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Greetings. There's such a wealth of information on this site that I decided this would be the best place to seek advise on this matter. The TL;DR (ie. "too long, didn't read" version) of it is: how can I reliably differentiate a real S.T. Dupont pen from a fake, based on studying the pictures alone in an online listing (particularly of the box and paperwork)? When exactly did S.T. Dupont eschew the red presentation box in favor of the black box? And here's the "mindless drivel" version (any photos below are "borrowed" for the purpose of this discussion, they are not my own): As a kid I've always admired fine wristwatches and fine pens. My dad has a pair of Pelikans (a pen and pencil set) which he used for many years, and still uses them now, and I used to look at all the pictures of intricately-designed fountain pens in those glossy magazines. Now I've crossed the big Three-O and have been working for a number of years (in an unsavory environment not actually suited to fine pens). Those intricately-designed pens are still beyond me, but I've decided that it is time to look for a nice pen. It has to be a rollerball or a ballpoint because my terrible handwriting would do no justice to a fountain pen, and partly also because I would like to use this pen for writing, not just for signatures. On a recent vacation back in my hometown, I glanced through the windows of the local S.T. Dupont boutique store in a big shopping centre and saw the Orient Express Prestige Fountain Pen, which is probably the most beautiful piece of man-made corruption I've ever laid my eyes on. The brand itself however, was unknown to me and up to that point, I only knew of Montblancs [...because, who doesn't...] and Pelikans. I spoke about it briefly to my dad who recalls that some of his colleagues did use S.T. Dupont pens. http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64/liquidkiwi/dupontorientexpress_zpsd7614c12.jpg Instead of stepping into that boutique, I gloated at the display for a while before going for lunch, deciding not to embarass myself by walking into a store selling items that I clearly could not afford. And so it was a surprise that during some research later on, I found a goodly amount of new, NOS and second-hand Duponts on sale at an evil online site, some of which were to my liking and well within my means. In the process I learned about the Chinese lacquer that S.T. Dupont uses on some of their products, something that really piqued my interest and firmly set me down the path of buying my first fine pen. It will be an S.T. Dupont pen and it must feature large expanses of Chinese lacquer. As I was made aware by information on this site, as well as others on the internet, there were numerous counterfeit pens on the market, some of them marketed by apparently credible vendors with an extensive and sound rating who many not even be aware that their stock was not legit. I trawled through numerous listings and realized that the greatest challenge was finding a pen that I liked, and that I could be reasonably certain was legit based on pictures alone rather than handling the pen in person. As such I seek advise from people at this forum who are much more knowledgeable about these things. My understanding is that counterfeits have become very good over the years and it can be nearly impossible to tell from the genuine item. However I was wondering if there were any "tell tale" signs that a pen was a fake. Besides studying as close as possible, the fit and finish of a pen in the photos (sometimes difficult since the photos are sometimes not close enough, or worse, blurred), are there any other visible signs I should look for in paperwork or even the box, if those are available as part of the sale? In the older red-boxed pens which were clearly being sold as featuring Chinese lacquer or "laque de chine", I've occasionally seen outer boxes (ie. the paper box that protects the inner presentation box) that have a line of Chinese lacquer symbols (ie. the leaf) running along the upper edge of four sides of the box (ie. front, back, left and right). http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64/liquidkiwi/dupontpenredpacket2_zpsc09c13e1.jpg Some other outer boxes do not have this feature. On the inner red presentation box itself, I have also seen some that have the line of leaf symbols running along the sides of the lid, while some boxes do not have it. Are they both genuine and the difference is simply a change of design? Should all the older laque de chine models feature the lacquer leaf symbol on both boxes? http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64/liquidkiwi/dupontredboxnoleaf_zps88a645d3.jpg The newer Dupont pens now seem to come in black boxes with a purple liner. These appear even more difficult to study because they all look the same to my ill-informed eye. When did they make the change to use black boxes instead of red ones? I have also read an article that makes a sweeping remark to say that genuine pens always fit well into a customized area in a "cushion" inside the presentation box, while pens that are held in place by only a ribbon are likely to be counterfeit. How true is this statement? It is difficult for me to believe this since I do see a lot of pens presented in either fashion. Finally, some of the older NOS/ little used red-boxed pens may on occasion, have their paperwork contained in a red package that itself features a line of Chinese lacquer symbols, as in the picture below. Assuming that nothing is missing from the box, is this an item I should look for in a genuine item or is it the hallmark of a counterfeit? http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64/liquidkiwi/dupontpenredpacket_zpsa0f5570a.jpg Are there any other things that I should be on a lookout for to differentiate a fake for the real thing? Or am I simply imagining that is possible to safely purchase a genuine Dupont pen at an online auction site? Thank you. Any advise would be most appreciated.

