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Hello everyone, Can you please help me with the authenticity of this Montblanc 149? I found it at a local vintage seller at a good price and I don't have the experience to give a good opinion. This is my first luxury pen purchase and I want something classic. Also any opinions on the age and condition of the pen would be much appreciated. Thanks, Radu

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The first time I saw the 149 in a review, I seriously couldn’t get the hype. It looked uninspiring being a boring round top pen with gold trim albeit with a breathtakingly beautiful gold nib. I’d always wanted to try the pen if not, just for the nib. When I got around to finally trying it, at my very first Pelikan Hub (better times, eh?) in 2017, I was hooked. Understanding why the pen was revered as an icon, I wanted to own one someday. And I got my very first 149, one from the 1970s, a few months ago, and here are my thoughts about it. Design and Construction: The pen is huge! It has rounded ends, with the iconic Montblanc star on the cap end. The cap is pretty much straight throughout with the barrel tapering then bulging slightly, and finally tapering to the end. The section is straight without any curves to it and ends in a frustum-like lip, indicating the one-piece construction. The clip widens slightly towards the end and has no bend to it. The center band contains the engraving ‘MONTBLANC – MEISTERSTUCK NO149’ and is surrounded by two thinner bands. The ring at top of the cap is part of the clip and the one at the end is part of the piston filling mechanism. The material used is their ‘precious resin’ which feels light and is quite scratch resistance in my experience. I polished the pen the day I’d received it and in over 4-5 months, I’ve not had many scratches where the cap screws onto the barrel. The pen itself is put together well and feels very well made. Filling Mechanism: The 149 has a piston filling mechanism and holds quite a bit of ink. I’ve not measured it but one fill did last a few days when it wasn’t vacation and I had to write notes from online lectures. Since mine is an old pen, I had to lubricate the piston mechanism and I used a cut, bent, and filed paper clip to disassemble both the piston mechanism and the nib unit. Writing Comfort: I am quite versed with big pens having used oversized handmade Indian pens, but the 149 took some time getting used to, mainly because of the huge nib. The straight section feels slightly weird to grip and causes fatigue after a long writing session. I much prefer the M1000 section. The pen is well balanced though. Nib and Writing Experience: The nib looks stunning, let me just get that out of the way. It’s a bi-color 14c and is paired with a solid ebonite feed. Initially, I had a few issues with ink flow I did a heat-set but that did nothing. I then realized that the feed had been set too close to the nib and this was causing some issue with the seating, lifting the nib off the feed. So, I gently pulled the nib and feed and it came off very easily, without needing a knockout block. Once I set the feed further back and did a heat set, it was flush with the nib. The previous owner had ground the nib a bit to his liking, so I had to adjust it to suit my writing. I’ve inked it with Lamy Petrol and it writes a medium line, with ample wetness. The nib also has a bit of softness to it and that was something I had to get used to since all the pens I’d used before it were hard nails. Final Thoughts: I do not regret my purchase one bit, and I would love to get more 149s in the future. That pretty much sums it up .

Hi all. Would you help me to compilate a list of pens that have a #8 nib, that is to say, the size of a MB 149 or Pelikan M1000 nib? I am interested in both vintage and modern pens from all over the world. Of course, if you know where such a list exists, just let me know. Thanks. MB 149 Pelikan M1000 MB Hemingway Soennecken 111 Extra Matador Garant 998 Goldfink Imperial and Wunderfuller by Tom Westerich. Astoria Goliath (new batch) Delta Dolce Vita. OS Additions from the thread: Onoto Mammoth Soennecken Präsident Waterman 18 and 58 Montegrappa Extra y Montegrappa Extra 1930 GVFC Pen of the Year and Wood Intuition Mabie Todd Big Blackbird Osmia Supra 448 Newton Pens Orville

Dear friends, I recently acquired a MB 149. My first 149 with a fine-ish nib marked 14C. I am intrigued by the cap of the pen. And have the feeling that the cap and body are from different areas. Being no expert on this, I thought to draw upon the collective wisdom of the members of this forum. Could someone help me to date the cap, body and nib? I would be most grateful to learn more about this fascinating pen. Regards, Marrty

