Rose Gold Plating On Mb 149 75th Ltd.

[Montecristo]

This is my first post on the MB forum.

 

I own a few MB fountain pens (Hemingway, Agatha, Proust, Verne, Faulkner, Shaw, 146, 149) and have been very happy with the quality up to date.

 

Recently I purchased a 149 75th Ann. Ltd. and while the seller had indicated loss of plating, I was surprised at the extent of the loss of the rose gold plating, especially on the nib.

 

The pen has been sent to Richard Binder for regrinding (0.7 stub italic) and he confirmed the issue with the plating of these pens.

 

Does anybody here have any experience in getting Montblanc to restore the plating?

 

Thank you for your advise and suggestions.

[Multiechelon]

Hi Montecristo,

 

On several different occasions, I have sent 149 75th LEs to MB to get the nib changed. If the nib was judged mint, I was only charged $40. If the nib was judged used, I was charged $270. I never asked MB about replating a 75th LE nib because I never had a need to do that but my guess is that they will not replate a nib. I think the effort would be too great. In my experience, they swap parts out. They don't restore existing parts.

 

Sean

[Montecristo]

Dear Sean,

 

Thanks for the reply. I will first await the results of the regrinding and then contact Montblanc.

 

Mike

[yachtsilverswan]

Hey Mike -

 

You have great taste. I have the same Binderized BB Cursive Italic 75th Anniversary LE rose gold 149 in my shirt placket today.

 

Mr. Binder had previously reported easy flaking of the rose gold plating on the solid gold nib for these 75th 149 LE 149 pens. When I had my pen reground to a nice wet cursive italic at Mr. Binder's workbench, these problems did not surface - everything went smoothly and my pen looks and performs flawlessly.

 

However, if your pen has already flaked off much of the rose gold nib plating, and if Mr. Binder has not already worked his magic on your pen, you may want to call a time-out.

 

I would be very very surprised if Montblanc replated your nib. I think it is much more likely that Montblanc might replace your nib with a new nib from the same series. And of course if Montblanc replaces the nib, then all Mr. Binder's work has gone for naught - the new nib will be standard factory shaped.

 

Recently a respected collector reported that Montblanc was now unable to do nib exchanges to Broad for this particular pen - so the original 1999 stock of spare nibs for this series may be soon exhausted.

[Multiechelon]

Hi Mitch,

 

I think Ray's comments are spot on. They will just replace the nib, not replate it.

 

With regard to nib inventory, the 149 75th LE is my favorite pen and I own a lot of them. Over the past couple years, I have sent in four of them for nib exchanges. Two to EF, one to B and one to O3B. The nib cost was $40 each time except for the last time when MB told me the nib exchange cost would be $270. That annoyed me because the pen I submitted was in fact a sealed pen; I know because I broke the seal. Because I apparently need hobbies, I took my remaining three 149 75th LEs that were M nibs and sent them in for nib exchanges. I only did it a few weeks ago but I asked for two them to be changed to B nibs. So I will soon learn whether any inventory of B nibs remain.

 

Sean

[fuchsiaprincess]

Hi Mike,

 

Let me echo what both our MB experts have said. I would look into a nib swap first before Richard works on the current nib, if I were in your shoes.

 

Please let us know what the outcome is.

 

Thank you and good luck!

[J Sorrell]

Dear Mike,

 

There seems to be a some miss communication from Montblanc on their stock inventory on these nibs.

 

I was under the impression a couple of months ago (July) that they had 03B's only to be told they didn't. In the broader sizes I was advised that they only had B or BB so opted for the larger BB.

 

I totally concur with Sean in terms of the pricing on nib exchange and/or purchase of a new nib.

 

It seems, as has already been said, that stocks are running low on these which is hardly surprising given when the edition was released and the limited numbers produced.

 

I would put in a call to your local Montblanc boutique to see what they can glean from Montblanc on the nib options available to you and see if helps you decide what to do. At the same time you can get clarification of the pricing re nib exchange/purchase.

