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I can just see this topic drawing more replies from fans and devotees, to avow their love for vintage pens or try to argue others into sharing their sentiment, than contributions from the disinterested to share their reasons and reinforce that we are a non-homogenous community with vastly disparate values and preferences, joined only by a broad shared interest in the acquisition and/or use of fountain pens (for whichever individual purposes and reasons). I don't doubt some vintage pens write beautifully and write well, and may possibly suit my preferences in pens and nibs to a T, or even show me new things about the hobby. However, Some consumers like shiny new things and 'virgin' material possessions; I do. Would I be interested in a 'new', never-inked fountain pen made long before I was born, and have managed not to be dulled or tarnished by age and use? Very possibly, but I'd expect they would be difficult to find, and terribly expensive in the face of demand from other interested prospective buyers, which could well include those who know and love the particular pen model, as well as those who don't even enjoy using fountain pens, but simply have more money than they can spend and just want to have one or a dozen for display in a cabinet as part of their personal collection. By the way, I respect both of those groups equally; neither love I don't share nor wealth I don't have elevates one above the other. But I expect both would be ready to outbid me, should the opportunity to buy such a vintage pen arise. So, the prospective amount of work and low likelihood of success in hunting for it both contribute to my disinterest altogether; there are easier things to pursue and they could be just as rewarding. I personally see no inherent beauty in senescence, no inherent virtue in having endured the ravages of time, no inherent value in the legacies of names and brands; and I have no interest in developing any positive sentiment for such things. And, no, of course I'm not interested in preservation or conservation more generally. I see myself as living a disposable life in an impermanent world. As I told my wife many times, my greatest wish is to be completely forgotten after I die; not erased from history and have all the impacts I caused undone, but simply for everyone else to be living in the present and/or forward-looking. I have no appreciation of and no use for history, other than when I want to research the modes (or types, patterns, etc.) of failure, and their respective likelihood and consequences, for a particular something, with a view to either avoiding such for myself, or inducing it elsewhere to exploit and/or benefit from those failures. (Some would say that's just another way of saying learning from history.) Then, a generally easier way of managing the risk of failure in consumer goods is simply to buy brand new modern products, which comes with warranties and guarantees (in accordance with consumer law, manufacturers' policies, etc.), and for which spare parts of the same age are readily available, so that swapping a replacement component in does not in any way change the appearance or traits of an item. Especially when it is not "because of materials or design", I have to conclude that the characteristics of a product can be replicated today, if the will to do so is there. Does the alloy used make a vintage nib special? Well, unless the technology (including the known material composition, and the procedure for producing it) to make it has been lost of human civilisation since, or we have simply run out of the raw materials, it can be replicated in a brand new and modern product, whether it's produced for the mass consumer market (assuming there is sufficient interest and demand) and sold for reasonable prices, or made bespoke at a high cost of production to be borne by the client who commissioned it. Then, if the characteristics that are sought, which makes a pen special but not "because of materials or design or age", can be adequately described and specified, surely alternative solutions can be found or developed, again if the demand for something so great and "amazing" is there? Just to be clear, we're not talking about reinventing the wheel, but simply producing new units to traditional wheel specifications. If John Mottishaw can't modify any in-market nib to exhibit (as opposed to just mimic) those nib characteristics, and Santini Giovanni (or any of the master nib craftsman working for Sailor, Aurora, etc.) can't make a new nib in-house that writes the same way, then why would that be, if not because the materials cannot be reproduced today, or the design cannot be replicated (in spite of physical samples of the vintage nibs in question being accessible today), or the long ageing process has to do with how the characteristic develops? I don't go out of my way to align my tastes and preferences with whatever are mainstream with my contemporaries, but if no manufacturer is making something that was once made in the past because current market demand simply isn't there, in spite of thousands upon thousands of similar items are still being produced, I think there is most likely good reason why certain traits particular to those vintage products have fallen out of favour with buyers today.So, if we are not talking about a specific interest in acquiring a Stradivarius violin equivalent in fountain pens as a collector or treasure hunter, but more generally in exploring and appreciating what fountain pens produced umpteen dozen years ago have to offer, then I'm just not interested. Could I be interested in or even keen on how a particular vintage pen writes, in terms of a set of functional and qualitative requirements separate from the exemplar's vintage attribute — and thus could be replicated in one or more new pens today, as least as well even if not improved upon, such that there is then no loss to fountain pen users if that vintage pen was lost, destroyed or simply deprecated? Sure. Again, just to be clear, I'm not advocating getting rid of vintage pens — in the way some groups in history wanted to burn (certain) books — but simply to allow users who may fancy those writing characteristics to get what they want from new pens, and let the interest in (preserving and using) vintage pens just die out naturally in the user community except for history buffs, museum curators, moneyed private collectors and so on. It makes no sense to me for us to encourage Joe Consumer or Jane User to take a special interest in a category of items that are increasingly limited in numbers because production has long ceased (but natural attrition continues), when the utility and primary value ("not because of materials or design or age") can be achieved through something else we can produce, even if the substitution can be thought of as eroding the interest in (and consequently, "funding" for) keeping the out-of-production category of items in the market and somewhat accessible. ... Does anyone else want to share their views and reasons for their disinterest, even though doing so will most likely invite backlash? Edit: fixed a couple of typos

I have a opportunity to buy one of these WE. I wish I could get both but they aren't normal priced exactly. It's between a Leo Tolstoy or an Antoine de Saint Exupery. I like both of them. Which one would you choose and would there be other reasons you would take into consideration besides personal preference?

