What Are The Most Frequently Counterfeited Pens?

[BlotBot]

I have seen several Montblanc Meisterstuck pens recently in seemingly unlikely places, such as Craig's List. I got to wondering if there were some counterfeits, and how many others were out there...

[legitimate3]

The first thing that came to my mind was Montblanc. There was a topic in First Stop about Amazon allowing counterfeit pens to be advertised as real. Don't take my word for it, but I think there would be quite a few Pelikan fakes out there too. Montblanc is one of the most well-known pen brands to people who aren't into pens, so they're probably faked the most. This is what I would think. I am not 100% certain.

[dragos.mocanu]

The Parker "51" is, in my opinion, the most counterfeited pen of all times. Every person that sees any of my P51s immediately says 'I used to have one just like that!', without thinking that it was actually a Soviet or Chinese clone. And they still make them, even though the "51" has been out of production for over 40 years.

Edited August 6, 2014 by dragos.mocanu

[Icywolfe]

Montblanc is one of the most well-known pen brands to people who aren't into pens, so they're probably faked the most. This is what I would think. I am not 100% certain.

I like FPs and I never heard of the Company Montblanc until I joined FPN.

[plumista]

One clue: I can add a listing on eBay for a Parker, a Waterman, an Omas... nothing happens. But when the pen is a Montblanc... ooops, there appears a warning about selling fake Montblanc items. I do not know if eBay does so with other brands, but I do know it does with Montblanc.

plumista

Edited August 7, 2014 by plumista

[plumista]

I like FPs and I never heard of the Company Montblanc until I joined FPN.

 

 

Icywolfe: your case is a first-time-ever for me!

Hope you won´t get addicted... for your budget´s health!

plumista

[Sasha Royale]

I have little experience in this matter. (That's one reason I love this forum.)

I wonder whether many such pens are actually "counterfeits", or copies.

Is the "faux-Montblanc" being represented as a Montblanc fountain pen, or

is the outward appearance used as marketing tactic of a pen ? Serious question.

 

The HERO company of PRC produces copies of several Parker fountain pens.

I have not encountered any that were represented as Parker pens.

 

Are we distinguishing between "counterfeit" and "copy" ?

 

What do you guys actually encounter ?

[plumista]

Yes, a copy of the Montblanc 146 could be a Sailor 1911, and no one thinks bad about Sailor. It says clearly "Sailor" everywhere on the pen. Copies (call them "inspired in", "hommage to" or the like) are full evidence of the original quality, so many brands welcome their copies.

 

Another different story is a pen where you can read "Montblanc" but in fact is not so. This is a counterfeit. This is illegal. This is definitely not what the original brand may wish.

 

plumista

[rwilsonedn]

I think the OP's question is particularly difficult to answer, especially if one observes the distinction between counterfeit pens--intentionally deceiving--and pens that are merely similar to more heavily-marketed pens.

There is clearly at least one company somewhere that intentionally abuses the MB appearance, trademark, and name. How many such companies there are is a hard question--there may only be one. How many different MB pens the company has counterfeited is equally difficult--none of their pens is an exact duplicate of any particular MB model. Adding to the difficulty, there are pens that mimic MB's appearance, but are clearly different, in filling mechanism, nib appearance, etc. These may be used in a false ad, but I don't know whether I would call them counterfeits--the manufacturer clearly didn't intend for them to be indistinguishable from the real thing. There are reputedly also pens that are quite good replicas.

There have been rumors of very good unauthorized copies of ST Dupont pens, I believe. Again, which ones and how many I don't know.

Then the question gets even murkier. Lots of people might point to the Parker 51. But I have never seen a credible case of a counterfeit P51. There are lots of different pens that look like a 51 in some respects, but none I've seen or heard of that really attempts to deceive a purchaser into thinking they are buying the real thing. Most of these similar pens are in fact labelled with the real manufacturer's name or logo.

Ironically, the most likely candidate for most frequently counterfeited maybe one of the pens often accused wrongly of being a counterfeit itself: the Hero 616. There are allegations of many 616 counterfeits being sold in simulated Hero packaging. But once again, I don't know if anyone knows for sure if these are actually counterfeits, or pens made under contract for Hero, or simply variations between different production runs within Hero's own factory.

