Pelikan P205 Fountain Pen

The Classic P205 is one of the two ways into Pelikan, and the one that asks least of you. It fills from a cartridge — swap one in seconds, or fit a converter and draw from a bottle when you feel like it — finished in classic black with silver-colored trim and a polished stainless steel nib. It is the pen to put in a jacket for a day in court without a second thought about ink.

Specifications

• Maker: Pelikan, Hannover, Germany
• Model: Classic P205 fountain pen
• Filling: Cartridge; converter-compatible for bottled ink (converter sold separately)
• Nib: Polished stainless steel; Fine or Medium
• Body: High-grade resin, diamond-cut, self-polishing; classic black
• Trim: Silver-colored
• Warranty: Three years from Pelikan, plus our Thirty-Day Assurance

The P205 and the M200 are a pair, not a ladder. They cost the same and take the same two nib widths — Fine for the redline and the deposition note taken at speed, Medium for the broader, wetter line a signature wants. Pelikan makes these bodies in other widths; we stock Fine and Medium because those are the two a working lawyer reaches for. What separates the two pens is how they fill and how they are finished: the P205 takes a cartridge and wears silver, the M200 fills by piston and wears gold. Choose on that, not on price.

Questions we are asked

P205 or M200? Fill and finish, not price. The P205 takes a cartridge and wears silver; the M200 fills by piston and wears gold. Both come in Fine and Medium. If you want to be done with ink in seconds, the P205; if the bottle is part of the appeal, the M200.

Fine or Medium? Fine for the redline and the note taken at speed; Medium for the wetter line a signature wants. Both are stocked, and the Field Guide below is the five-minute answer.

Can it take bottled ink? Yes, with a converter fitted in place of the cartridge. The converter is not in the box and is bought separately; with one fitted, the pen draws from a bottle like the piston pens.

Is it a first fountain pen for a new associate? Yes. It is the way into Pelikan that asks least: a cartridge, a stainless steel nib with the pelican on it, and nothing to learn. When it becomes the pen you write with all day, the M800 below is the step up.

Is the Pelikan warranty valid in the United States? Yes. Pelikan's three-year warranty against material and manufacturing defects has no geographical restrictions, and it covers the Souverän and Classic series. A defect is repaired, or the pen replaced, at Pelikan's choice. Claims go through us as the retailer, or to Pelikan directly with proof of purchase, and the details are in our Warranty Policy.

Deciding on nib width? Read Fine Nib, or Medium?

Built for the lawyer who wants a proper fountain pen without keeping a bottle in the desk. If the ritual of filling from a bottle is part of the appeal, take the M200 instead. When the pen becomes the one you write with all day, the Souverän M800 is the gold-nibbed step up from either.

See the rest of our fountain pens for lawyers, or the full Writing Instruments collection.

Barrister & Bespoke Curated Collection — hand-selected from Pelikan, the Hannover house that has built piston-fill fountain pens since 1929, for its craftsmanship and fit within our world. Curated pieces carry their maker's own identity rather than ours; our house collection, designed and branded exclusively for Barrister & Bespoke, is marked separately throughout the shop.

Warranty. This Product carries Pelikan's three-year warranty against manufacturing defects, and Barrister & Bespoke's own Thirty-Day Assurance for the first thirty days after delivery. Full terms, including how to make a claim, are stated in our Warranty Policy.

Returns. A fountain pen may be returned within thirty days if it is unused and in its original packaging. Once a pen has been inked it is Final Sale and cannot be returned or exchanged, except where it arrives damaged, defective, or materially different from its description. Fill it after you have decided to keep it. Full terms are in our Returns & Exchanges Policy.