With the Pelikan luxury fountain pen range constantly going from strength to strength due to the superior quality of their pens and much lower price tag when compared to competing brands such as the Montblanc Meisterstück range it is easy to see why we constantly see people reaching out about different Pelikan pen models. Although we already have a number of articles based around the Pelikan fountain pen range, we have noticed a number of people specifically asking for a Pelikan m800 vs m1000 comparison article.
As both the m800 and the m1000 are excellent quality pens, we have decided to publish our own ultimate comparison of the two in the hope that we will be able to help any of our readers looking to add either pen to their collection. Although the better pen will come down to your budget and what you need out of the pen, we do feel that the majority of our readers will be better off by going with the Pelikan m800 over the Pelikan m1000 due to its similar performance but lower price tag.
We have our comparison table between the two fountain pen models below going over some of their key features for anyone who is short on time and then below that we have our full, in-depth overview for anyone who wants to know as much as possible about both options. Our regular readers will be aware that we are huge fans of the Pelikan pen range and both the m800 and m1000 really are excellent options that will make a solid addition to your pen collection.
Pelikan M800 Vs M1000 Head To Head
As you can see from our comparison table above, we have awarded the m800 four stars but the m1000 five stars yet the Pelikan m800 is our primary recommendation. This is due to the difference in price tag between the two models. Although the Pelikan m1000 is a better pen, you have to factor in if its advantages over the m800 will be useful to you as well as if it is worth the increase in price.
Although there are a number of fountain pen collectors who will probably want one of each model in their collection due to being such great pens and a number of people with a larger budget who can go with the m1000 without thinking about the price, the m800 is still probably the better option for most people. If you are looking for a high-performance luxury fountain pen for general use then the Pelikan m800 ticks all the same boxes as the m1000 while coming in a few hundred dollars cheaper.
Pelikan M800 Review
The Pelikan m800 is an excellent luxury fountain pen that has continued to go from strength to strength over the years and earn itself an excellent reputation amongst the community. To date, the m800 is the second most popular pen from the Pelikan range with the Pelikan m600 currently being their most popular model.
As we touched on earlier in the article, the m800 can offer comparable performance and quality to some of the much higher price point fountain pens from the Montblanc Meisterstück range while being considerably cheaper. This is due to the prestige of the Montblanc brand and all of their products having a premium attached to them that is usually a couple of hundred of dollars without an increase in performance or actual quality.
The Pelikan M800 Nib
Out of all of the Pelikan fountain pens on the market at the time of writing, the m800 is the cheapest model that offers an 18 carat gold nib as standard with your purchase. Although some people prefer a higher carat rating in their fountain pen nib for the additional flex when compared to stainless steel or gold plated nibs, Pelikan nibs tend to be more flexible than competing nibs anyway.
The nib is available in extra fine, fine, medium, and broad filling the needs of the majority of people who will be looking to use a fountain pen but keep in mind that Pelikan is a western pen brand. This means that if you are used to using asian fountain pen brands such as pilot, you will usually want to go for one nib size higher than what you will usually use as wester nib sizes do tend to be slightly larger than their asian counter-parts.
Although the extra-fine nib variant of the Pelikan m800 can have some issues with scratch on lower-quality, thin paper, the rest of the nib sizes perform flawlessly offering a glass smooth writing experience. This should not be an issue for the majority of our readers as the medium nib size tends to be the most popular anyway and the medium nib offers a great all-round writing experience.
The nib has minimal feathering when writing while also keeping bleed and ghosting to a minimum but your choice of ink and paper quality will come into play when it comes to the level of bleed or ghosting when writing. If you are writing for pleasure with your fountain pen then something like the Paperage range of notebooks with their 100 GSM paper will prevent bleed or ghosting no matter the ink you are using. If you are using your m800 for work and don’t have control over the paper you write on then Pelekan 4001 ink is probably your best option has it rarely bleeds or ghosts.
Although replacement nibs for the Pelikan m800 are easy to source, they do cost a couple of hundred dollars due to being 18 carat gold. Thankfully, the nibs are build to the highest possible build standard and have been designed and engineered to last due to being extremely robust and tough.