I've recently bought a brand new (still in store) Montblanc 149 90th anniversary. Though the pen writes great, there are significant issues with it. Immediately after purchase I wanted to refill after I had done it a first time, but the second time the piston refused to work. It wouldn't screw down/up, as it was stuck. I immediately sent it in for service, and on first impressions they resolved the problem. However, as I am filling it now, it seemingly refuses to take a full fill. If I put the nib up, the filler window remains completely clear. It seems it only takes about half a fill. I did some research and after testing a few methods already posted in this forum to acquire a full fill, it still didn't work. I went on to check for an air leak, and I might've found one. This is where I need your help. Is it normal that when submerged in ink/water, and turning clockwise to suck up ink/water, there are air bubbles coming out of the piston screw mechanism at the end of the pen as I'm doing this? Now, I know I can write with the pen on a half charge, but for this amount of money I expect it to work flawlessly. I'd be really disappointed if I'd have to send it in for a second service and lose it for another month, but so be it if need be. Thanks in advance for your answers! Regards, Robbe

Hi guys, my first post here! I intend to buy a Montblanc Meisterstuck 149, and have an interesting offer for a very old unused one. However, I need some help from the experts here to date the pen correctly. The seller says the pen was gifted to his grandfather some time in the early 70’s. It comes with a tri tone 18C (so the letter is C and not K), a screw type piston filler and what appears to be an ebonite feed (I need your confirmation). The width is F. However, the seller claims it was never inked and he doesn’t want to ink it now (wants to sell it that way). Should I expect some flex and line variation from this pen? The seller asks for 300 euro for this pen, is it worth the price? I uploaded some pics and videos. Many thanks! IMG_0052.MP4 IMG_0055.MOV

I'm cooling down after excitement of being featured by Stephen Brown in his channel so I got back to work Montblanc Meisterstuck 149 (including Calligraphy Special Edition) in my new video. I am lacquering three 149s with urushi right now so I decided to show the pen closer. Including a special edition with a flexible nib - Calligraphy. I compare it with 146, 144, 142 (celluloid from the 50s) and of course with the Pelikan M1000. I show how these pens write, how to take it apart, how to prepare it for lacquering with urushi, too. In writing sequences I have a "hand doubble" ;-)

The (Japanese) Elephant in the Room Pilot Custom Urushi I won’t bore you with the specifications, basic descriptions, or construction components of this pen, because they have been covered in other reviews of this pen. Instead, I’d like to tell you how I feel about owning this pen, which I received about a month ago... Long enough for the honeymoon to be over and to be able to take a critical look at this pen. Some background: I have been using fountain pens since I was about ten years old. I have a small collection of top-drawer pens, including Montblanc 146 & 149, Pelikan M800 & M1000, Visconti Homo Sapiens Dark Age Maxi, Nakaya Neo Standard, Parker 51’s and the ubiquitous Lamy 2000. I’ve always loved thick pens, and at my age, arthritis is starting to develop so I love them even more. I began searching for a new pen because while I was happy with the width of the grip on my 149, I was unhappy with its length. Likewise, I liked the length of the grip on the M1000, but not the width. I purchased the Nakaya six months ago and love the urushi finish, so I focused my search on Japanese pens. With some advice, I zeroed in on the Pilot Custom Urushi. I purchased my pen from nibs.com and was shocked when the card was personally signed by John Mottishaw, indicating that he set up this pen. (The other two pens I ordered from them were adjusted by his team and I’ve heard through forums that he is reducing his work. I feel lucky. Thanks, John!) NIB: The pen has a huge and wonderful medium nib, which writes very similarly in width to the Pelikan M1000’s fine nib. It has a touch of bounce, which is much less pronounced than my M1000 and Visconti Dream Touch nibs. I find that I have to pay very close attention to the latter two nibs because they require very precise pressure, which can be fatiguing in long writing sessions. I do not discern any feedback with this nib, which is slightly disappointing when compared to my Nakaya, but something I can live without. GRIP: The most important part of this pen for me and its main selling point. For me, it is utter perfection. It is slightly longer than the M1000, very similar to the width of the 149, and fits my hand like it was custom made for me. (Maybe that’s the “Custom” in the name.) The slight taper is very comfortable as well. I was worried that the gold band embedded in the grip could be felt, but I was pleasantly surprised that it feels seamless. I am able to write for hours without my fingers cramping or my knuckles burning. I couldn’t be happier with the grip on this pen! Here, the pens are aligned by the threads so you can really compare the grips: FIT & FINISH: This pen feels like it was made under a microscope. The build quality and tolerances are quite literally amazing and much better than any of the other pens that I own. When I unscrew the barrel to access the converter, I can feel absolutely no feedback. (I had to look to make sure it was coming apart as it was that smooth.) The metal bands feel cool to the hand and not plasticky like on the M1000. Under a loupe, the black filling in the lettering on the cap band appears to have been perfectly applied and the contrast with the gold looks really great. However, the black lettering makes the clip on the cap look cheap and out of place because PILOT is merely stamped into the metal and not filled with black paint like on the band. I would have greatly preferred the clip and band to match. Also not matching are the end cap on the barrel and the finial on the cap. The cap finial has a gold band while the body’s does not, and to me, it makes the barrel look unfinished and overlooked. URUSHI: If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that this pen was made of high quality plastic. I cannot easily discern what is urushi and what is plastic. It feels very highly polished and is one of the most reflective pens that I own. I ordered mine in black instead of vermillion because my brain has a hard time filling a red pen with blue ink (I know, I’m strange), so the vermillion pens may have a more pronounced urushi look. This also may be a testament to the quality and finishing of the plastic as well (no seams or manufacturing marks). I would have been quite happy to pay a lot less for this pen sans urushi, but do appreciate the amount of labor that went into creating this writing instrument. CAP: This is the most ridiculously, comically large cap ever. It is so big that I can’t store this pen in any of my pen cases, including my Montblanc single pen case made for the 149. (The case microscratched the cap while pulling it in and out.) It fits into my Nakaya pen kimono, but that parking spot is reserved for the Neo Standard. I found a folding pen case at Montblanc that it fits into, but because of the size of the cap and necessary storage case, I do not see myself taking this pen with me when I travel. A shame, really. FINAL THOUGHTS: If I had to buy this pen over again, I’d absolutely do it. While I have some quibbles about the pen overall, the wonderful feel in my hand and fantastic nib are what makes a great pen great… At least for me.

