Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 286

Just a quick review of a couple of affordable German ballpoints that arrived in the mail recently--an apricot Pelikan 'Jazz Pastel' (model K36) ballpoint and a blue Senator ballpoint:

(~please click on images to enlarge~)

 The 'Jazz' is a newer (circa 2019) Pelikan pen that I bought on Amazon.ca, while the Senator ballpoint is an older model I found on eBay (I'm assuming it's older because the Deutsche Bank advertising imprint was changed to just the DB logo in 2010). The Senator was actually a bit tricky to find because the auction title was "Senator Werbekugelschreiber", which means "Senator promotional ballpoint" in German.

The Pelikan 'Jazz Pastel' is a twist-action ballpoint pen that takes Parker-style refills. The Senator takes a completely different type of refill--a very thin, tubular metal refill with a very narrow tip end. I've seen this latter type of refill used in some older ballpoints and it's a bit challenging to find, but I've had good luck at the Vancouver Pen Shop in downtown Vancouver in the past..

 

The Pelikan ballpoint has a nice heft to it, and it feels really good in the hand. It's an all-metal pen with a matte lacquered finish that is pleasantly cool to the touch. Total weight: 24 grams.

Coming in at a feather-light 8 grams, the Senator ballpoint is a much lighter pen. The Senator was also lighter on my wallet--the Pelikan cost me $16.56 CAD + $4.99 shipping from Austria, whereas the Senator was a mere €4.88 ($7 CAD) including shipping from Germany (to be fair--the Pelikan is new, whereas the Senator was second-hand). Both ballpoints are approximately 5.25 inches / 13.3 cm in length.

(above: the 'Jazz' ballpoint with Pelikan's famous beak-shaped clip and the Pelikan logo below it).

The ballpoint is from Pelikan's "Jazz Pastel" line, which comes in blue, lavender, limelight, mint, rosé and apricot colours. Mine is the apricot, but to me, it looks like a peachy shade of pink, rather than a light orange colour (which is how I'd describe "apricot"). I really love the colour of my 'Jazz' ballpoint :)

There are three other 'Jazz' ballpoint lines---the "Jazz Classic", the "Jazz Velvet" and the "Jazz Elegance", but the "Jazz Pastel" line appealed to me the most because of its lovely, gentle colours and all-matte finish. The ''Elegance' ballpoints seem to have a similar matte finish as the 'Pastels', but they only come in white or black. The only fountain pens in the 'Jazz' line are the 'Jazz Elegance' fountain pens, but they also only come in white or black, and are only sold as a set (steel-nibbed fountain pen + twist-action ballpoint pen).

~ Photos & review by Maja ~