Pelikan Souverän M400

I think the intersection of writing experience and price is at about $300. For that price you can get a a Pelikan M400, Pilot 823, Sailor 1911 large or Pro Gear, or a used Mont Blanc 146 or Pelikan M600. Any of those pens will provide a pleasant gold nib writing experience that will last a lifetime.

I bought a m400 pelikan at the same time and that is a beautiful pen! I haven’t even inked this one up because… well, I’m a bit scared to use it, and I have in the back of my mind that I can sell it if I don’t ink it. But also everyone raves about sailor nibs so I don’t want to let it go without trying it 😆 Maybe I need to take it out of its box and have another look! It looks fantastic in your photo.

: Pelikan M400 tortoiseshell-white (basically all my 4 Pelikans, although two of them were kinda gifted to me). The nib is smooth and it writes wet, it has a great weight and it looks amazing.

The Pelikan m400 is a much smaller pen than the Lamy 2000. This could be a pro or a con, but it’s something to be aware of. Personally, I actually prefer the m200 over the m400, even though it’s a steel nib it writes with a little more bounce as smaller Pelikan gold nibs are pretty firm. I enjoy my Lamy 2000, so I would recommend it between the two but at the end of the day I think they’re both nice pens and it’s your money.

Out of the box, Lamy 2k Medium, my Montblanc's (80 Days LeGrand and StarWalker, both Fine nibs), and Opus 88 Omar Broad. My Homo Sapiens Medium is smooth but not to the same level. My Pelikan m400 EF nib is smooth relative to other EF nibs but I wouldn't call it 'smooth' compared to the others I listed.

My pens that ALWAYS dry out in less than one week: Pelikan M400 (M), Jinhao x750 (M), Pilot Metropolitan (M), Lamy AL Star (EF). I usually just have to dip these dry pens in water for a few seconds, wipe off the excess water and then they write but that's a problem if I am somewhere other than home.

Pelikan M400 (edited: was M200) is a good one, maybe a bit pricey in the US but an excellent pen, and it's a piston filler so no messing about with proprietary cartridges. If cartridges or converters are not a problem the Japanese brands of Pilot, Sailor and Platinum offer some nice options. Platinum's #3776 range, the Pilot Capless or the Sailor Pro Gear Slim are cool pens and not too expensive considering they are gold-nibbed.