Hello. I recently read a topic about Jotter ballpoint pens. At that time I checked the date code of my Jotter. However I noticed that two French jotter ballpoint pens I purchased last year, one from Japan and one from the UK, do not have a date code. I contacted the PARKER pen company about it through their website and today I received a response from the Writing Instruments Division of Newell Brands Japan, LLC. Excerpts from the reply: Answer: Some of our Parker products (including the Jotter product you inquired about) have the date code engraved and some do not.ー When did this start? At the same time, we have re-asked PARKER about this, but they have omitted to explain it this time, so we may not get a reply. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide. Addition. Before questioning the PARKER pen company, I asked the Tokyo stationery store Ito-Ya where I purchased the pen. The clerk checked several ballpoint pens and the PARKER ballpoint pen she got did not have a date code. (With the exception of one Sonnet ballpoint pen)

I have purchased numerous sonnets via the internet over recent years. I have so far encountered only honest vendors, and have been pleased with what they sold me. My luck has however run out. Sonnet fanciers will have seen recent very cheap sonnets advertised from China, and some of these are straight copies of the French originals: the 'silver circle' and 'gold circle' copy the tartan ST and GT from the 2003 sonnets, and the 'silver diamond' and 'gold diamond' copy the premium silver and gold lustre from 2008. I bought a Chinese gold diamond a while back for £8.99 just to have a look, and I got what I paid for: a cheap and cheerful look-alike but instantly recognisable as not the original and genuine. I was looking for a Premium gold lustre, and encountered one for €120, sold by a southern European vendor with a flashy website. The wording and photos were just a bit unclear, and the vendor's replies to my emailed queries were nearly enough satisfactory. So I paid up. And it has arrived. And despite the signed 'certificate of authenticity' and other paperwork it is clearly one of the Chinese £8.99 variety. One lives and learns. CAVEAT EMPTOR, as they used to say where the pen came from. So that others may not suffer the same fate, the photo herewith shows a genuine sonnet on the left; the Chinese £8.99 effort on the right; and my current disaster in the middle. Note the following: - the arrow fletches in the real thing are fine and taper to each end, but in the other two they are blunt ended, stamped into the metal - the date stamps on both 2020 pens, and a couple of other Chinese ones I have seen, are all IIIQ - the date stamps are not so deep or clear (NB genuine 2008 sonnets have the stamp in the centre of the band, so in this respect the Chinese ones are like the genuine ones) - the hatches in the lines are clumsy and irregular on the cap of both modern Chinese pens - real ones are grouped more like on the barrel of these pens Older and wiser... Peter

Hi everyone, so I ended up purchasing the Montblanc 144 edition on ebay. The pen looks very genuine, writes smoothly (I get a similar feeling to Montblanc 220 when I write with it) and is surprisingly lightweight. I tried putting a magnet near the nib to find out if it reacts but it did not do anything (as golden nibs should). I also used a direct light and the body is slightly translucent (it glows red). But there’s no PIX sign under the clip. And I am still not very experienced to state whether the pen is a fake or not. I’m posting some of the pictures and would be very happy if you helped me. Please note that the pen is very small (only 13 cm) and it is very hard to focus on the details. Also, the pen does not have any serial number, only word „Germany“ engraved on the top ring (I read that MBs from ’80s did not have any serial numbers). Thank you!