Hello everyone here at FPN. In the past I shared with you a thread in which I expressed my desire to obtain Montblanc 149 since for me it had always been a pretty beautiful fountain pen that from my children I longed to obtain. The price of a new MB 149 is high, so I decided to get a used one to "save a lot of money" and to my misfortune it was the opposite. I noticed one that I found here at the fountain pen network in the USD 420 classifieds and I contacted the seller and asked him if he had the pen available and he told me that it was not and he showed me another one in the private messages and he told me that It was a condition near mint, fine point and it worked amazing, so I decided to buy it and with it the beginning of the curse and misfortune. The pen came to my house and I was completely excited but when I used it, my performance had completely disappointed me, I wrote horribly dry and cut the lines in several places. So furious I decided to start the claim via paypal to get the refund, everything was going well and I just had to send it to the country of which Poland is and then paypal gave me my money. But suddenly everything got terrible against me because of the fault of the postal service of my country since they sent the pen to the United States instead of Poland and according to them they were going to solve this problem but no, they did it again and I lost the Paypal case because of him and the guy who scammed me went unpunished. So I ran out of my money and with a defective product so I resigned myself to staying with her and decided to send her to a nibmeister to fix these problems and he told me that the nib tines were too tight and that the tip was wrong made and deformed and that is why he wrote so badly. So he told me that he gave the correct shape to the tip and increased its ink flow to write wet. The pen just arrived a few days ago after his visit with the nibmeister and indeed the nib writes quite wet but my problems are not over yet, now what happens is that the fountain pen when I just recharged writes quite wet and smooth and without any failure in the strokes but ... after a while it begins to write something drier and begins to omit strokes. Before sending the pen with the nibmeister it already presented a flow that was decreasing and terrible but I attributed it more to the nib. So now the problem is the feed? The pen suffers a lot from ink starvation after a while writing, in my opinion it is quite unacceptable even my cheapest pens do not show these symptoms. Then he sold me a pen with nib and defective feed? .. what a scammer was that guy who sold it to me. I am currently devastated I have invested this pen enough money to almost reach the price of a new MB149. I don't even know what it has if the fountain pen needs a new feed and I should send it to the Montblanc service, or if I leave it in oblivion, pure frustration has brought me, the dream turned into a nightmare !! All I wanted was for my dream pen to write as well as it looks.

