Best place to get a genuine Mont blanc?

[Bellavance]

Are there any reputable dealers that manage to stay reputable while giving deeper discounts on Montblanc and Conway Stewart pens?

 

Does anyone know of a list somewhere on this forum, or elsewhere?

 

Thanks.

 

Pierre

[CharlieB]

We have a member of this board who is a former Montblanc dealer in Germany, and he can probably shed some light on this question. Until he chimes in, here's how I understand things...

 

For many years, Montblanc was a pen manufacturer ONLY and did not engage in direct retail sales. All sales were done through separately-owned "authorized dealers" such as Fahrney's, Joon, Fountain Pen Hospital, World Lux, Paradise Pens, etc. These stores were allowed to discount a small amount off the MSRP, but not more than 15-20 percent.

 

Sometime in the 1980s or 1990s, following a general trend in the luxury goods industry (i.e., Cartier, Gucci, Louis Vitton, Ralph Lauren, etc.), Montblanc began to open its own boutiques. The boutiques claim to provide a higher level of service (pampering?) than do the authorized dealers, but they also sell only at full MSRP (except for rare sales of out-of-production merchandise.

 

This situation has yielded a troublesome result.... some customers go to the boutique, enjoy the pampering, try out the sample pens.... and then go down the street to an authorized dealer and pay 15-20 percent less for the same product. I suspect that Montblanc will someday have enough boutiques open around the world that they will shut down the network of authorized dealers, forcing all non-black-market sales to be at full MSRP.

 

As for who is an authorized dealer.... a pretty foolproof way to tell is whether the selling price is at least 80 percent of MSRP. If the price is lower, the seller is probably not authorized.

 

The bottom line: if you want to own a new Montblanc pen -- and have full warranty rights -- then you will pay 80 percent or more of MSRP. If you want a great deal, such as half price, then you're in the black market, and you assume all risks.

 

A good used Montblanc, however, can often be found at a great price....

Edited June 15, 2008 by CharlieB

[CharlieB]

Are there any reputable dealers that manage to stay reputable while giving deeper discounts on Montblanc and Conway Stewart pens?

 

Does anyone know of a list somewhere on this forum, or elsewhere?

 

Thanks.

 

Pierre

 

You are asking two separate questions: one dealing with Montblanc and one dealing with Conway Stewart.

 

See my post above concerning Montblanc.

 

For Conway Stewart, the story is a bit different. I don't want to say much more, because I've heard that Conway Stewart's US distributor has been tussling with their retailers over exactly these kinds of issues recently, and all parties concerned are members of this board. The bottom line is that it is still possible to get a new Conway Stewart for less than 80 percent of MSRP, but you have to know where to ask. Posting a "list" would be counterproductive.

[Bellavance]

Thanks !!

 

Pierre

[Pinmin]

Hello:

I am new here. I have always wanted a Montblanc pen, and I think that my wife is considering purchasing one for me. I am interested in the Meisterstuck Platinum ballpoint. Unfortunately we do not live near a Montblanc Boutique store. I called Montblanc today and they said that none of the online dealers are authorized dealers, and that if I were to purchase online they would not be able to guarantee that it would be genuine. I found a place online that has the pen, which retails for $285, and they are selling for $225. The site is worldlux.com. So how am I to get my wife to purchase this for me if we do not live near a Montblanc Boutique? Most of the online stores sell for much cheaper also. How can I get my pen and ensure that it is genuine? Thanks!

I have been dealing with Fountain Pen Hospital in NY for 15 of the 20 years I have been buying pens. Now there are a number of nice people selling pens, reputable, etc., however, from the perspective of integrity, price, product and service, FPH in NY is clearly #1. All of my referrals to FPH report back to me of complete satisfaction and they will (99% of the time) match any Dealer's price. They are the largest Pen Specialty Retailer in the US who is also an Authorized Mont Blanc Dealer.

