M600 attributes compared with M4xx and M2xx

jos wrote in another thread:

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Originally Posted by jos

...The caps of the M400 are however readily interchangeable with the caps of the M600 "Old Style" (1985-97)....

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I've owned many Pelikans over the years, but to keep nib swapping simple, I never aspired to owning Pelikans larger than the standard M4xx/M2xx/M7xx/M101N pens. I have always assumed that M600 pens were larger than the M400 and smaller than the M800, and I recall Richard Binder's Pelikan nib webpage noting that the M600 nibs will fit the M400's barrel but are still too large. Then I read jos's comment (above). If the old style M600 cap fits the M400 barrel, wouldn't the old style M600 threaded barrel therefore be the same diameter as the M400? So just what are the differences between the M600 and M400? Length? Nib size? Quality of materials (vis-à-vis M4xx and M2xx)?

The very first M600 pens were the same size as the M400 and are usually known as "Old Style".

This is from Dominic's excellent pelikan-collectibles.com site:

The M600 was made available in 1985 as a luxury version of the new M400 with an 18 ct gold nib and additional trim ring on the filling knob. From 1986 to September 1997 the M600 - in size of the M400 - was added to the standard offering. Only the models M600 from 9/1997 were dimensioned larger.

The fountain pen Model M600 Old Style uses different nibs:

1985 - 1987 with 18 carat monochrome gold nib
1988 - 1989 with 14 carat bi-color gold nib
1990 - 9/1997 with 18ct bi-color gold nib

These "Old Style" M600 nibs are some of the best Pelikan nibs, in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by carlos.q

The very first M600 pens were the same size as the M400 and are usually known as "Old Style"....

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Thank you! Alas, another pen to hunt for.

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Originally Posted by FredRydr

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Originally Posted by carlos.q

The very first M600 pens were the same size as the M400 and are usually known as "Old Style"....

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Thank you! Alas, another pen to hunt for.

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No need to hunt very far. Fellow geek Aurore has two Old Style M600 pens for sale right now on this site. Good prices and excellent seller.

And if somebody doesn't pick up these beauties soon I will reluctantly add another Old Style M600 to my collection. :wink:

The earliest (aka Old Style, 1985-1997) M600 is basically the same pen as the M400 of that period but the M600 came with more bling, eg a decorative gold band at the section front and at the barrel end plus also an 18 karat two-tone nib instead of a 14K single tone nib on the M400.

The build quality and materials of the M400 and M600 are identical. The M2xx was a cheaper pen, not really of minor quality but these pens came in plain colours only and with a one-piece barrel so they were much cheaper to produce compared to the M4xx (and up) range with their fancy striated bindes around transparent barrels.

The Pelikan's Perch has an interesting comparison of old and new-style M600s.

A tale of two M600s https://thepelikansperch.com/2014/11...00-comparison/

Review: old and new-style M600s head-to-head https://thepelikansperch.com/2014/12...n-m600-review/

The only Pelikans I've kept are my old style 600, 400 and dome cap 200.

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Originally Posted by jar

The only Pelikans I've kept are my old style 600, 400 and dome cap 200.

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Other than the additional gold band on the M600's knob, do you find any improvement over the M400?

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Originally Posted by FredRydr

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Originally Posted by jar

The only Pelikans I've kept are my old style 600, 400 and dome cap 200.

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Other than the additional gold band on the M600's knob, do you find any improvement over the M400?

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The original 600 came with an 18k somewhat soft nib.

W.Germany regular flex nibs are a bit springier. or some could call a tad softer.
I have a W.Germany 18 K 800 and 18 K 600, and steel 200....and oddly all three are close as springy nibs.
There is a slight difference between W.Germany 200's and Germany '91-now 200's.

The difference between W.Germany regular flex and '90/91-97 regular flex is minute and one has to have both to feel/see the slight difference.

My '90's Pelikans are a tad less springy as all claim. But those are 14 k gold or steel 150/200 nib pens.

I don't have any 14 K W.Germany nibs.......

I do have a Toledo Hunter from '93, that is regular flex 18K and to me there appears no softer than my other '90's regular flex 14 K nibs nor steel 200.

In they were out, the Hunter waiting to be cleaned and the Celebry in the pen cup.
Just tested my F Celebry 14 K nib and my B 18 K Hunter and they seemed @ = to me.

After '97 the 600 changed size....and went from a nice springy regular flex to a semi-nail, as did the 400. The 800 became a nail. Then all were made by Bock, so Bock made a semi-flex in the 1000. When Pelikan returned the nibs to In-House @ 2010 the 1000 became a regular flex.
The Exact Same Complaints continued :crazy:, (fat, blobby stiffer) . In Bock made Pelikan's nibs to Pelikan specs. So semi-vintage regular flex stops at '97....out side the great 200.

Welcome to FPGeeks BoBo! :welcome:

Welcome BoBo.

Thank the both of you for your welcome.

One must remember,
"""1985 - 1987 with 18 carat monochrome gold nib
1988 - 1989 with 14 carat bi-color gold nib"""

This is still very good to know....but special order was available.

My W.Germany black and gold 600 OBB has bi-color 18K................how ever one must remember both in Switzerland and in France to be 'gold' it had to be 18K, so one could special order a 18 K nib at one's German B&M later that would be 18K/750.

I won a plastic bag seven pen live auction lot, where the pens were from the very late '80's and early '90's and all were 18 K. https://i.imgur.com/DaYPoQV.jpg
These are all 18K/750....the original owner liked 18K.
In Regular Flex, the wood looking Diplomat, black pens, a W.Germany 800 OM, a Waterman 200 Mann F and a W.Germany 149 in F.
The other side is a '93 Toledo Hunter. Below that is two 18 K nails; a MB Noblise, and a Cd'A...fountain pen and an empty either RB or BP.

The second plastic bag lot of pens from the same owner had an 18K OB and OF W. Germany black 800s...what ever the other pens were not of interest to me. It appeared the Original owner liked only 18 K nibs. 18 K nibs were exported to France and Switzerland, so if special ordered would be sold to Germans.

Earlier this month I picked up a 1990-9/1997 M600 with the bi color 18k nib in OB from Rick Propas. It's been good so far, though different than my M400 White Tortoise which is a bi color 14k B.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Just noticed this thread.

There is one big difference between the 600 old style and the 200/400 series pens, and that is the bushing for the filler. On all of the lower number pens the filler is plastic and snaps into the barrel, or in the 50s, slide into the barrel. The 600 old style pump is threaded, and IIRC was brass. The plastic screw in bushing used in pens like the Polar Lights will not fit the old style 600. After 1997, not only did the 600 diameter get larger, but the busing changed over to the plastic version that snaps into the barrel.

Very informative thread for those of us with much less Pelikan experience. Thank you.