 

Sadly, you will inevitably loose Mr Binder's fine craftsmanship going down this route.

 

Re plating the nib, I'm quite sure Montblanc will not offer this to you, no harm in asking though. In the alternative you would have to go to a specialist in this field, god only knows how much this might set you back. I base this on Montblancs previous reputation for replacing rather than repairing damaged parts. There are probably a number of nibmeisters that could offer you good advice on the re-plating issue, Mr Binder, Minuskin et all.

 

I hope some or any of this helps you decide what to do and good luck.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jamie.

Edited September 1, 2010 by J Sorrell

[Montecristo]

Thank you all very much for your feedback. You convinced me to first walk the Montblanc nib-replacement path.

 

Any suggestions on which nib width to get if I want a 0.7 mm stub italic from Richard Binder? WIll also check in with him.

 

The only downside is that I live on a small island in the Dutch Caribbean and our Montblanc boutique here would not know what to do with my request to replace the nib. Shipping would also take endlessly.

 

I will try to contact Montblanc via e-mail to check the options and will be in Germany in October and can then pass by a decent Montblanc boutique. Regretfully I will now have to wait even longer for the binderizing of this pen, but might send one of my others in for customizing.

 

Best regards,

 

Mike

[pen jubky]

Would that dutch caribbean island happen to be Curacao or Aruba?

 

 

[Montecristo]

The island is indeed Curacao. Are you familiar with it (seeing that you are registered as a Netherlands member)? Best regards, Mike

[pen jubky]

Yes, I was born there.

[Wael El-Dasher]

I've been tempted to get one of these pens, specially the way Sean photographs them...makes them look like candy

 

I didn't realize that the rose gold on the nib is a plating. I thought it was solid rose gold. That's a shame. I have to think about it carefully now.

 

Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

cheers

 

Wael

[yachtsilverswan]

I've been tempted to get one of these pens, specially the way Sean photographs them...makes them look like candy

 

I didn't realize that the rose gold on the nib is a plating. I thought it was solid rose gold. That's a shame. I have to think about it carefully now.

 

Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

cheers

 

Wael

 

To get the multicolored look of the nib, the rose gold has to be overplated onto the solid white gold nib. Cutting an inlay of solid rose gold into the solid white gold nib would disrupt the ink flow channels.

 

I think the rose gold furniture is also plated (rose gold plating over brass) - just like the yellow gold plating of the standard 149. Only the nib itself is solid gold. Right?

 

Still - a stunning pen - and the mother of pearl star makes all the difference.

[pen jubky]

I believe the furniture to be rose gold plating over sterling silver.

[yachtsilverswan]

Thank you all very much for your feedback. You convinced me to first walk the Montblanc nib-replacement path.

 

Any suggestions on which nib width to get if I want a 0.7 mm stub italic from Richard Binder? WIll also check in with him.

 

Best regards,

 

Mike

 

Montblanc's factory nibs have a fair degree of width variability. I once ordered a Medium to Broad nib exchange, and when the new Broad nibbed pen was returned, I could not tell the difference from the original Medium.

 

Given this variability - common in any handcrafted work - I would suggest a Broad nib for Mr. Binder to grind down to the 0.7 mm you want. It's possible that a MB factory Medium nib would work - but just by the thinnest of margins.

 

Good luck with your pen project - the 75th Anniversary LE Rose Gold 149 is one of my favorite pens - I have a BB reworked by Mr. Binder into a wet smooth cursive italic.

[yachtsilverswan]

...Recently I purchased a 149 75th Ann. Ltd. and while the seller had indicated loss of plating, I was surprised at the extent of the loss of the rose gold plating, especially on the nib... Does anybody here have any experience in getting Montblanc to restore the plating?

 

If the rose gold plating is missing from the clip and rings too, Montblanc may be able to replace the flaking trim pieces with new rose gold plated pieces from the original spare parts stock of this series.

 

If Montblanc is unable to help you, then you might want to contact FPN Member Bryant. Bryant knows a craftsman who replates worn trim pieces.

