With the Pelikan M series of luxury fountain pens being so popular due to offering an excellent blend of quality and performance for their price point in the market, it should come as no surprise that people are constantly on the hunt for advice on the perfect M series Pelikan pen for them. In this article, we are going to be going over our Pelikan m600 Vs m800 comparison as we feel they are the two most popular pens within the M series of fountain pens with both being extremely popular options.
Although the Pelikan m600 is slightly more popular than the Pelikan m800 due to its lower price point yet very similar functionality, the m800 is still an extremely popular fountain pen that has plenty going for it. Throughout our article, we will be going over both pens to highlight the features and benefits of both options while also going over the main differences between the two to try and help you choose the perfect fountain pen for your needs.
We know that a large number of our readers will be short on time and not be able to read our full article so we just want to quickly say that in our opinion, the Pelikan m600 will probably be the better option for the vast majority of people out there. It is an excellent fountain pen that has an outstanding build quality while offering you some of the best possible performance for its price point in the market while having a beautiful look to it too.
Although the Pelikan m800 is also an excellent pen that does have an established place in the market, we feel that its higher price point is due to the higher carat rating of the nib, larger ink reservoir, and larger barrel without much of a change in the actual performance of the pen. That said, if you do have larger hands then the m800 may be the better option for you due to its section offering more space for your fingers and thumb. If you do have larger hands then going with the m600 may have you gripping the threads of the pen at times making longer writing sessions slightly awkward.
Pelikan M600 Vs M800 Head To Head
Our Pelikan M600 Review
As we touched on above, we feel that the Pelikan m600 is definitely going to be the better option between the m600 and m800 for the majority of our readers. Its lower price point means that it is a suitable option for people with a lower budget for their fountain pen and has helped both the popularity of the Pelikan m600 as well as its reputation grow at a rapid pace since release.
The Nib Of The Pelikan M600
One of the main differences between the Pelikan m600 and the Pelikan m800 is the carat rating of their gold nibs. The m600 has a 14 carat gold nib being slightly lower than that of the m800 while also being one of the reasons the pen is slightly cheaper. This will likely not matter to the majority of our readers as the fountain pen’s performance and functionality tend to take priority of its aesthetics.
Both the m600 and m800 are available with either an extra fine, fine, medium, or broad nib with the medium nib being the most popular. If this is your first fountain pen then we would recommend that you just go with the medium nib option as it offers a good middle ground for people new to using a fountain pen while still allowing you to easily write with the pen for the vast majority of situations.
One of the main features of Pelikan fountain pens is that their nib tends to be a little wetter than that of some of the competing brands out there and the Pelikan m600 is no different. In our opinion, this does not have a major effect on the performance of the pen with the vast majority of the community agreeing with us as Pelikan are one of the most popular producers of luxury fountain pens in the world with their products having a huge fan base.
Another thing that the Pelikan m600 has going for it over some of the competing fountain pens from other brands at this price point in the market is that replacement nibs are easy to source. Some of the fountain pens from the Montblanc range can be a pain as it is a nightmare to source replacement nibs for them but the majority of the Pelikan range do have spare nibs available via Amazon making the whole process quick and easy.
The build quality of the nib on the m600 is excellent as you would rightly expect from coming from Pelikan and there are plenty of reports of people owning the m600 for over a decade without ever having to replace the nib. That said though, even with an excellent build quality, accidents do happen so it is nice to know that a replacement nib can be sourced with ease if required.
The nib of the m600 is beautiful with some excellent machine line work on it in addition to the Pelikan logo. The Nib of the pen has been designed to naturally wrap around the pen’s feed to make it slightly smaller than some of the competing fountain pens on the market right now. This helps the m600 avoid the flared look that some other pens can have but can also make the nib a little stubbish for some but it will still write extremely smoothly without issue.
The Pelikan M600 Barrel
As with the rest of the M series of fountain pens from Pelikan, the barrel on the m600 is as much art work as it is a functioning barrel of a fountain pen. Made from premium celluloid acetate, the barrel of the pen is solid and comfortable to hold while also being surprisingly lightweight for its size. The standard Pelikan m600 is available with a body of black, red, green or blue but there are a number of special edition Pelikan m600 fountain pens available on the market now.
