Pens and Ink: Pelikan M250 Black Dark Green with Akkerman Bezuiderwoud Groen

Last week on Pens and Ink I posted about my recent Pelikan M2xx series finds. This week I'm highlighting a pen I mentioned in that post, the Pelikan M250 Black Dark Green fountain pen. And I paired it with a nice green ink from Akkerman's The Hague ink line; Bezuiderwoud Groen.

First let me start by telling you that the nib you see on the pen here is not the original nib. I replaced the original 14k gold M nib (which is the only difference between a Pelikan M200s and M250, the first has a steel nib and the latter a gold one) with an older nib from one of my vintage N400 Pelikans. Why? This nib just deserves to be in rotation more. I've seen David B. from Too Many Inks do this all the time with his Pelikans (Swap nibs between his pelikans) And I decided to give it a go myself. It did not disappoint :)

A closer shot of the vintage nib that came with my Pelikan N400 Tortoise, which I sadly can't properly use as the piston fill mechanism is broken. I love the engraving in the older nibs! The pen itself is one from before 1997 and there is a version from after 1997, which has a different cap and printed logo on it instead of engraved. More info on the difference between the M2xx's series, including this one you can find at The Pelikan's Perch and Reuttinger web site.

So I've chosen to pair the pen with an ink that would match the green cap and piston knob and since I decided to use more of my samples (and then decide if I want a full bottle of it ;) I went though my Akkerman samples and picked this one. I think if you translate "Bezuidenwoud Groen" from NL to ENG you would come up with "South Woodsy Green" ... Maybe? Just FYI, it's not a "real" word in Dutch either! Oh well, it doesn't matter, it definitely looks like a forest green to me! I think the nib also brings out great shading this ink has/ Another great green shading ink from their line is definitely the Groenmarkt Smaragd, which is more of a moss green. I own a bottle of that one, because it came with the pen I bought then. Even though I really like the color of this ink, I am not so sure I need this ink in a full bottle... yet.

In other fun news: as you may know I've been a Swap-Bot Ambassador for a while now and recently I have started blogging for Swap-Bot Blog as well. Rachel, the owner of Swap-Bot, and I discussed it when she was visiting Amsterdam last April and we met up for dinner (together with her husband Travis and their wee one Kenneth). She is such a super fun person, kind, energetic (she runs marathons!) and creative. I'm happy to be able to contribute and collaborate with her on this project. The first blog post is already up and you guessed it, it's about writing with fountain pens! I also am hosting a swap "Fountain Pen Pal Summer 2016 Edition" on the 'bot to help more people just get out their fountain pens and write with them more. Hop on over to the swap page to see more info on the swap and the sign up dates. You have to be a member of Swap-Bot to participate though, if you're not a member yet, it's super easy, just make a profile and read these FAQ's to get you started. And perhaps I'll see your in the mail?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

namasté