Friday, December 7, 2012

Pelikan M1000 Moonlight - The one that shines in the dark

Mystery Pen Unveiled


There are surfaces which love light, drink it, bathe in it while back in the shade they look subdued and dark. This also goes for pen's surfaces. Dark tame-nuri or tame-midori is an example, it can look almost black except when hit by a ray of sunlight (or a studio flash).

But then there's also those which start to shine when the light gets dim, like this Danitrio Mae West kawari-nuri which doesn't unfold its full charm in the sunlight.

Raden is another example, too much light and it looks dull. Put a Raden pen in a dimly lit spot and it will sparkle in the darkness like the neon lights of a nightly city.

Pelikan M1000 Moonlight and Namiki Yukari Nightline Moonlight

That the Mystery Pen was a Raden pen was easily discernible. Raden is a Japanese technique where pieces of abalone shell - beautiful colourful mother of pearl from Sea snails -, is attached to a surface with clear Urushi lacquer. It's often used in combination with maki-e and is a traditional Japanese art form. What makes the mystery pen all the more interesting is that it is a German pen, a Pelikan, to be accurate.

Pelikan M1000 Moonlight

The artwork, for which Pelikan employed a Japenese artist, Mr. Norio Matsuda, is done on the body of a Souverän M1000 as a limited edition from 2011. Raden work requires a lot of experience and patience. It's flawless. Mainly abalone pieces with a blue or green shimmer were picked to give an impression of cool moonlight, though their spectrum will also include a fair portion of purple depending on the viewing angle.

Pelikan M1000 Moonlight

Pelikan M1000 Moonlight

I posted this picture already but I'll have to show it again because it shows the abalone's lovely surface so clearly. Look at those ripples, like waves in a grotto or under a strange moon. The abalone stripes, though, are perfectly straight. It's all optics.

Pelikan M1000 Moonlight

The great thing about this pen is that it can always be your daily writer no matter what nib you feel like using. As with all Souveräns, you can always switch the nib yourself quickly and easily. This one is a BB nib, ground to cursive italic by John Sorowka.

I felt that it was time to do a review of this pen, not only because I like it so much but also because there's not a whole lot of info around about this pen since so few pieces were made and the owners seem to prefer to keep quiet about it.

To see such large pieces of Raden on a pen seems to be relatively rare. More frequently what seems like a large pieces is many minute Raden fragments put together mosaic style. When I get to it I'll show some more examples of how it can be used. It's a fascinating topic. I don't know if I will ever feel old enough to wear pearls, but mother of pearl on pens... or the pearl on the Montblanc Greta Garbo ... that's another story altogether.

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures, Barbara, of a very beautiful pen. And you will be getting the Sunlight as well? I would love to see the two compared in one picture. And I would love to know your experience with that italic M1000 nib.

    Cheers,
    Peter

    PS. English flows from my keyboard much easier ;=)

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    1. Thanks, Peter. :) Yes, I have pre-ordered the Sunlight but it will be February or March until I get it (almost like the real sunlight, lol). I will definitely make some pictures of them as a pair then.

      Thanks for your link to FPN, I hadn't seen that picture yet - that must be the M800s edition from 2005. They look beautiful too. I like the M1000s more though, also for their nibs, they are beautifully soft to write with.

      John Sorowka has reground a lot of nibs for me to cursive italics, stubs or obliques and he's always done a great job. I'll post writing samples with some of them. :)

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  2. Beautiful pen, thanks for sharing!

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  3. That is an amazing pen. I noticed you have the yukari as well. I was considering getting that pen. Which do you prefer? I like the yukari because it has designs in addition to the raden but as I have yet to feel it in person, I don't know what it looks like. Care to elaborate on the minute differences? Thanks :)

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    1. Hi Julian,
      the Yukari Nightline Moonlight is indeed a beauty! As for the differences, there are quite a few, beginning with the size. There's not a vast length difference but the Yukari is noticeably slimmer than the Pelikan with a taper towards the ends. So the Yukari also has a thinner grip section but it also is heavier than the Pel because it has a brass body (as far as I know). The section is made of plastic.
      Speaking purely in terms of Raden design I also prefer the way it's done on the Yukari: parts where there is a lot of Raden for the eye to feed on and parts where it's deep, solid black for the eye to get some rest. I sometimes find that a lot of individual Raden parts scattered all over the pen sort of confuses my eye, it's also like that with the Yukari Yozakura.
      In comparison to the Pel the Yukari is also a much better deal. Downside: very little nib variety, nibs not interchangeable. Sigh.

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  4. Thanks for your detailed answer misselderberry, price-wise its of course a massive difference, the yukari raden being available on nibs.com for about 1800USD. I believe this pelikan is running at about 3k?

    I love beautiful gold nibs, preferably 2 toned ones and that is where the advantage of the pelikan comes in whereas the yukari's nib seems rather..dull and uninspiring..But thank you for that, it was a difficult decision between the m1000 raden or the yukari, something I might have to ponder on for awhile more I think. I look forward to you posting the picture of the other m1000 raden!

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  5. Dear Miss Elderberry,

    I adore fountain pens with raden inlay- they are so beautiful and unique. Unfortunately I have not seen one on real...So may I ask you to tell me- Is the raden in vivid, intense green blue color? Thank you very much!

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    1. Hi Rumyana,

      As the inlays are mother of pearl they change their color depending on the angle in which they catch the light. There's two different species of sea snails who produce the kind of abalone shell used for raden work, the Australian one, whose mother of pearl is blue-green like on this pen, and the Japanese one whose mother of pearl is all shades of the rainbow like on the Pelikan Sunlight.
      It's really hard to show the full beauty of a raden pen in pictures, a video would probably be more useful as the lights wander and change their colors as you turn the pen around in your hand.
      Hope this was of any help :)

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    2. Dear Miss Elderberry,
      Thank you very much! I like very much these pens! They are adorable! I wonder if I can compare Namiki with Montblanc or not (compare the nibqualities?)
      Thank you,

      Rumiana

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    3. Dear Rumiana,
      I can hardly ever stop looking at these myself! As for nib quality it depends on what you're looking for. The Namiki nibs I've tried so far (on the Yukari and the Yukari Royale size) have been very smooth and reasonably wet writers. They're definitely very good nibs. I haven't had a lemon so far and a few of those from Montblanc. However they only offer F, M and B. With Montblanc the range is considerably larger, including obliques.
      Which Namiki are you looking for? :)

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  6. I am considering between Namiki Raden Stripes VP and Montblanc Marlene Dietrich...

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  7. Also the Montblanc George Bernard Shaw which I think is a real beauty!

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