Search the Community

Montblanc Great Characters John F. Kennedy Special Edition Fountain Pen in Navy Blue: “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” - John F. Kennedy I recently acquired this beautiful pen from the Fritz Schimpf online store. The pen arrived packaged extremely well. It took awhile to arrive likely due to delays caused by Covid-19. I have using this pen almost non-stop since it arrived a month ago. My review below, deviates somewhat from the standard review. I do give a final review at the end. The pen comes in a large, navy blue box, along with a very informative book about John F. Kennedy and the specific details of the pen which commemorate his life, with warranty certification on the back page. The pen comes in two color variations – Navy Blue and Burgundy precious resin. The Navy Blue was manufactured first and comes with platinum detailing which perfectly accent the deep blue. The pen is crowned with the Montblanc snowflake logo. As is typical, Montblanc recently announced they would no longer be making the Navy Blue color variation. John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States. He was the youngest man elected to that office, at the age of 43. He came from a wealthy and powerful family, but forged his own way. He was not a great student, but graduated from Harvard University. The Burgundy color represents this achievement. After graduating, John entered the U.S. Navy, which the Navy Blue commemorates, and was stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. Although seriously injured, John survived the war but his older brother Joseph did not. The 3 rings on the cap of the pen commemorate the 3 brothers – John, Robert and Joseph. John’s initials are engraved in the clip. JFK’s dream was to put a man on the moon. The “moon lander” is engraved in the nib, which commemorates that final descent upon the surface of the moon. Summary: 1. Appearance & Design: 10 Strong, clear navy blue resin finished with brilliant platinum accents. Well-proportioned with attention to detail. 2. Construction & Quality: 10 Everything about this pen exudes a high quality of construction and beauty. 3. Weight and Dimensions: 10 This is a pen with some weight to it but is very nicely balanced. The cap, however, does not post. Weight: 56.81 g Length: 14.5 cm Length, uncapped: 12.5 cm 4. Nib and Performance: 10 The nib is a BB (double broad), and is exquisite! It is very smooth and is moderately wet. It wrote perfectly out of the box. I have not written through 3 fills of ink and it is performs flawlessly. 5. Filling System and Maintenance: 10 This is a piston filler and performs fantastic. As mentioned above I have filled this pen 3 times (with typical flushing in between): the first time with Waterman Serenity Blue (my standard for new pens), the second time with Montblanc JFK navy blue ink, and this third time with Sailor Manyo Sumire. The pen cleans nicely between fills and the piston works well. 6. Cost & Value: 10 The Navy Blue color is no longer shown on Montblanc’s website. The retail price of the burgundy color is $1,035.00. For the quality of this pen, I think this is a reasonable price. The attention to detail and overall balance exceed the other Montblancs that I have had. 7. Conclusion: 60 out of 60 = A perfect 10!* This pen has great meaning to me. It is a reminder of a very special time in the life of my family. As a result, I saved and purchased this pen for reasons that revolve around my father mainly. My father also served in the Navy in the South Pacific (as well as in Europe) during WWII. And he worked in the space program as a director throughout the 1960’s and early 1970’s, which included all the Apollo missions to the moon. My father-in-law worked as a director at NASA during this time. So this pen has special meaning to me, especially the blue color variation. I had heard that Montblanc has stopped making the navy blue color. So, when I approached Sebastian at Fritz Schimpf, I did not expect that he would be able to find one for me. But Montblanc has just a few left, and he was able to get one and have BB nib put on it directly from the factory. What was really great is that Fritz Schimpf sold it to me for a great price! They also included a bottle of Montblanc JFK ink as well as Fritz Schimpf Fritzrot – both are fantastic inks. The JFK is a bit dry but has is a great color with a reddish-coppery sheen. The Fritzrot is a luscious burgundy red - like a great pinot noir - and is moderately wet. On top of all of this, Sebastian monitored the entire shipping process from the store to my home. He would email me with updates each week, and when it appeared to be lost, he was able to track it down and move it on to me. But, he informed me that if the shipping company could not find, he would order a new one with a new nib and send it out overnight. What customer service! I can not say enough good things about Fritz Schimpf! In conclusion, this is an exquisite pen – truly a grail pen for me! Yes, it has special meaning, but the pen itself far exceeds my expectations and is superior to any other pen I own. IMHO, Montblanc has created a masterpiece here. *For those that know me, I am a bit of a perfectionist and rarely give high marks. So, for me to rate a pen this high is very unusual. While I wish that the cap would post, I knew that it did not when I purchased the pen – the website was very clear about this. So I could not take a point off for that. Disclaimers: I am not affiliated with Fritz Schimpf. I purchased the pen from them, but all opinions are my own. While I love this pen, any opinion I may hold of John F. Kennedy as a politician or any decision he made, is not given, included nor intended in this review.

Hello, I have inked the first time today my JFK 1917 fountain pen with the ink MB JFK. I put again my photos of the fountain pen and the some writing result of my test. And now few photos of my test with ink JFK:

Despite being met with decidedly mixed reviews, Montblanc's JFK ink immediately became one of my favorites. I use it all the time but, it turns out, a 30ml bottle doesn't last very long. I'm looking to find a good regular-production ink that is similar to JFK, and likely to remain available more or less indefinitely. Does anyone have any recommendations for an ink that is basically equivalent to JFK but in regular production? Thanks for any suggestions!

Hi all, Sorry if this is common knowledge, but I recently came across a picture that shows JFK using what looks to be a Parker 45 cap activated ballpoint. I'm not an expert in Parker, pens however, so I can't be sure. I read somewhere that while it has long been thought that JFK preferred Jotters as his handy-everyday pen (usually to be given out as mementos), it's more likely that they were first 45s which then might have become Jotters. Anybody have any more insight or information? I know the pen does not make the man (rather vice versa), but I've always found it super cool to know what pens politicians/highly visible public figures use in their everyday lives -- away from the ceremonial Townsends and Mont Blancs. Here's the pic: http://66.media.tumblr.com/0663faabfb721f46e7981cfcdff4cac5/tumblr_n8maavQ5hv1qa2j8co3_1280.jpg

WE HAVE TWO SEALED LIMITED EDITION MONTBLANC GREAT CHARACTERS UP FOR SALE!!! 1ST WE HAVE THE MONTBLANC ALFRED HITCHCOCK RB!!! 2ND WE HAVE THE MONTBLANC JFK FOUNTAIN PEN MEDIUM POINT!! We only have one of each so act fast!! Alfred Hitchcock JFK You can call or email for price information. 410-992-3272 or 1800-263-2736 Support@penboutique.com

Hello, Anyone get a chance to pick up the new JFK ink from montblanc, if so what do you think about it.

Dear friends, Just received a newsletter of my MB dealer Appelboom. If you follow the link you can see pictures and prices and launch dates of this year's collection. This year MB the info and pics have been leaked very quick as stated in other topics, but now we even can drool over the pics. I just ordered the 149 90th edition! Can't wait. Enjoy! http://www.appelboompennen.nl/newsletters/nieuwsbrief-12-3-2014-EN.html No affiliation only a very satisfied customer. And really appreciate the info that has been given via a newsletter!