Hi All, Got a MB 149 filler nob with a broken helical rod still in it but broken so there's only about one inch left still fixed to the inside fixing. I can still see the C clip in place holding the remains of the old helical rod. Does anyone know how I can replace the old broken helical rod with a new one I can get from Roger Wolff at Custom Pen Parts. May be someone out there has already done this job? regards Roberthansjorg

Hello to all of the community of FPN and the Forum of Montblanc, in the most attentive and respectful way I communicate to you so that they give me their experience in an objective way. I am a young man of 20 years of age with a great passion and admiration for calligraphy and fountain pens.But it all started when I saw a fountain pen from a distance the Montblanc 149 a beautiful and robust fountain pen that left me in love , I do not have it and I have never tried it on fountain pens I only have experience with Lamy my current favorite pen is a Lamy 2000 BB Modified to stub by Daniel Smith is comfortable and easy to clean and lubricate the piston, I love it. But I have always had in my interior that desire to obtain the 149 is the pen that for its beauty introduced me to this world of fountain pens, but I refrained from buying it for several doubts after reading bad comments. 1.-Some criticize the value of the snob but I do not want it, that's why I love it for its beauty and history. 2.-But the strongest criticism comes about the material of the famous "precious resin" that many users say is a cheap plasticthat breaks as easy as glass (I do not drop my pens) but some say that even begins to break without needing to fall.So I ask you esteemed users of these fountain pens how true is this?I ask it to clear my doubts. 3.-Others say that the current ones are of very poor quality and that they do not compare to the vintage, there is another thing that I have read and that is that the old models had a one-piece barrel and the current two, that affects something ? and equal to the ebonite feed.(I am interested in a 149 BB modern) So if it is a reliable fountain pen that is worth getting it?and how is Montblanc's customer service?

Hi all, Righto. I bought a second hand 149 as you do. It's probably late '80s and likely has been sitting in a drawer for the last decade or so with dried out ink in the nib, feed, and inside the reservoir as they do. I've been flushing like a mad fool and am still getting ink coming out, which is depressing, but my bigger issue is the nib. (See photos) I think I need a US-based nibmeister. I don't want to send the pen off to MB because I don't want them to replace the nib - I simply want it repair it and maybe have it tuned. I've only ever used MB service for a nib exchange on a new pen, nothing vintage. The thing is I haven't even tried to ink it because I'm still trying to clean it out. So, I guess where I need advice is the following: 1) Anyone want to recommend a nibmeister based in the US? I've seen a couple of names when I went searching, but some of the posts mentioning names were quite old. 2) Do I try to ink it anyhow and see what the line looks like? 3) Commercial pen flush or no? Or send it off to a nibmeister who might take pity on me? Whatever happens, I don't want to screw up this pen, but I feel like I might've been overconfident in my abilities to clean it . . . as you do. LOL. Sigh. Shawnee

So I got myself my first Montblanc, a used 149, and from what I can tell from the post with dating it, the pen was made between 1984-1985, and this pen had a nib very misaligned with the feed, a real eyesore. I don't know how good it wrote like this, because the pen was full of dry ink and since I was cleaning it I decided to disassemble the nib and align it properly. All good and done, but now I can't put it back, because the feed has extremely tight fit with the collar. I tried with a little silicone grease, carefull not to get it in the main ink channel, but the thing won't go inside the collar even halfway by pushing, and I do go to the gym, I'm not weak. Any ideas how I can put it back, without sending it to Montblanc or anyone else? Is there a tool they maybe use for this procedure?