The section on the m600 is a little smaller than the section on the m800 or m1000 and this is why we would recommend that our readers go with the Pelikan m800 over the m600 if they do have larger hands. Although the smaller section will be fine for the majority of people, people with larger hands may have some overhang for their fingers and thumb that can result in having to grip the threads of the pen.
The barrel of the m600 has a gold trim around it that goes very well with the main colorings of the barrel of the pen but we know that some people may prefer the silver trim of the Pelikan m605 but this will be down to personal preference and both are beautiful looking fountain pens. The translucent lines along the barrel of the pen definitely catch the eye and they have been designed to catch the light in different ways to reflect light to different locations giving the pen a unique look when rotating it in direct light.
The barrel on the m600 does have a slight flare to it with around a half a millimeter drop-top it from nib to end and although it is easy to feel when holding the pen, it is subtle and more difficult to see but does add to the aesthetics of the pen. There is a small step down at the base of the barrel for posting the cap of the pen with a dome finish that holds the differential piston mechanism of the pen but the excellent build quality of the m600 protects the mechanism from any potential damage from accidentally dropping the pen.
The Pelikan M600s Cap
The m600 has a twist off cap design that most people actually prefer, especially when paying hundreds of dollars for your pen as it helps prevent the cap accidentally coming off and going missing or potentially leaking ink on an expensive suit. The cap has a highly detailed Pelikan logo on the top of it but keep in mind, due to the Pelikan m600 being a relatively new fountain pens when compared to many of the other Pelikan pens out there, it does come with the newer Pelikan logo.
This has caused some confusion over the years as there are now three official logos for the Pelikan brand of pens. Their oldest is the mother pelican with four baby pelicans, the one used prior to early 2000 is a mother pelican with two baby pelicans, and the current logo is a mother pelican with a single baby. They are all official logos for the brand but we have seen some people asking questions online about the authenticity of their M series Pelikan pens due to having a different logo to any older pens they may own.
The clip on the m600 is flexible allowing you to quickly and easily clip it to a blazer or shirt pocket for storage when required while also being robust enough to not break if it gets caught on something when drawing your pen. With the standard Pelikan m600 range, the cap is usually all black no matter the color of the barrel but some of the special edition Pelikan m600s will have a cap that matchest the color of the barrel.
The Ink Reservoir On The Pelikan M600
One of our favourite features of the Pelikan M series of fountain pens is that they tend to have a slightly higher ink reservoir than other brands allowing you to get more out of your pen between refills. The Pelikan m600 has an ink reservoir that is 1.75ml coming in at just shy of double that of some of the competing fountain pens from other brands at this price point. Keep in mind that there is no need to fill your ink reservoir to full each time but knowning that you are able to carry more ink if required for business trips can be a factor for the M series of pens.
Although the black translucent lines on the barrel of the pen do serve as an ink view window, we have seen some people say that even in optimal lighting, they struggle to see the ink level of their pen. This does seem to be down to the build of your particular pen as each of the black translucent lines are unique but if you do have this issue with your pen, you can try to rotate the barrel to look for a black link that you can see through with ease to check ink levels.
Although you can use the majority of fountain pen inks on the market with your Pelikan m600, we would highly recommend that you stick to a premium ink with a premium fountain pen. In this case, the Pelikan Edelstein Bottled Ink as we feel that it does offer the best performance with the Pelikan range due to their nibs running slightly wetter than other brands.
The Edelstein Bottled Ink is available in Black, Blue, and the less popular Green. With the slightly smaller size of the nib on the m600, you will have no issue getting it into the Edelstein ink bottle but if you go with something like the Pelikan m1000 with its larger nib, you can definatley have issues.