WATCH OUT, I just bought a fake Lamy Dialog 3. It was the white version.I have another one white and I can compare them. The fake one is a matte white, the seal that is supposed to be rubber is plastic, the nib is stiff (and probably not gold), the lines on the cap and barrel don't match up either between them, or with the clip, the twist mechanism is horrendous. And the cap has a notch where the real one doesn't. I'll try to post some pics. I hope I can get my money back, since it wasn't on ebay and I do not have any "protection". I'll try and contact the seller. Wish me luck. Link for pictures https://www.instagram.com/hemianopsie119/?hl=ro I'm editing this, because people seem to think a fake lamy Dialog 3 is so impossible, even though most of them don't even own one. Differences from the original: 1.the pen is matte. There is no matte white model. Only a laquered one, which is shiny. ( Do you think Lamy would forget to laquer and polish a pen? Or is the pen polished after full assembly? Really!?!) 2.the clip is matte, not shiny 3.the material even though it's matte, feels rougher to the touch compared to a black matte lamy 4.the nib is stiffer than a lamy gold nib. Is like a steel lamy nib. 5.the yellow part of the nib is washed out compared to the real one 6.the twist mechanism barely moves 7.when taking apart the pen, and unscrewing the part that holds the nib, it also screws and unscrews very hard, like there is a lot of friction. 8.the clip of the pen barely opens and requires tremendous force, the real one opens triple as much with considerabile less force. The clip barely retracts when extending the nib, very imperceptible, a lot less than on the original one. 9.the lines on the cap of the pen do not align with the clip, or with the lines on the body of the pen, not even when the nib is entirely retracted 10.the cap part of the pen, has a cut out that you can see when the pen is unscrewed. The real one does not. 11.the convertor is different also. The turning knob is a matte plastic, not shiny like the original. The "germany" imprint on the knob is different, and the "lamy" one is inside the plastic, instead of raised like the original has. 12.the lines on the body of the pen are on the surface of the coating, unlike on the original where is under a coating of laquer 13.The "lamy" branding on the bottom of pen is slimmer than on the original 14.Also the cartridge included in the box of the pen is different from those that I have 15.the seller has got more than one of these white pens, all identical to this one. 16.the seal that protects the nib from drying out, is a plastic piece, instead of the rubber on the original. ..a poorly executed original pen?.. I don't think so.

Hi all, I've bought in ebaya MB 144 fountain pen. It writes perfectly fine, but I think it is a fake: it has everithing to be real (written, box, warranty, manual....) but the nib: it is a bicoloured iridium Germany with the MB symbol. Is that nib all the needed to understand it is a fake? No MB has been produced with an iridium nib? Thanks. Gian Paolo

Hi, I have just bought 2 Parker Classic pens off Amazon due to how hard it is to find them sold in the U.K. high street shops. I’m a bit concerned that I’ve been sent fake ones, please can someone very knowledgeable verify the legitimacy? The engraving is really faint on one of pens, almost not visible to the naked eye. Also, I noticed that the last R is bigger than the rest off the text on both pens and doesn’t look straight. I have also read from other forums that Parker pens have a crown engraving on the top which mine doesn’t. Moreover, I heard some pens have a date code next to the ‘France’ engraving, I do not have this. I’m not sure whether to put this down to it being a fake or it being a very old pen as it’s not longer being sold. I will try to add as many pictures as possible. Please can someone inform me on this, it will be very much appreciated. Thank you

I recently bought a Sonnet Cascade Gold, date code A.III, which would place it in the first quarter of 2002. But it's a fake. No harm done because the vendor has agreed to refund the price, but I thought it would be worth describing the diagnostic points and showing some photos. I have seen a couple of poor quality fakes but this one is much better quality. The first thing is that the cap does not fit very well. It feels as if it is rough and grating - I have a genuine Cascade Silver, and the cap on this slides smoothly on and closes with a satisfying click. Completely different. The photos show some points. Superficially they look pretty similar. But the lettering on the cap band is cruder, it is offset and not central on the band, the 'III' in the date code are smaller than the 'A', the symbol before PARKER is the curly P and not the oval with an arrow - and the serif on the S in Sonnet is horizontal not vertical. The feathers on the top of the clip are different. On the real pen they are incised, deeper and wider in the centre and tapering to nothing at each end. On the fake they are cruder, and the 'gold' has been applied after the feather were stamped, so they look more blobby and rounded. Finally, on the other side of the band the P and W stamps are larger and cruder in the fake. And the waves in the cascade pattern are subtly different. In the fake the tops are pointy, but in the real one they are more rounded and assymetrical. This varies a bit depending on angle of view but there are definite differences. I hope this helps others not to make the mistake I made. Good luck!