The Barrel Of The Pelikan M800
As you would expect from a premium fountain pen from the Pelikan range, the m800 has an excellent build quality with its barrel being made of high-quality celluloid acetate to ensure that it is as tough and robust as possible. This ensures that your pen should last you for many years and easily be able to take any punishment coming its way from wear and tear or accidents such as dropping your pet or it rolling off a desk.
The standard Pelikan m800 is available in black, blue, red, and green with its gold trim with all colors having a transparent black plating along the length of the barrel. Some people do tend to prefer the Pelikan m805 as it comes with a silver trim rather than gold and in many peoples opinion, looks better with the black barrel with the silver trim.
In addition to the standard m800’s, there are also a number of special edition Pelikan m800's on the market with a unique barrel color scheme. That said though, if you are just looking for a excellent, luxury fountain pen for general use rather than being a fountain pen collector, we would recommend the standard m800 over the special edition variants as they tend to have a much higher price tag.
The barrel of the m800 also holds the piston filler mechanism that is used to hold the ink and ensure that the feed has easy access to the ink when required. The piston filler on the m800 is made from brass to ensure that it will work flawlessly for years to come. This higher design and engineering standard of Pelikan is one of the main reasons that their M series of pens have managed to last people decades provided they are given proper care.
The Pelikan M800 Cap
The cap of the m800 is made from the same high-quality celluloid acetate as the barrel and comes in the matching colour as well as with the matching trim. This ensures that the cap of the pen is just as tough as the barrel and that there are no weak points on the pen that may result in damage. The clip on the cap of the pen is solid and ensures that the pen will stay attached to your notebook or pocket without issue and not go missing throughout the day.
The finial of the cap has the new Pelikan logo on it and some people may realise that the logo on the more recent M series pens is different from the older pens. Although we have seen some people worry that their pen is a fake, it is simply due to Pelikan changing their logo again…
Their current logo is the mother pelican with a single baby, the older logo is a mother pelican with two babies, and the original logo is a mother pelican with three babies. Although changing their logo has resulted in a number of people suspecting their pen is fake, all three are now official logos for the Pelikan brand with pens in circulation with all three logos on their finial.
The Ink Reservoir For The Pelikan M800
The Pelikan m800 is able to hold 2.0ml of ink with a full re-fill meaning that it holds around double the industry standard. Although this will not matter much for some people, if you are planning to use your fountain pen for work and have to travel on a regular basis, this helps to reduce any potential issues of you forgetting to take your ink bottle with you.
Although Pelikan does recommend that you go with their 4001 ink when using their fountain pen range, in reality, any premium level, refined ink should work well. Many people use the ever-popular Noodler's ink with their Pelikan m800 without issue as well as a number of other popular inks too. One advantage that the official Pelikan 4001 ink does have over some competing inks is that it can help to reduce bleed and ghosting but many other premium inks also offer this now.
The Pelikan m800 does have an ink view window in the form of the transparent black lines along the barrel of the pen. Thankfully, the larger size of the m800 makes it much easier to see your ink levels than on the m600, m400, and,m200 where it really can be a pain. This offers a quick and easy way for your to check your ink levels without having to check the section to let you know when you should be re-filling the pen’s ink reservoir.
Pelikan M800 Writing Samples
As always, we like to share some writing samples for the pens that we feature and the video below offers some great examples of the Pelikan m800 in action. Please keep in mind that the writing samples in the video are of a Pelikan m800 with a fine nib fitted to it during use.
Pelikan M1000 Review
The Pelikan m1000 is the current flagship of the Pelikan range and it really is an excellent fountain pen with its only drawback being the higher price tag of the pen meaning that on a cost vs performance basis, the majority of our readers will be better off with the Pelikan m800. As we touched on earlier in the article though, the m1000 is an excellent choice for any of our readers who have a larger budget or for anyone who is a fountain pen collector.
The Pelikan M1000 Nib
The nib of the m1000 is 18 carat gold with rhodium plating just like the nib on the m800. That said though, the nib on the m1000 is a slightly different side than the nib on the m800 and fewer stores will stock replacement nibs for the m1000. Thankfully though, replacement m1000 nibs are easy to source online so if you do need to replace your nib, you shouldn’t have any major issues.