Okay, guys. I cant catch a break with Montblanc and this one really REALLY hurts. Like seriously gives me chest pain. I have a 1964-69 Mb 149 with all original parts. It writes well and I was surprised about how great the condition was until I noticed ink on my thumb. I couldnt figure it out until tonight. There is a hairline crack in the barrel near the collar. (In the pictures, its under the scotch tape). Im absolutely gutted. And dont know what to do. So is there a solution? Can the crack be sealed from inside the barrel? Recommendations on who might be able to help? Michael Masuyama is probably not going to help me out this time - Im assuming I need a MB expert. Im so sad right now. Shawnee

Hi all, I have decided to take a plunge into the world of Montblanc. I always loved the aura around the 149, at the same time concerned with some of the feedback that the cap lip is prone to cracking, so is the barrel at the joint where it attaches to the section. I had a chance to try out the 149 at the MB boutique in Frankfurt airport this year and I loved the way the pen felt. Unposted, it had the perfect balance, posted though, it was too back-heavy. The rose gold finished nib is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I think what makes it beautiful is the inside-out curvature from the base to the shoulder, which are opposite to the pens curvature itself! I didn't notice the seam of the molding near the threads under the bright yellow light. Is it visible, or does MB buff it off? Now the negatives (actually, not so positives!), 1) I did notice that the cap lip is very thin compared to Pelikan M800. I have heard that the new version of the precious resin is better than before. So, is this think cap lip strong enough to handle the daily use? 2) The Medium nib wrote broader than a Broad. The boutique guys used MB ink and Rhodia paper for the test. So it is not the ink and paper, it's the nib. 3) I don't have the habit of posting the cap, however noticed that the cap didn't post securely at all. 4) The gold trim didn't look to be as robust as in the vintage Montblancs I had seen. Request your comments/opinions. Thanks & Regards, Raghuram Marur.

Last week the Boston Globe published an interview with Crane & Co. creative director John Segal, who mentions a 30 year old Montblanc pen his father gave him. http://postscript.crane.com/paper-habits-boston-globe/ Happy reading, and may this inspire ...

Some of the big Montblanc box sets include an ink bottle with the pen. The ink bottle will sometimes say "149" in a text that looks like handwriting. Does anyone know what year that set was made?

I just purchased off of the fountainpennetwork classified a Montblanc 149 from the "1960's". It has a 18C nib, two-toned, which I have not seen written about anywhere. I have not received the pen yet, but I am concerned that the only information that I can find on a two-toned 18C nib is from shiraboshi's chart which indicates it may be from the 1980's. Is there such a thing as a 18C two-toned nib for a 1960's pen? Does anyone have one and how does it write? The seller indicated that it was very flexible. I have attached a photo of the nib. I do not have any photos of the feed to assist with dating this pen. I can post this once I receive the pen in about a week. Thank you in advanced for your advice. This is my first Montblanc 149.

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hello everyone im a newbie in the fountain pen world i bought a montblanc 149 from a local second hand network and after a few days of thorough research i realized that there is something sketchy about this pen according to the chart here https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/170282-dating-montblanc-149s/ it seems like it was assembled with parts from different periods the nib is two toned 18k the feed is split ebonite the filler thread is plastic theres only one umlaut in meisterstuck and theres no serial number plus the GERMANY font looks different from the other 149s is this even a legit montblanc 149? please help! thanks!!

Dear members, I am new to the fountain pen world. I own two pens, a Sailor 1911L (Fine nib) and a Montblanc 149 platinum (Medium Nib) Sailor writes like a dream. I have been using it for few weeks now. Succumbing to the good reviews of MB149, I purchased a platinum 149 medium nib from a local store- Apasara Pen mart in Mumbai (its a 50 year old store). They deal with all pen brands. I got a piece fresh out of the box (at least it looked like one). I went home to try it - to my surprise the nib skipped. The flow was inadequate. I had to press it hard to make it write without any break. I got it exchanged on the same day. The replaced pen was better than the earlier one, but I am still not sure about the smoothness. (My sailor 1911 can kick MB149's ass anytime) I have contacted the Montblanc boutique store for a Nib replacement(Fine) and overall service. They said it can take up to 2 months. I do not want to go to that local store again. I would rather get it serviced by the official Montblanc center. I have attached few pics of the Pen and the Nib. The nib tip me look off because of the light, but he physically the nib looks perfect to me. What should I do next. Is this how the MB 149 writes (With no force the nib skips, unlike sailor). How much will the service center charge me for the nib and for fixing the skipping issue. Any other suggestions.?

