinstripes are a moulded in feature of the barrel. The more I look, the more I am convinced that they are printed on a sheet which is then cut to size, wrapped around and affixed to the barrel, and that there is a clear glossy outer coating or overlay on top. This looks fine, except on closer inspection, when you can see some mismatch at the join of the pinstriped sheet.

Whilst you can probably tell I’m not overly impressed with the body of the Pelikan, there are couple of redeeming features, namely the trims. The black push top button has a very nice gold coloured Pelikan logo printed on top.The gold plated metal trims seem very good. The central gold band between the upper and lower body halves has “Pelikan Souveran Germany” stamped into it. I always wish that manufacturers would put just a little bit more information on such things, like the model number. The piece de resistance though is the pocket clip, something that Pelikan are well known for. It is a strong metal clip, and quite functional, styled on the beak of a pelican. At the top there are two eyes and the beak (clip) then narrows and expands back out as it sweeps down to the end. Very nice indeed. Very pelicanish. The Pelikan presentation is box is quite nice, I really like the light blue swirl on the top. Now we all know that I’ve bought more than my fair share of ridiculously overpriced luxury pencils and been very happy about it. This time though, something just doesn’t gel, I am left with a sense that I didn’t get value for my money when I bought this pencil.

• Best Points – Love that pelican beak.
• Not So Good Points – Something just doesn’t gel – it’s too small or light or something.
• Price Range – High.

Dimensions – Length 136mm, diameter 10mm. Balance point about 80mm up from the tip.

Pelikan Pura Mechanical Pencil Review

Pelikan Pura Mechanical Pencil Review

If you are a pencil person then you have got to give Pelikan a lot of credit. These days many of the prestigious writing instrument brands offer very few pencils, but Pelikan still offer a pencil option for most of their models. For those of you who may not be familiar with Pelikan, they are a German company, founded in the 1830’s, and today they produce a full range of prestigious writing instruments as well as art supplies and everyday office stationery and equipment. I have been very remiss in not previously reviewing any of their pencils. So, today we kick off with a review of the Pura, one of the models in their more mid-priced range of ‘metal writing instruments’, the level below the models of ‘fine writing instruments’.
The Pura has a lot of aesthetic elements that I like. I believe it’s a available in a ‘silver’ option but mine is the ‘blue’ option. The blue and mirror chrome go well together, a very classy techno sort of look. Man, that chrome is shiny. Real shiny. The blue is a more subdued semi-gloss finish. I like how they have used the chrome to frame a large rectangle of blue on the lower half of the body. Reminiscent of the geometric art deco styles. Overall it’s a fairly substantial yet sleek looking pencil.

The pocket clip is one of the more interesting features of this pencil. It’s a thin piece of sheetmetal, curved laterally so it conforms to the outside circumference of the pen body. There is absolutely no gap between the clip and the body. The clip is spring loaded and mounted right at the very top of the body, which makes me think of the old style soldier clips. These were clip styles with the idea that when the your pen or pencil was clipped inside a uniform shirt pocket you could still button the pocket flap down and the pen would not show or interfere with your uniform. But then the Pura’s clip is probably too long and would still peak out from under the pocket flap and you’d get your name taken down by the drill sergeant.

Although the Pura looks quite substantial it’s an aluminium pencil and thus relatively lightweight in relation to its size. It feels cold when you fist pick up. There is no special grip zone or grip enhancements so you can hold it wherever you like. The blue finish has a little bit of friction to its surface so its not a super-slippery grip, but its not the best after an extended period of writing on a hot summers day. The tip is a tapering cone so this is a writing pencil, not draughting. The tip is not retractable so it’s not exactly pocket safe either. It appears the only lead size option in the Pura is 0.7mm. Lead advance is via a twist action ratchet mechanism – the whole top half of the body twists to click the lead out. The twist range is about 120 degrees to activate the mechanism - 10 twists will get you 9mm of lead. As usual a spring mechanism automatically un-twists the body when you hit the stop position and let go. For some reason I found this twist action a little harder to operate one-handed than other similar mechanisms, perhaps because the pocket clip doesn’t sit out and provide any assistance when grasping the top section. Despite the visually minimal pocket clip this pencil is a little top heavy in use.

To refill the lead chamber you…yes well, this is where it gets complicated. Firstly, as is so often the case, I didn’t receive any instruction sheet with my pencil. I’ll give Pelikan the benefit of the doubt and assume that this means the retailer just lost it, because it’s impossible for Joe Public to refill this pencil without instructions. Surely Pelikan include literature with this pencil. A quick search on the Pelikan website failed to reveal any instructions on how to refill the pencil, but maybe its there, just hidden a bit better than my quick look and search. So, here’s how you refill it:
1 = Pull the body apart. It’s quite tough, just pull hard. This reveals a fairly small eraser.2 = The eraser is push-fitted into a blind housing, so there is no “lead refill hole” beneath it. Instead you grab that black plastic section in the middle of the now exposed internal mechanism and unscrew it from the shaft.3 = Remove the lead chamber cap by pulling on the thin plastic shaft…hey presto, we’re there. Stick some leads in and reassemble. Seriously, they can’t expect anyone but a pencil-head like me to work this out for themselves? Can they? I mean it’s all a bit of a hassle. Now since so many readers are of the highly observant variety, there’s a good chance you are thinking “Hmmm, something familiar about that lead chamber cap”. Yes indeed, it appears Mr Pelikan is buying his componentry from Mr Schmidt, so the pencil mechanism is effectively the “Schmidt Converter” and I guess there’s a possibility Schmidt make the whole pencil on contract to Pelikan. Actually the Pelikan pencil insert is very slightly different from my featured Schmidt Convertor, but other distinctive details of it are the same so I’m sure it’s just a Pelikanised version of Schmidt’s standard production.

The markings on the pencil are “Pelikan” and “Germany” at the bottom of the upper body section, and that nice Pelikan pelican logo is engraved into the top of the top cap.

My pencil arrived in an interesting Pelikan case. It’s a small metal case, but the sides are mostly fabric, and it zips together. Something just that little bit unusual.

• Best Points – The looks. Unusual pocket clip.
• Not So Good Points – Lead refill procedure.
• Price Range – High.

Dimensions – Length 139mm, diameter 11mm at lower body. Balance point about 80mm up from the tip.

Next review will be a "P for Parker" posting.