Potential Montblanc 139 purchase?

[J Sorrell]

Dear all,

 

I need some expert advice before potentially making an expensive mistake.

 

I'm contemplating purchasing the following, the ad's description is as follows:

 

"MONTBLANC MASTERPIECE 139 - VERY RARE 1946 - Excellent and VERY RARE fountain pen with gold filled central cap band engraved MONTBLANC MASTERPIECE and two thin cap bands in sterling silver. Revised and functioning filler. Medium flex two tone 14c. nib."

Price: $3,500.00 (US)

 

There is no box and/or papers accompanying this pen, the condition looks to be very good and I have to add that I have no reason to believe that the description is anything other than accurate.

 

Effectively my question is whether this is a reasonable price for the pen in the current market.

 

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

Jamie.

[Wael El-Dasher]

Jamie,

 

It's hard to evaluate without pictures.

 

Wael

[niksch]

The 139 seems to be at the top of the market these days. We've discussed 139 market prices here a couple months ago, and I think I recall that we generally thought $3500 would be at the top range even if the pen was mint with original boxes and documentation.

 

Eric

 

 

  On 5/5/2010 at 10:02 AM, J Sorrell said:

Dear all,

 

I need some expert advice before potentially making an expensive mistake.

 

I'm contemplating purchasing the following, the ad's description is as follows:

 

"MONTBLANC MASTERPIECE 139 - VERY RARE 1946 - Excellent and VERY RARE fountain pen with gold filled central cap band engraved MONTBLANC MASTERPIECE and two thin cap bands in sterling silver. Revised and functioning filler. Medium flex two tone 14c. nib."

Price: $3,500.00 (US)

 

There is no box and/or papers accompanying this pen, the condition looks to be very good and I have to add that I have no reason to believe that the description is anything other than accurate.

 

Effectively my question is whether this is a reasonable price for the pen in the current market.

 

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

Jamie.

[penparadise]

:hmm1: ??? :hmm1:

  On 5/5/2010 at 10:02 AM, J Sorrell said:

... central cap band engraved MONTBLANC MASTERPIECE ...

So far I haven't seen a 139 cap with MASTERPIECE (or heard of).

It's common on 149 caps from the 50th but not on pre war 139ers - as far as I know. :hmm1: But as the barrels of the caps have the same sizes they are interchangable ... it's just a guess.

 

I might be wrong and perhaps there have been 139s with MASTERPIECE engraved cap band, but my four 139s from different production periodes all have MEISTERSTUCK on the cap band.

 

Axel

[Pfhorrest]

  On 5/5/2010 at 2:39 PM, penparadise said:

:hmm1: ??? :hmm1:

  On 5/5/2010 at 10:02 AM, J Sorrell said:

... central cap band engraved MONTBLANC MASTERPIECE ...

So far I haven't seen a 139 cap with MASTERPIECE (or heard of).

It's common on 149 caps from the 50th but not on pre war 139ers - as far as I know. :hmm1: But as the barrels of the caps have the same sizes they are interchangable ... it's just a guess.

 

I might be wrong and perhaps there have been 139s with MASTERPIECE engraved cap band, but my four 139s from different production periodes all have MEISTERSTUCK on the cap band.

 

Axel

 

They might have included Masterpiece in the description, because after all Meisterstuck translates to Masterpiece if I'm not mistaken.

[meiers]

Dear Jamie,

 

Don't do it! The 139 is a very nice pen...

$3500 US is an insane aberration, completely unjustifiable.

The pen was designed to be a "daily writer". A little time goes by and people get greedy...

 

Furthermore, in the absence of verifiable documentation you are at the mercy of the vendor's good will.

I would have the pen assessed and evaluated by a specialist... if you absolutely must have it. In my opinion, however, the price is not reasonable.

 

Matt

Edited May 6, 2010 by meiers

[meiers]

Montblanc Schiller Fountain Pen. Mint, medium nib. The box has issues and is falling apart. If you dont open and close it multiple times a day, it should be fine, but besides that, the pen is great! LE number 6694. $795

 

This is one of the pens BRYANT has just offered in the market place. The Schiller is a wonderful pen. There are many wonderful MB pieces to be had for under a thousand.

 

Matt

[niksch]

  On 5/5/2010 at 11:24 PM, Pfhorrest said:

They might have included Masterpiece in the description, because after all Meisterstuck translates to Masterpiece if I'm not mistaken.

 

 

The real question is whether or not MB139 had MONTBLANC MASTERPIECE engraved on the center cap band. There is no question about the engraving MONTBLANC MEISTERSTÜCK.

 

Translation is not really the issue.

[niksch]

Matt? Where does this fall into the 139 question? The Schiller is a nice pen, but does not compare to a MB139L.