Dimensions Of The Pelikan M600
As we touched on above, the m600 is smaller than the m800 coming in with a capped length of 13cm and a posted length of 15.4cm. Depending on your needs for your pen, this can make it the default choice over the m800 but for the majority of our readers, we would imagine that provided the pen is within expected dimensions, it really wont matter much one way or the other.
The m600 has a weight of 18g making it surprisingly light for the build quality and performance of the pen and if you use the recommended Edelstein ink with your m600, it barely increases the weight of the pen. Although some premium fountain pens on the market can end up being back weighted when posted, the M series from Pelikan hold their balance well. This means that even with the cap posted on the pen during use, there should be no issues with balance or back weighting.
Pelikan M600 Conclusion
As we have touched on multiple times above now, we feel that the Pelikan m600 will be the better option between the m600 and m800 fountain pens for the majority of our readers. Although there are some minimal differences, the lower price tag of the m600 and very similar levels of performance make it the obvious choice and our default recommendation for most people.
We always like to share some external opinions with our readers for the products that we cover so we would like to recommend the video below for anyone interested in the Pelikan m600 but it does go over much of the same information as our article.
Pelikan M800 Review
As we have mentioned earlier in the article, the Pelikan m800 does definitely have its place in the fountain pen market while also having managed to grow itself a large user base since its release. Due to this, we will now be going over our Pelikan m800 review section for our comparison with the m600 above to try and cover the main differences of the pens.
The Nib Of The Pelikan M800
The m800 has an 18-carat gold nib meaning it has a higher caratage than the 14-carat nib of the m600. Although some people do argue that the higher the carat rating of a gold nib, the higher the flexibility of the nib and the greater character it will hold for your writing but the difference is minimal, especially when going from 14-carat to 18 carat. This tends to come from comparing the cheaper steel nibs or even the cheaper gold plated nibs of fountain pens to the actual gold nibs where the higher flexibility of the gold can be more noticeable.
The m800 is also available with an extra-fine, fine, medium, or broad nib and again, we would recommend that if you are on the hunt for your very first luxury fountain pen, you go with the medium tip as it is the most popular and offers a nice middle ground between the options. If you have used other brands of luxury fountain pen then some people do recommend you downsize on the nib for the Pelikan range due to their range running wetter than most but we usually recommend you stick with the nib width you are used too.
As the nib of the m800 has a higher carat rating than the m600, replacement nibs are more expensive and can sometimes be a little harder to source. That said though, all of the pens in the M series have an excellent reputation and with proper care, the nib on the pen should easily be able to last you for decades without issue. If you do need to replace the nib on your m800 or just want to have a spare in the office ready but are unable to find them on Amazon, you can always order them from the official Pelikan website no matter what country you are in.
Just like the rest of the pens in the M series, the Pelikan m800’s nib has some excellent machined line work in it with the Pelikan logo clearly visible with excellent detail. The nib on the m800 also wraps around the ink feed like the rest of the pens in this range but many people report that they actually prefer this design once they are used to it due to it making the nib look a little smaller and avoiding the annoying flared look some other pens can have.
Just like the rest of the Pelikan nibs, the nib for the m800 can be a little stubbish when compared to fountain pen nibs from other brands but this does not tend to affect the performance of the pen. The m800 is extremely smooth to write with and it will effortlessly glide over paper without issue.
The Pelikan M800s Barrel
Just like the m600, there is the standard Pelikan m800 that is available with a barrel in black, red, blue, and green with a number of No products found. that are available in a number of unique colors. The barrel on the m800 is also made from premium quality celluloid acetate to ensure it is both as robust and as lightweight as possible to offer the best possible performance to you.
The m800 comes with the gold trim with its gold band around the section of the pen that is slightly larger than the m600 but you can go with the Pelikan m805 if you prefer to have a silver trim on your pens. This comes down to your own personal preference and many people report that they feel the black barreled variant of the m800 looks a little off with the black barreled variant of the m805 looking much better with its silver trim.
As we mentioned, the section on the m800 is larger than the m600 so if you do have larger hands then this alone can make the Pelikan m800 the better fountain pen for you if it is within your budget. The larger section prevents you from accidentally gripping the threads of the pen and although this should not cause a major issue for the majority of people, it can become a little uncomfortable on those longer writing sessions.