Hi, during the Great Viral Panic, I have been spending far more time on the ‘bay than usual. Yaaarrrr! And I have seen that one can nowadays even buy fakes/‘replicas’/knock-offs of the Vector If you haven’t seen them, here is a link to a UK vendor who is selling the knock-offs in bulk, under several listings. Seems legit... I hate the fakers, and I hate the vendors of fakes. I mean, this guy for instance could just import genuine (made under licence by Luxor) Vectors in bulk from India, put on a 100% mark-up, and sell those in the UK - and in the process make himself a lot of money that I wouldn’t begrudge him at all. Other UK sellers are doing just that. But no. He’s selling the knock-offs. If you are feeling Very Bored whilst at home during lockdown, and are in need of a way to try to kill time (when it just won’t die), you could, like me, waste away the long empty hours by playing the futile game of whack-a-mole that is reporting fake items to eBay. I suspect that the auction site will do nothing at all about the fakes that we report, but it is at least something to do during lockdown. I hope that y’all stay well, stay safe, and don’t get fooled in to buying knock-off pens, converters, cartridges, inks, etc. Cheers, M.

Hello my friends: I hope you are all managing well during this very difficult time in our lives. The photos are of a pen I bought on ebay several years ago. The pen was about $31 and even though I knew that it was a knock-off at that price, I bought it because it looked nice. Anyway, in comparing it to pictures of the real Montblanc Solitaire 925 STERLING Silver 164 Ballpoint Pen MASTERPIECE DESIGN, I can't tell the differences between my pen and the real one. So I am curious about this and wanted to pass it by you experts. Thanks.

I bought some Lamy blue/black cartridges and I have been using them in a Safari & a Nexx. The issue is that they seem to weep ink where they push-fit onto the 'pip'. I tried wrapping the cartridge with paper, so there's some kind of a seal around the end of the section. The paper was impregnated with blue/black ink when I just looked, but there was nothing in the barrel. I would have tried the cartridges in my Yiren 566 but the damn thing has an EF nib. The cartridges have the 'LAMY' mark and are in a box with a Lamy name. Has anyone else had any issue with the fit of the Lamy cartridges? The poor fit made me think they might be counterfeit. I have some Lamy Blue cartridges, but I have only fitted one you my Yiren 566 demonstrator, not to a genuine Lamy pen. My actual Lamy branded pens are a Safari & a Nexx. The b/b cartridges weeped on both pens. I quite like the Lamy blue/black ink. I don't know whether it is non-gall or not.

Hello, I wanted to buy this Meisterstück Le Petit Prince & Fox Classique Ballpoint Pen for a while. It's my first ever Mont Blanc pen. I am new to the high end pen world and have limited budget... I found it on Amazon sold by RD Brands, came shipped from Israel and was about 150$ below MSRP. I decided to buy it there... After some readings, I now doubt I have a fake / replica product... I have the box that looks authentic, a serial number starting with "MBL...", Made in Germany / METAL inscription, I also weighted it and appears spot on. I emailed the vendor, they say it's authentic as well, they procure in bulk from an authorized seller, not being an authorized seller of their own. What do you all think? Real or Fake? Thank you so much!

If the subject has been done to death, sorry. How does one ensure that you are getting the best version? That's weird: A knock-off of a knock-off. The worst are like dragging a finger nail on a emery board, not surprising given that the nib is very fine.

CMIIW, according to the Clip/Cap-band and section thread this is not original right? AFAIK the 2010 style nib hasn't been faked before! Click image for larger resolution Black CT http://i.imgur.com/VefOSewm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/DOAMIWPm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/FvTJxhzm.jpg Black GT http://i.imgur.com/fgVkJB6m.jpg http://i.imgur.com/bC1b79Lm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/L2z8Z1Gm.jpg Red GT http://i.imgur.com/v4iK8NWm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/8uf3jMHm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/NGYmC9em.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GnhJ0ypm.jpg this is new right?

Hello, I recently bought a Parker Classic IM Series Red Color 0.5mm Nib Fountain Pen for $7.99. To be honest, it writes beautifully, but at $7.99 is there any chance it's the real thing? I see them going for much more pretty much everywhere. I'm the only person I know into fountain pens so I come to you, dear readers, for advice. I like the pen regardless, I'm just curious. Thank you in advance.

Is this fake or genuine Montblanc website? https://www.montblancinstrument.com/ Has anyone purchased from them?

