Video-Overview: Pelikan Souverän-Series

The Souverän-Series by Pelikan is without a doubt one of the most popular line of fountain pens that is available today. Having a long historical tradition, Pelikan has meanwhile released the pens in a wide array of different finishes, nib sizes, and most importantly: pen sizes.

Now, while pen color (maybe a bright orange or a classic black?) and nib-width (Extra Fine or Broad?) are important choices when selecting a new pen, these are rather easy to make, based on preference and prior experience. Especially, if one already owns a couple of fountain pens and knows what one likes.

What is maybe more important is the size of the writing instrument itself, because a too short and slim pens leads to a cramped and uptight grip, while a pen too large becomes unwieldy and tires your hand quickly.

But even if you are a rather experienced pen user, it is not always easy to select the right pen size – especially within Pelikans Souverän-series, where many pens look quite the same, with the only difference being body size (and also nib size and gold content of nibs, but let’s spare this right here).

If you are like me when I was new to Pelikan pens and the different sizes of these are a little confusing to you, the below video is for you! You likely understood rationally that the smallest Pelikan Souverän is the M300 and the largest the M1000, with the 400, 600, and 800 being in between. But how large are they really? How large do they look and feel in comparison?

Well, unfortunately, online you often find little more guidance than size comparison sheets such as the one below that I took from the Pelikan website:

Size overview from Pelikan website

Personally, however, I found such tables rather useless when it comes to trying to imagine how large the different pens really are and which one I should pick. I tried everything: watching single pen reviews of the different models, or even drawing out the different models on a piece of paper in life-size (based on measurements that I found online), trying to imagine how large these really must be.

Suffice to say that I never really got a good idea of the different sizes like that. Fortunately, I am a pen reviewer, hence fortunate enough to accumulate quite a few pens over the years, some my own, some on loan. To cut a long story short, since I still vividly remembered the ‘which-Souverän-might-be-the-right-one’-pain, and since I at a point in time had all models (spare the M300) on my desk, I decided to pick up the cam and shoot a quick series overview. I hope this helps you getting an idea of the different sizes – and maybe even make an informed and less mind-boggling purchase decision.

So here we now go below with a comparative overview of the following models (single in-depth pen reviews linked):



In the comparison, I also briefly touch upon the different numeration-logics in conjunction with the trim color, as well as the nib sizes and some differences there. This is about as far as I could distinguish in this rather brief overview. I am aware of the fact there are a lot more details that one could compare in the whole Pelikan Souverän-series – I consciously spared them in order to not blow it out of the water with a 60 min video.



Please find the video-overview below – as always, preceded by some quick facts. I hope the clip is helpful and that you enjoy watching it!

Quick Facts

Pelikan Souverän-series fountain pens

Piston fillers

Mostly resin barrels with accents in gold, or plated brass

Available (contemporary) nib sizes: EF – B (14k or 18k gold, mono- or duo-tone)

Cost: between 250 – 600 € (very much depending on retailer, country, and whether the model is a special- or limited-edition or not).

Video Review

Picture Gallery

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Pelikan Souverän-Series

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