Hello guys, I would love to get some opinion on the size of pen. I've been thinking about getting the famous 146 (which I would have to order online, probably some nice second-hand if available--don't have any place to buy MB in my area) but I'm not sure if it will really fits my small hand. In my collection, I have: 145 classic Poe (away for fix) St. Exupery 2017 149 (Oh, well...) - I've been using either Lamy2000 or 145 as my edc, both of which are pretty nice to hold. - Poe is good also (as far as I can remember, hadn't used it that much). - 2017 St. Exupery is somehow not something that I really like to pick up. I'm not sure if it is because of the size or the metal screw that makes it feel weird. Or because its metal part makes it more slippery, thus, feeling harder to use. I'm sure I feel better with Poe. - I have tried 146 at the boutique in Chicago once...(I didn't try it that long though. The lady who is a store manager (whom I, thinking back now, will not at all feel guilty to refer to as 'overly-arrogant') in MB Bloomingdale seems to have an attitude and lose interest in me right away after I hesitated when she asked me: "Do you want to take one home today?" (Ma'am, it's almost a 1000$ pen!) Another nice employee who took care of me also unintentionally mentioned: "I don't want to get into trouble because of the manager.") So it's a somewhat weird visit. yet, as much as I remember, that short holding and writing in 146 doesn't feel the best to me. Probably somewhere between good and okay. - On the other hand, 149, which I had always overlooked due to my small hands, feels pretty comfortable to use. While gigantuan, it seems to float in my hand. As though it was in there just doing its big job--like it's an airplane and I'm only a small pilot controling it! (In contrary to lamy2000/MB145, which are nice pens, but don't seem to have much characterstics in my hand.) Considering my hand kinda gets fatique when writing in 2017 writer edition, (Can't pin down if it's the size or metal part that might require more effort when it gets slippery). Do you think this is legitimate enough to say that I'm one of those people who are more of 149 than 146? Particularly, there are small-hand people who either go small or big? (146 platinum is just so gorgeous and tempting! But I'm so undecided about acquiring one. Esp. given my location, I can't try it. It's as though whenever I might wanna get one I get writer edition instead!) Thanks for your opinion!

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I am talking about the diameter size of the nib portion that goes into the feed (the opposite end of the nib tip). The nib feed diameter, not tipping size (fine, broad, italic). What is the diameter in mm of a Montblanc 149 and a Montblanc Writer's Edition? I am interested in both of those nib units but I don't know what the writer's edition sizing is. I know 149s are size 9 and I know the writer's edition is smaller, but how much smaller. I want to know what size the writer's edition sized nib feed can fit into and preferably exact diameter of it and also the exact diameter of the 149. (9.1, 9.3, etc.) I have found places that measured the diameter of them from shoulder to shoulder but didn't even post the feed portion size. That is a huge factor in a nib. Thank you all very much.

Hello, so after years of "sobriety" from my pen addiction I've gone into a MB writers edition binge. The result of one of these binges was an apparently un-inked (Boxes/papers) Dostoevsky which I received with a broken piston. I attempted to then drown my sorrows with my Oscar Wilde which I've had for many years and the entire piston assembly came off. So the Dostoevsky has been shipped back to the seller while the Oscar Wilde will probably be visiting his birthplace in Germany. By the way I took a photo of the "precious resin" of the Wilde. It appears to be a thin acrylic or maybe celluloid acetate with a solid inner liner (What do you guys and gals think). All the best! Jose Garcia

I just got the delivery of my WE Daniel Defoe with an F nib. I liked the look of this pen from the first sighting. I like the color of the pen body and cap as it looks like a laquered wood. I am guessing each pen has different "marble" pattern. The clip's drawing is done with laser, it seems. It looks very sharp and precise. I like it. The cap ring and piston nob are nicely detailed. The MB star at the top of the cap does not show the typical "aged" color. It is as white as the regular 146 and 149. I prefer the aged color of my other WE pens. The pen is nicely weighed. But, the step on the pen body is a tad sharper than I expected. At least, it won't cut my fingers. So, that issue is not going to be a problem. I will let the pictures do the review. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4763_zpseaeaf945.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4764_zpsb3a7c302.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4766_zpsb3cee038.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4767_zpsd7ba18e4.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4769_zps5ddeaccc.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4771_zps1202be83.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4772_zps64dd98ea.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4774_zps848fb010.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4770_zps09dc08e2.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4773_zps0daab459.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4775_zps025fe89a.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4778_zps03ea2ef3.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4777_zpsd1d11092.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4776_zps680e6b60.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4785_zps24c8377f.jpg The nib. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4780_zpsbe871e02.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4779_zps5bb7f496.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4781_zps0fca5f09.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4782_zpsbab6b774.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4783_zpsbf3a6695.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4784_zps8a69749c.jpg The family photo http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4786_zpsb0d631d7.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/YS2003/IMG_4787_zps002507a4.jpg