Greetings for fellow FPN members here, This is my first post in the Montblanc sub-forum and am asking for your help / advice on a product I just procured. I just bought a bottle of a claimed to be Montblanc Racing Green. The seller only said Montblanc Green but when I saw the ad photo showing it to be racing green on the box I decided to take a punt for it. Now, based on the photos do you think that the ink is legit or is there a chance that this is a fake? Photos below: Any inputs are appreciated!

Hello all. I'm pretty new to FPN, and I'm wondering if you can help me with a question about the authenticity of my Pilot Vanishing Point Decimo. I received the pen today, and when I opened it up to put in some ink I noticed that the nib is unlike any other Pilot VP nib I have ever seen. I have been looking online for hours, but I can't find a single image of a Pilot VP nib that looks like what I have in front of me. I'm thinking that I might have received a counterfeit. Has anybody ever seen or even heard of a Pilot VP nib that looks like this one does? Image Link (because the site is being slow for me and I can't post the images here): https://imgur.com/a/1dceyCa Short Description: The nib has these sort of cut outs in the base, where the nib and feed join with the metal tube. The "wings" that wrap around the bottom of the feed and hold the nib and feed together are also different.

I am used to seeing a more digital looking fond with serifs and more angular font. Is this good? EDIT- I forgot to mention previously that the owner did have this 149 serviced by Montblanc and has that paperwork.

Hello All, Two months ago I started my dive into fountain pens and bought my first "Safari" which I found out today was a fake (yes it was the charcoal EF one with converter). What is frightening is that I have bought a Lamy 2000 on Amazon for $128 from "BestSource OfficeSupplies", and now I am afraid it too is a counterfeit. While the 2000 is around $159 on gouletpens.com, this was is significantly cheaper which now has me worried. Has anyone ever gotten a fake 2000 before? I cannot find much info online, so I'm hoping the production process is too expensive for companies to "fake" the pen but you never know. Would there be any sure ways to tell if it was a fake?

Hi Guys, Just having a look on eBay, an online retail shop selling the Meisterstuck 149 Red Gold. They have two of these and many other various Montblanc pens, wonder if you could let me know if it is legitimate or not. Here is the link below: http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/381255645201?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 Kind Regards,

So as a Lamy diehard, one can imagine that when a shiny new product came out, I could not wait to get my hands on it. In this case, I refer to my purchase of a Lamy Aion from an eBay seller of repute with whom I have purchased other Lamy products in the past. Unfortunately, when the pen arrived today, I found myself with some cause for alarm. I had a spare converter ready to go (the Z27 black converter as listed on the Lamy website as compatible) and found that this pen simply refused to hold the converter in place. It would wiggle around and whenever I tried to fill it, the nib section would fall into the ink bottle leaving nothing but a converter in my hands. My reason for posting is to figure out if anyone else has had this problem with the Aion or if you think I may be the first person to come across a knock-off. Thanks in advance for any input you can provide!

So I won this pen in an auction (yeah already sounding like bad news) and while it seems like the other pen that I got was real (I think maybe a 144? is a cartridge pen) this one seems like a fake to me. The serial number looks to have the wrong font, although when I looked it up no other listings for a pen came up. Also, the imprinting for the nib seems too shallow, and the piston is very stiff to turn. I did put the nib to a magnet to see if it was steel but there was no response. But this is my first experience with any type of Montblanc, fake or real so I'd like a second opinion before I just sell it (ofc stating that its a fake in the listing). Thanks for your help!

I recently purchased a supposedly new and unopened Visconti 3 Pen Case, however, I fear that I may have received a used counterfeit. The case does not have a metal V on the front of it nor does it have the Visconti logo on the back. In addition, the case was stated as new and unopened however the inside of the case had damaged felt. I just wanted some second opinions on this. I searched through FPN, google, and reddit, but I could not find anything. I can provide more pictures if necessary. Thank you,

Hello FPN, I just ordered a Lamy LX palladium on amazon.ca for $53 prime (https://www.amazon.ca/Lamy-X-LX-Fountain-Extra-L58EF/dp/B01MR84Z26) I was just wondering with the rampant news of fake lamy safari's sold on amazon, if Lamy LX models were also counterfeited. ​I also was wondering what would the likelyhood of getting a counterfeit lamy lx would be even if it were shipped and sold directly from amazon.ca. ​Thanks!