The nib of the m1000 is just as springy as you would expect from a Pelikan fountain pen with its design and production ensuring that it offers the best build quality standards possible. Although a replacement nib for the pen is easy to source via various online market places, provided you take good care of the pen, it really shouldn’t be needed due to the nib being extremely robust and tough.
The m1000 is also available with the standard nib sizes of extra-fine, fine, medium, and broad with the extra fine nib tending to perform much better on cheaper, lower GSM paper than the nib on the m800. Although you should always be using a premium quality ink with a pen-like the m1000 or the m800, the engineering put into the nibs of the m1000 during production help to minimize feathering. Please keep in mind though, although Pelikan has done everything they can to reduce the chance of bleed and ghosting with the nib of the m1000, the paper you write on, the ink you use, and the speed that you write will all also come into play.
The Barrel Of The Pelikan M1000
The barrel of the Pelikan m1000 is made from premium quality resin offering the perfect blend of aesthetics and robustness. Not only is it beautiful to look at but it is also extremely tough and should be able to take plenty of punishment over the decades to come during use or from accidents without breaking. Due to the huge price tag of the m1000, it is good to know that your pen can potentially last you for decades to come.
Just like the rest of the M series of luxury fountain pens from Pelikan, the standard Pelikan m1000 is available in black, red, green, and blue with a gold trim. The pen is also available in its Pelikan m1005 variant with the same barrel and cap color combinations but with its silver trim too. Just like the Pelikan m800, there are a number of special edition Pelikan m1000s on the market but they usually have a much higher price tag due to fountain pen collectors being willing to pay a premium for the special edition color scheme.
The barrel of the Pelikan m1000 also holds it piston filler mechanism that is also made from premium quality brass rather than something like stainless steel. This helps to ensure that the piston filler will be able to work efficiently for many years to come without issue and help extend the usable lifespan of the m1000 for as long as possible. The piston filler on the m1000 is also extremely easy to re-fill with ink when required helping it score some points over competing pens from other brands with a difficult filling mechanism too.
The Pelikan M1000 Cap
The cap of the m1000 is also made from the same high-quality resin as its barrel to keep the whole pen as tough and robust as possible and the finial of the cap also has the Pelikan logo on it as usual. Although we have seen some people report that the clip on the cap of the m1000 is a little stiff and rigid, this may be down to design. We feel that it is much better to have a stiff clip on a pen that costs up to $1000 than a flimsy, flexible clip that may end up letting the pen slide out of your picket when not in use.
The cap of the Pelikan m1000 uses a twist lock mechanism rather than a click stop mechanism. Although some people may prefer the click storm system, we feel that it is a much better option to use a twist lock on premium price point fountain pens as it helps ensure that the barrel of the pen will stay attached to the cap and not accidentally detach and end up going missing. We often see people report that they don’t like the twist locks that usually come as standard for most premium fountain pen brands but the reason they tend to be used more than a click stop is to help keep the barrel and the pen together.
The Ink Reservoir Of The Pelikan M1000
The Pelikan m1000 also holds 2.0 ml of just like the Pelikan m800 meaning that it holds almost double the ink to the average fountain pen. Again, we doubt that most of our readers will actually care about the m1000 offering a larger ink reservoir but we do like to make our readers aware of any unique features that pens have that may offer the owner an advantage over going with a different pen.
With the m1000 being from the same range of luxury fountain pens as the m800, the ink view window system is the same. The black lines that stretch the length of the barrel of the pen are transparent and allow you to quickly and easily check your ink levels. Thankfully, as the m1000 is slightly longer and wider than the m800, the ink view window is a little easier to use while being considerably easier to use than the ink view window on the m600, m400, and m200.
Pelikan M1000 Writing Samples
The video below offers some writing samples of the Pelikan m1000 and gives you and idea of exactly what you can expect from the pen if you do choose to add it to your collection of pens.
Conclusion
That brings our ultimate Pelikan m800 vs Pelikan m1000 article to a close. We hope that you have found our article helpful and that we have been able to help you make your decision between the two pens. As we have mentioned throughout our article, both pens are excellent and either will make a great addition to your pen collection while offering you superior performance but we do feel that the lower price tag of the Pelikan m800 with a very similar level of performance to the Pelikan m1000 makes it the obvious option for the majority of our readers.