As all of the fountain pens in the M series from Pelikan share the same barrel design, the m800 also has a barrel flare with a similar half-millimeter drop to the m600. That said though, it is not as subtle on the m800 due to it being a longer and winder pen but it does add character to the pen with many people liking the visible flare. The pen has the same black translucent lines as the m600 that reflect light in different ways adding that glimmering effect to the barrel depending on how light sources hit it.
The Cap of The Pelikan M800
The cap of the m800 is also a twist-off to help prevent it from accidentally coming off the barrel of the pen and getting lost of causing ink to spoil your clothes. It also has the pelican logo on the top of the cap but as we explained above when talking about the m600, the production date for the m800 also has the logo with the single baby pelican rather than the older logos with two or four baby pelicans.
The cap on the m800 also has a chiseled down step while also having the same flexible yet robust clip to allow you to quickly and easily store the pen as required. The clip on the m800 is a little longer due to the longer body of the pen meaning that it does technically offer a small amount of additional security when it comes to keeping your pen in place over the m600 but this really is minimal and probably won’t be relevant for the majority of people.
The Ink Reservoir On The Pelikan M800
The ink reservoir on the Pelikan m800 is larger than the one on the m600 coming in with a maximum storage capacity of 2ml of ink. This is double the standard ink reservoir load of the majority of premium fountain pens on the market offering advantages of you still being able to use your pen if you are on a business trip and forget your ink.
As the 2ml reservoir on the Pelikan m800 is so large, we imagine that many people who own the pen will not fill it to capacity when refilling it anyway to avoid any issues with clogging or the ink drying but this is down to you. If you will be using your m800 on a regular basis and know that you will be going through your ink supply fast then you can fill the reservoir to capacity with each refill as required.
Again, we would recommend that you go with the Pelikan Edelstein Bottled Ink with your Pelikan m800 as it can offer better performance than ink from competing brands due to the Pelikan nibs running wetter than other pens on the market. We have also seen some people who will purchase a premium price point fountain pen only to fill it with budget ink and end up having issues and potentially damaging the pen too.
The translucent black lines on the m800 do tend to do a better job of acting as an ink window than the ones on the m600. As they are both made from the same material, we would guess that this is down to the wider body and longer lines on the m800 allowing more light to get into the ink reservoir and making it easier to check your ink levels. Due to the ink reservoir being larger on the m800, this feature is not really required as much though as you will not have to check your ink levels as often as you may with the m600 depending on how often you use the pen.
Dimensions Of The Pelikan M800
As we have mentioned a few times, the Pelikan m800 is larger than the Pelikan m600 with it coming in with a capped length of 14cm and a posted length of 17cm. It also has a slightly higher weight of 29g too but this is still relatively light when compared to competing pens at this higher price point from other brands as well as the robust build quality of the m800.
Pelikan M800 Conclusion
The m800 really is an excellent pen but its higher price point and minimal practical advantages over the m600 make it hard for us to recommend it to our readers instead of the m600. We know that some pen collectors will add the m800 to their collection just to get the tick in the box and that some people may go with the m800 just for bragging rights due to its higher price tag and the higher carrot rating of its nib but these reasons are simply not enough to push it above the m600 to become our recommended pen of the two.
Pelikan M600 Vs M800 Conclusion
Although the Pelikan m800 does have its place in the market, especially if you do have larger hands, we would recommend that the majority of our readers save the cash on its higher price tag and just go with the Pelikan m600 instead. We feel that it will be a very similar fit for the majority of people out there and when it comes to the actual performance of the pens, there is little to no difference between them in our opinion and this is why we are choosing the m600 as our winner.
We also have a comparison article between the Pelikan m600 and the Pelikan m400 that you may find helpful if you have been considering the m400 as a potential fountain pen of choice. That said though, we recommend the m600 over the m400 in that article too as the m600 is just an excellent high-quality fountain pen that is well worth its price tag.