[Wael El-Dasher]

I've been tempted to get one of these pens, specially the way Sean photographs them...makes them look like candy

 

I didn't realize that the rose gold on the nib is a plating. I thought it was solid rose gold. That's a shame. I have to think about it carefully now.

 

Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

cheers

 

Wael

 

To get the multicolored look of the nib, the rose gold has to be overplated onto the solid white gold nib. Cutting an inlay of solid rose gold into the solid white gold nib would disrupt the ink flow channels.

 

I think the rose gold furniture is also plated (rose gold plating over brass) - just like the yellow gold plating of the standard 149. Only the nib itself is solid gold. Right?

 

Still - a stunning pen - and the mother of pearl star makes all the difference.

 

I thought the nib was stamped from 18k rose gold then rhodium plating added for the white bits, just like the regular 149 yellow gold nibs are stamped then rhodium plating added. It totally took me by surprise, that's all. I suppose MB didn't get the rose gold plating process perfected as they've got it with the rhodium. They are very good looking pens though.

 

cheers

 

W.

[Multiechelon]

The only comment I would add is that I have not had any problem with the rose gold plating. I use two of these 149 75th LEs almost every day. The following pen has been used (nearly every day) for almost two years:

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149_75th_LE/149_75thLE_used_01.jpg

 

It is a quick photo but I don't see any problem with the nib at all.

 

So while I completely believe the nib can lose it plating, I can't say from experience that it is more prone to lose the rose gold plating than any other multi-color nib.

 

Sean

[penboard.de]

The only comment I would add is that I have not had any problem with the rose gold plating. I use two of these 149 75th LEs almost every day. The following pen has been used (nearly every day) for almost two years:

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149_75th_LE/149_75thLE_used_01.jpg

 

It is a quick photo but I don't see any problem with the nib at all.

 

So while I completely believe the nib can lose it plating, I can't say from experience that it is more prone to lose the rose gold plating than any other multi-color nib.

 

Sean

 

Hello to all, Hi Mike,

 

 

about plating - not sure, if its an issue of the trims = cap band ecc.

or the nib itself.

 

However, I have a wonderful service in Hamburg (not Montblanc, thus affordable)

They did perfect rhodium plating of nibs, even masking work to do towtone nibs,

they also replated all the MB trims of a 149 - to create a white trims 149 .

 

Therefore, if needs be, I can have it done for you.

 

best regards

Tom

[Montecristo]

As promised I can now update you all on the status of my 149 75th ltd ed.

 

Initially Montblanc Hamburg indicated (by phone) that they might be able to re-plate the nib. After delivering it through the MB Dusseldorf boutique (this store deserves a big compliment for their more than excellent service!) I received the message that the nib was to damaged to consider repairing. It had to be replaced. So regretfully I can not confirm whether or not MB would re-plate if the nib was in good order.

 

I just received my pen back with a brand new rose gold 'OM'' replacement nib. I decided on a OM nib and asked Richard Binder to modify two other pens. After all the effort that I put into this pen, I decided to keep the original nib and not run the (however small) risk of loosing plating.

 

The total costs amounted to Euro 210,- / $ 291,- (against todays exchange rate). 'Turnaround time' was 4 weeks.

 

It is a beauty to behold and a pleasure to write with. The only remaining 'issue' is that the new nib does not match the color of the other 'gold' parts of the pen due to their age and slight discoloring. The remainder of the gold parts now more resemble yellow gold with a slight hue of rose gold remaining. I will post a picture of my regular 149 and the ltd. ed for comparison.

 

Oh well, will gladly learn to live with this pen and it has gone into my rotation together with my 149, 146, Hemingway, Agatha, Proust, Verne, Faulkner and Shaw. Now have my eyes set on the Twain.

 

Does anybody know what the base metal is that gets plated? I read somewhere that somebody thought that the metal parts (the nib aside) whether sterling silver that was plated. However, I can't find a hallmark.