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Aug 19 / Leigh Reyes

The Pelikan M101N brown tortoiseshell.

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I didn’t really want one, but I saw Caloy’s. Damn.

Pelikan M101N

Pelikan M101N

The M101N in brown tortoiseshell is a replica of a Pelikan model from 1937. I want to lick the tortoiseshell celluloid. All right, I won’t.

Cap closeup

Cap closeup

Like mother-of-pearl blended with Bakelite, the surface has a subtle shimmer over pesto and pistachio green, with streaks of dark brown and burnt sienna. It makes me think of combs with silver handles and starched linen handkerchiefs and dance cards.

Uncapped

Uncapped

The M101N comes with a special gold nib with the Pelikan script logo. I replaced it with a two-tone Binder flexible nib. White and gold don’t really match the pen’s vintage feel, but I like the way the flexible nib writes, so it stays for now. The piston filler is its usual efficient Pelikan self.

Another closeup

Another closeup

Lower end of barrel

Lower end of barrel

This is, for all intents and purposes, celluloid porn.

Railroading

Railroading

“Railroading” is what happens when ink runs out mid stroke and the surface tension breaks, giving you two thin lines instead of one fat one. I have yet to figure out what’s causing it. You won’t get this with the stock nib, I promise. That one doesn’t flex at all. I got one in fine and it was a very reliable fine in the one day I used it.

Filed under Fountain Pens and Ink
  • Matt

    Damn Leigh! I can’t afford it and the pen is probably too small. Also, the celluloid . . . I am not sure there are adequate superlatives except maybe “wowza, boom chicka boom.”

    You tick with the Binder nib. That nib clearly rocks. It may not match but it gives good line variation. I am getting a Big Red with a “triple flexible” fine nib and may have to sell a kidney to make ends meet. Because it is a later nib and feed the pen nerds will make fun . . . oh well, I will just flex them up.

    By the way, you really need to find one of these if you don’t have one already. Look at the lever . . . the lever! If that is not a grace in pen construction I am not sure what is.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/180700440341?ssPageName=STRK:MEDWX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1435.l2649

    P.S. I recently did a nib swap with Mr. Mottishaw on a 452 I have. (It has my initials on it, I feel no guilt about this). The nib is something like a superflex, whatever that means, fine stub. It flexes fine as long as I writes at a fair steep angle. As soon as I flatten out the angle it has a tendency to railroad. Does that sound like a feed issue to you?

  • Mao P

    What a gem! Will it take a nib from a Pelikan M400 as replacement?

    Is there a way to deliberately cause railroading so you can write a word with the letters alternating from normal to railroad?

  • http://leighreyes.com Leigh Reyes

    Matt – that de la Rue is such a beauty. I have also considered selling organs to purchase pens so you are not alone. :D Re your 452: There’s more slit to the paper when the nib is at a flatter angle, so ink runs out faster. Could be feed, could be fit of nib to feed, could be other things. I am not big on the “right” nib – as long as it’s a wonderful writer, I am willing to give the pen a home.

    Paolo – yes, it will. M4xx/M6xx are interchangeable. :) As for deliberate railroading: that will take more skill than I have. :D It will be difficult to predict exactly when the railroading will happen, so I expect you can approximate a good hand but it will probably not have as much visual rhythm.

  • karen

    Oh dear! I thought I was immune to the charms of the M101N . . . and then I saw your pictures!

  • Ron

    Pelikan needs to hire you to do their photography. Somehow your photos make this pen look much more attractive than any others I have seen.

  • http://www.pretenseofknowledge.com/ Speedmaster

    Wow, absolutely beautiful!

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  • Caloy

    Lovely photos Leigh. Since the announcement last year by Pelikan on the re-issue of the Tortoise 101N, I waited until it was finally released and had to pester Loy (Describe) to get me one with a BB nib. Pelikan Singapore did not bring in BB nibs, so Loy had to specially order one from Europe. I love the 100/101 models of Pelikan — elegant and simple, as Tom describes it http://www.bleubug.com/2011/05/05/an-old-bird/

    I have a 1943 pearl green 101N but I cannot afford the tortoise models, so the re-issue allowed me to own a similar pen.

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  • Manuel

    I also was using the word “replica” to refer to the M101N until a friend corrected me; the M101N is a “tribute” to a great pen the “101N”. I have fitted mine with a vintage Pelikan nib from 1937, it doesn’t get any better than that.

  • Panros

    Wonderful photos ! What ink are you using ?

  • leighpod

    This should be Noodler’s Golden Brown. :)