 

  On 5/6/2010 at 1:45 AM, meiers said:

Montblanc Schiller Fountain Pen. Mint, medium nib. The box has issues and is falling apart. If you dont open and close it multiple times a day, it should be fine, but besides that, the pen is great! LE number 6694. $795

 

This is one of the pens BRYANT has just offered in the market place. The Schiller is a wonderful pen. There are many wonderful MB pieces to be had for under a thousand.

 

Matt

Edited May 6, 2010 by niksch

[victorbravo]

Any purchase that you consider a big investment must be done after you physically see the product. Each one of us has a different threshold for a 'big investment' but that should be the general rule to avoid disappointment and years of pain instead of a the joy the item is to bring. Also, take an expert for a second opinion if that is convenient.

 

Hope you get it as I see you really want it! Good luck!

 

V

[meiers]

  On 5/6/2010 at 1:48 AM, niksch said:

Matt? Where does this fall into the 139 question? The Schiller is a nice pen, but does not compare to a MB139L.

 

  On 5/6/2010 at 1:45 AM, meiers said:

Montblanc Schiller Fountain Pen. Mint, medium nib. The box has issues and is falling apart. If you dont open and close it multiple times a day, it should be fine, but besides that, the pen is great! LE number 6694. $795

 

This is one of the pens BRYANT has just offered in the market place. The Schiller is a wonderful pen. There are many wonderful MB pieces to be had for under a thousand.

 

Matt

 

 

Why doesn't it compare?

Edited May 6, 2010 by meiers

[niksch]

  On 5/6/2010 at 2:41 AM, meiers said:

Why doesn't it compare?

 

Because the "Writer's Edition" Schiller is roughly based on the 1920s MB25 safety and/or push-button filler, and it does not even resemble, let alone compare in appearance, filling mechanism, functionality or desirability to the MB139.

Edited May 6, 2010 by niksch

[ruud2904]

@ Jamie, lets see some pictures first...without them it is very hard if not impossible to provide an opinion about the correctness of the asking price.

[J Sorrell]

Dear All,

 

Can I first thank you all for the positive responses by way of the PM's and the actual responses to the topic question, I have been a long time lurker here but until now have never dipped my toe into the water and now feel justified entering into the fray!

 

Owing to my technophobia I have not been able to post the pictures of the said pen and am unsure whether I'm allowed to post the link to the actually advertisement where pictures can be found.

 

At this time I have to say my gut feeling is that I'm going to err on the side of caution and wait, I have some other irons in the fire at this time and might wait to see how these develop before revisiting my potential purchase of a 139.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Jamie.

[karmakoda]

Photos of my Montblanc 139 "Masterpiece".

 

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz218/Valaccar/MBMasterpiece139.jpg

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz218/Valaccar/MBMasterpiece139a.jpg

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz218/Valaccar/MBMasterpiece139b.jpg

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz218/Valaccar/MBMasterpiecec.jpg

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz218/Valaccar/MBMasterpieced.jpg

 

I wish. And if your pen looks like this, how can you resist, even if the cap sleeve is from a vintage 149, which I doubt.

Edited May 6, 2010 by karmakoda

[penparadise]

@ karmakoda,

It's a pristine looking pen. I wouldn't have mind to purchase that pen as well.

 

Axel

[niksch]

@ karmakoda,

 

I knew I'd seen one before...just couldn't remember where. What's interesting is that this engraving (which appears to me to be slightly different that engravings on 50s 149s) is on a long ink window barrel and the piston has DRP markings. Were they exporting pens in the WWII timeframe?

Edited May 6, 2010 by niksch

[karmakoda]

  On 5/6/2010 at 4:02 PM, niksch said:

@ karmakoda,

 

I knew I'd seen one before...just couldn't remember where. What's interesting is that this engraving (which appears to me to be slightly different that engravings on 50s 149s) is on a long ink window barrel and the piston has DRP markings. Were they exporting pens in the WWII timeframe?

Thank you Axel, and Eric. I can only take credit for coveting and hoarding photos of beautiful pens.

The engraving is different than 50s 149s, in that it is "thinner", but I have seen one other L 139 (G), and it was engraved "Meisterstuck", in the more stout, or thicker letters, and had a short ink window. It would be nice to believe that pens in this condition are all original parts, but it may not be so.

Production of the 139 continued well after the war, actually until 1951, hence the presence of the gorgeous 2-tone gold nib, and there was likely a strong export market for the most beautiful pen ever produced by Montblanc, in my very humble opinion.

Greg

[DanielB]

Wow, that is really a "Masterpiece"

[niksch]

But the traits I mention indicate an early, 1939-1940 or so, production 139. My 139s have similar nibs as this one.

 

  On 5/6/2010 at 5:40 PM, karmakoda said:

Production of the 139 continued well after the war, actually until 1951, hence the presence of the gorgeous 2-tone gold nib, and there was likely a strong export market for the most beautiful pen ever produced by Montblanc, in my very humble opinion.

Greg