2021 SE Golden Beryl Ink & Pen Set
$225 USD – Pen Chalet
Inked with: Pelikan Golden Beryl Edelstein Ink
This pen was part of my Holiday Haul of 2021, but it didn’t actually arrive until early this new year. It’s been sitting cutely on my newly dubbed ‘Pen & Ink’ display cubby (pics in a future post potentially) until now (last month) when I finally cycled it into my Monthly Inked rotation! I bought this pen as part of the Pen & Ink bundle, the LE edition of 2021 appropriately named “Golden Beryl”. Let’s jump in!
Look
Does this pen look super awesome? It’s cute and beautiful!
This is a cute little pen, and surprisingly much smaller than I thought it would be, having owned the Pelikan’s much larger siblings, the M600 and M805. I like the look though, and for some reason, on top of my enjoyment of demonstrator pens, having a demonstrator piston pen in my grasp hits different than just a converter pen. On top of that, unlike the standard TWSBI piston pens, this little pen features a white piston inside it’s sparkly gold semi-transparent barrel, which really serves as a nice compliment. Most pistons tend to come in black. Topping it off with the gold accents, I have to say, this is a really nice pen that is right up my alley.
The pen comes in a nice package, not with the usual carrying case of a Souveran, but with a slot in the box for the paired featured ink. It’s kind of nice to not have the extra baggage though, admittedly. As much as I think the total package makes a difference, being a collector, I actually don’t prefer all the bells and whistles, and just want to enjoy the pen.
The twist cap of the pen features the same gold sparkly semi-transparent material with a classic Pelikan logo in gold on a white finial crowned with a gold ring connected to the Pelikan beak pen clip. A simple half turn uncaps the pen, which is excellent, especially since it still gives me the confidence that the pen is sturdily sealed tight.
This is my first Pelikan steel nib. It is slim, small and simple. It doesn’t have all the fancy engraving of the Pelikan gold nibs, but I quite like the simplicity. Overall, the pen is tiny, but as with all Pelikan’s, the pen is well designed, solid and reliable.
Feel
As mentioned earlier, this is my first Pelikan steel nib. I wasn’t sure what to expect. My impression of the gold nib of the Ocean Swirl is a bit skewed since I had it custom ground as an architect nib. And I wasn’t the biggest fan of the gold nib on the Vibrant Orange. I have to say though, after a month of inkly with this pen, I quite enjoy the steel nib!
I think the small size of the nib allows me greater control, which I’m always a fan of when I use fountain pens for doodling. The small size of the overall pen sets this control back a bit, however, since my fingers tend to cramp when trying to grip the tiny section. I already mentioned a few times that this pen is small, and I would say it’s a bit too small, even for my smaller hands. The pen measures 12.5cm in length capped, and 12cm uncapped. The length is not the issue though, in fact, the length is quite comparable with some smaller sized pens I have, and it still sits comfortably in my hand. The issue is the barrel diameter. The pen barrel is 1.1cm in diameter while the grip itself sits less than 1cm in diameter. That is thin!
Aside from this small profile issue I have with the pen, I have to say, the M200 is still a solid pen. The nib is smooth, no nonsense, and has no start-stop issues, even when I leave the pen unused for a few weeks. There’s a minor flex in the nib, which is fairly standard among most steel nibs. I find that every time I do pick up the pen, I am pleasantly surprised by how well it writes and how enjoyable the nib experience is. The only thing that encourages me to set the pen back down, is that my hand starts to get cramped when I use it for too long. The last thing I’ll add, is that with a piston pen filler, the ink capacity is many fold from a converter. There’s no worry about running out of ink – in fact, I’m still using the pen the next month in after my inkly cycle.
Value
I think this pen is a great ‘affordable’ Pelikan, and is worth the money if you can handle the small size. Without the limited edition ink that comes with it, the pen sits at around 200USD. If you go for an M200 that isn’t a limited edition or an older edition, the pen can even come in under 150USD. If you’re in the market for a higher end pen, but can’t necessarily break the bank for the gold nib Pelikan models, this is a great option. The Pelikan piston filler pens have been long established and been around forever. In fact, I don’t think they’ve released a new design in ages. Why change what is consistently reliable and loved by many pen lovers? Is it my favourite brand out there? Probably not, but it’s not a pen I won’t recommend if it suits the user.
Conclusion
Pros
- solid build quality
- smooth and consistent steel nib
- piston filler has great ink capacity
- golden sparkle pen material is very pretty
Cons
- very thin and small profile pen
- Pelikan is not necessarily an affordable brand
Ink
It would be impolite not to ink the pen with it’s matching special edition ink. Golden Beryl is a mystical kind of ink. There’s so much shimmer in the ink that one swirl will get all the glitter cycling through. Every time I write with the pen, I feel like the ink is solidly sparkly. It’s also rather watery for a glitter ink, and I don’t feel like I’ll run into any clogging issues because of this. The ink feels more like a deep golden orange rather than a yellow gold. Reminds me a bit of an Aztec gold shade. Red, orange and yellow inks tend not to get used in my collection as often, but whenever I want a beautiful and bright accent ink, this is sure to be a stunner.
After the Vibrant Orange M600, I didn’t expect myself to end up getting another Pelikan again. In fact, I was (and possibly still am) ready to sell it. The Ocean Swirl will probably stay in my inventory for a good while purely due to its novelty. Though because of the architect nib grind it may see little use. On the other hand, there is something special about a golden shimmery demonstrator steel nibbed Pelikan that I had a hard time resisting. Seeing that it is still available in some stores, I think maybe the majority of the pen connoisseurs may not feel the same way. If I can find a way around the small pen size – maybe I use it as a purse pen? – then I think this is a solid workhorse of a pen that I would be happy to use as a daily writer.
Stay tuned for the next one and thanks for joining along for another review!
Cheerios!
Weirdoforest Pens 
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