This forum was the first one I turned to, when I decided to buy my first Montblanc 149 - this week - new from a Boutique. Need your advice on what to expect in the Box, shop and can I use the pen for my daily usage, etc. I have always loved Fountain pens, and still the own the Sheaffer Sagaris Gold and Sagaris black barrel. Apart from that have used a variety of fountain pens from Parker, Jinhao and Camlin. I came back again and again to the Sagaris black as I simply loved the Nib and writing. 1) Is the 149 similar to that or is it better and smoother to write (I prefer a broader, smoother nib) 2) Does the 149 come with any other ink other than Black? I prefer Blue-Black, but... 3) What kind of paper is best for it? I use school notebook paper to the high-quality 80 GSM. What should I expect in the Box? and how do validate the pen they have sold me is genuine? Thanks in advance.

Hello all: I just bought a Montblanc Mesiterstuck 149, and I would like any help in identifying it as fake or not. I saw this pen on Amazon last Thursday listed as used for $409.00, and since I have a prime account I would get a discount on shipping, so I sent the seller an emailing asking if it came with a box and if he had any information that he could provide to prove it was "real", & and some other pictures as there was only a single picture of the whole pen, and what I got from their sales people was it was taken in as a trade for something else they had in their store and they didn't have any other information, and they gave me a link for additional pictures. The link to took me to their eBay store for "Northwest Fine Jewelers" and they had a number of pictures and I then noticed it was priced at $389.00. I sent one more email asking about returns and was told I could return it within 30 days if I didn't like it, but I had to pay for return shipping. Well, this pen was listed about $90 cheaper than all of the other used 149's so I whipped out my Amex since it also has fraud protection, and bought the pen with expedited shipping. When I got the pen it looked and felt like a real 149, but I have never owned one, I had only played with a friends 149 while in college, so I was going to let a friend who has numerous 149's take a look at it. This pen has no serial # on the cap ring, and it only has the word "Germany" engraved on it, nor is the word "pix" on the inside of the clip. The nib is a 14k nib (fine) I will add some pictures to help. Any info you can provide would be very helpful...I don't want to have to deal with a return, but if it is fake the sooner I know the better.

There have been many threads here listing the “flagship” pens of various well known brands (see this, this, and this). I’m posting this simply to organize the information a little bit more attractively. To be clear, I define “flagship” as follows: A “flagship” pen is a regular production model (i.e., not a limited or special edition), which is generally the largest, most expensive, and most visibly advertised item in a brand’s inventory. Where no single pen satisfies all the criteria, a judgment call may have to be made on what (if any) product is the “flagship” for a particular brand. Obviously, a brand calling one of its own products its “flagship” trumps other considerations. Any corrections, additions, or suggestions are appreciated. Brand Flagship Entry Level Other Notable Lines Country Aurora Aurora 88 Large Ipsilon De Luxe Talentum, Alpha, Optima Italy Caran D’Ache Léman Ecridor Varius, Madison Switzerland Conway Stewart Churchill None Winston, Wellington, Series 100, Marlborough United Kingdom Cross Townsend Classic Apogee, ATX, Botanica, Sauvage United States Delta Dolce Vita Oversize Unica Many Lines Italy Graf von Faber Castell Intuition Platino Wood (seems to have displaced the Classic) Guilloche Classic, Pen of the Year Germany Franklin Christoph Model 19 “1901” Model 27 “Collegia” Many Individual Models United States Lamy Lamy 2000 Safari Studio, Dialog Germany Montblanc Meisterstück 149 “Diplomat” None Writers Edition, Great Characters Edition, Starwalker, Boheme Germany Omas Paragon None Milord, Bologna, 360, Ogiva Italy Parker Duofold (Centennial) Vector Sonnet, Premier, Ingenuity, Parker 51 (discontinued), P25 (discontinued) United States Pelikan M1000 Souverän M100, M150, M200, M205, M215, M250 Classic Many Lines German Pilot Custom 845 (Some discussion on the point ) Metropolitan Falcon, Vanishing Point, Custom 823, Justus Japan Platinum President Preppy 3776 Series Japan Sailor King of Pen Many Models 1911 Series, Professional Gear Japan Sheaffer Legacy Heritage VFM Taranis, Prelude, Sagaris, 300, 100, Intensity, Ferrari United States TWSBI Diamond Eco Classic, Vac 700, Mini, 580AL Taiwan Visconti None (Possibly the Divina. See this and this) Classic Homo Sapiens, Opera, Van Gogh, Michelangelo Italy Waterman Edson Charleston Carène, Exception France