Pelikan Souverän — which M-series and which nib width? Owner data points welcome
Looking at my first Souverän and trying to nail down two decisions: body size and nib width. I write with a relatively fine line (~0.4–0.5mm effective) and most of my experience is with Japanese pens, so I'm calibrating against Pelikan's reputation for running broad and wet.
Nib width: My understanding is Pelikan gold nibs run about a full size broad for the marking; an F writes ~0.55–0.6mm, so the EF is the realistic starting point for someone who writes at a Japanese M width. Does that match your experience? And does the M200 steel F genuinely run finer/drier than a Souverän F, or is that overstated?
M600 vs M800 vs M1000 nib character: This is the fork I'm less sure about.
- M600: 14k, slight spring, lightest body (~14.5g), plastic piston
- M800: 18k, firmest of the three, brass piston, back-weighted (~28g)
- M1000: 18k, softest and wettest — I've seen people say subtract a size and a half for line width
For M1000 owners: does the EF genuinely land in F–M territory? Is the softness a feature or something you have to manage?
And for anyone who's owned both M800 and M1000; which one won long-term?
M800 vs M805: Same pen, rhodium trim vs gold-plated. Anything functional I'm missing, or purely aesthetic?
Appreciate measured line widths if you have them