Interesting question!

ron

[dgturner]

For those calling the Hero class of pens "counterfeit", please stop. When you do so, you actually legitimize the counterfeiting of Parker Sonnets, Montblanc 146/149s, et.al. The Hero pens mentioned are clearly not Parker 51s (with the exception of the 100, which was Parker 51 made after the Parker factory in China was nationalized, but that is a different story).

 

For an example of real counterfeits please look at these links for counterfeit Sonnets:

http://archive.today/Wwf5q

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/ParkerSonnetClones.htm

[TSherbs]

so, anyone know the answer? Which is the most counterfeited pen brand?

[Wahl]

so, anyone know the answer? Which is the most counterfeited pen brand?

 

I would say Montblanc. There are several chinese web pages where you can find them.

[orfew]

There are many websites with origins in China that advertise MBs. They often show legitimate photos of MBs. I suspect that if you ordered one all you would get would be a charge to your credit card. In terms of the most counterfeited models I have never seen a convincing fake of a 146 or 149. They are piston fillers and too expensive to fake. However, I have seen many examples of fake 144s or 145s. Bohemes have also been faked. These are cartridge or c/c fillers and more easily faked. Some Writers Edition pens have also been faked. Take a look on the MB forum and you will see a great many "Is this real?" posts. Sometimes there are several per day. I know this is anecdotal evidence at best, but I would say that MBs are probably the most counterfeited pens.

Edited August 9, 2014 by orfew

[KBeezie]

The reason Montblanc comes to mind is because whenever I look at the MB section, seems to be that 50% or more of the threads on certain days are simply people asking if a listing or their pen is real.

 

I'd imagine any commonly sought brand over a few hundred dollars will likely be counterfeited, especially if the filling system is not entirely known to new buyers (ie: buying a 149 that just happens to take cartridge/converter, convinced that the converter is the 'piston').

 

Design wise they seem to be the easiest to counterfeit and the most profit to be gained from such.

Edited August 14, 2014 by KBeezie

[AustinMalone1999]

Hero 616. I think that more of these are bought every year than Montblanc 149s. Yep people counterfeit a sub $3. The ones in the orange pack are not made by hero, the ones that say doctor or jumbo are. Also a number of Chinese brands imitate Parker Sonnets, Montblanc Starwalkers, and Lamy Safaris without using their names. Cheap knock offs are much more common, they just emulate, instead of imitate, the difference? Paying for lawsuits, and getting away for free.

[MarcShiman]

None of this is a new practice. I am a collector of vintage Italian pens, and Columbus was a major brand in the 1930's and 40's.

 

I have a "Colombus" pen in my collection from Italy.

[chas0039]

so, anyone know the answer? Which is the most counterfeited pen brand?

No question, MB. When they are so high priced to began with, and when the used market routinely sells for 1/2 new, it is a goldmine for scammers because of the high demand for a lower used price. However, even the lowly Hero, as mentioned above, seems to have fakes made. The big difference is a fake Hero is still worth $2, while a superbly crafted, impeccably copied Mont Blanc, one that writes better than the original and fools even experts right down to the serial number, is worth only $50.

 

 

Makes you wonder why the genuine MB is "worth" $900?

[Carl_S]

MontBlanc fakes are probably the pens that are most often sold. The ones that I have seen have the white star on the cap and MontBlanc on the center band.

 

Mont Blanc is also the most aggressive companies in protecting their copywriter. A well known dealer was literally persecuted for having a customized MB on his website.

 

Parker '51's are copied by manufacturers in many countries but are not advertised as Parker pens. (Hero etc)

[william2001]

According to Wikipedia (I know that Wikipedia is not the most reliable source, but it's great for a quick info), Parker Sonnet is one of the most counterfeited pens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Sonnet#Counterfeit_pens

-William S. Park

[rwilsonedn]

According to Wikipedia (I know that Wikipedia is not the most reliable source, but it's great for a quick info), Parker Sonnet is one of the most counterfeited pens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Sonnet#Counterfeit_pens

-William S. Park

I'd never heard that before. It certainly would explain why the Sonnet has such a variable reputation, with some people loving them and some hating them.

ron