1-800-253-PENS

www.fountainpenhospital.com

Ed Fingerman: info@fountainpenhospital.com tell Ed that Prestodini the magician sent you

 

I am not a paid advertisement, just a loyal customer! Best Wishes

[Alostdream]

Hi i think what Mont blanc means is that there is no "online authorized dealers". However stores like worldlux and joon are authorized dealers but just not online. That is why there is no prices on their website and you cannot order it online, you have to phone them to place a order. So i think the word "online" got Mont Blanc in germany mixed up. If you just ask them if "wordlux" is authorized dealer should solve the problem.

Just my 2 cent ~

[Kimo]

It sounds like you are new to pens. My suggestion is that before you pull the trigger and spend that much money on a ballpoint pen that you may want to spend some time in a good pen store and look at all of the choices. Mont Blancs are nice, but there are other brands of higher quality and lower price. Mont Blanc spends far more on advertising that the other brands and they have been successful in building an image of luxury, but the quality lags behind the hype. The plastic they use (they call it 'precious resin' but it is a plexiglas plastic) is quite brittle and has a reputation for shattering if you drop it - I have personal experience that confirms this. If you like the MB the best then by all means get one, but I think you would be more than pleasantly surprised if you looked at some other high quality pen makers.

[Wangta]

Anybody check out this store - luxuryofwatches.com? They popped up as I was searching for a MB pen...they got decent reviews on TRUSTPILOT/GOOGLE....but it looks suspicious. Worse than Jomashop!

Edited July 25, 2014 by Wangta

[meiers]

The market place right Here

And fountain pen hospital.

[sd10521]

The market place right Here

And fountain pen hospital.

 

Two excellent choices, I have bought from both and I am very happy.

[_Stormin_]

I can add a vote for Fountain Pen Hospital as well. I was just wowed by their service this week. (Uniquely enough, I've made a purchase at World Lux in Seattle and FPN in NYC within seven days of each other...)

[Michigan]

I bought a Montblanc pen from Worldlux back when they were the Seattle Pen Company.

 

Their service is still memorable even though it was in the late '90s.

 

Let us know what you get.

[Chrissy]

La Couronne du Compte sells Mb pens, also has a B&M store, and often offers FPN members discount days on their products

[TLMG]

The risk of getting a "fake" one is actually quite low. Don't fall for the marketing FUD. MontBlanc says things like that because they want to make sure people pay MSRP for the pens... after all, the price drops ~50% once they leave the boutique so they need to find a way to make people pay a 2x what they'd otherwise spend!

Find a reputable dealer selling a barely used pen on Ebay or online... Save a couple hundred dollars and either put it in the rainy day fund or take your wife out to a nice dinner!

[Freddy]

You can't go wrong with..The crew at Fountain Pen Hospital, NYCity..

Todd at Worldlux, Seattle..and Steve at Artlite pens, Atlanta..

 

Fred

[johnkim424]

"15 minutes will save you 15%", no wait that is Geico. Do your homework online and save yourself a 50%! Even if I had money to burn, I would not shop at a boutique. Pick a reputable ebay seller and do some online research. Pay with credit card just in case. BTW, doing online research and hunting for the best price is part of the fun.

[Pichon27]

Be patient, do you research and decide what it is you want. If you want new with a fully valid 2 year warranty you probably have to go to an MB boutique, and pay the price. However, as others have said some outstanding older, even antique, versions can offer fantastic value for money, but be sure to get as good a condition as you possibly can. If the seller owns up to a small chip, or Nick, or ding, DON'T buy it even if it's cheap - you will always be disappointed and it's worth paying that bit extra for a near perfect, albeit used, model. I started with a near pristine 149 dated from the 80's without a mark on it, which writes superbly, from a UK seller for a little over £250. I could have perhaps got closer to £200, but for a model for which a new one now retails at £630, this still seems a great deal.

[orfew]

I sure hope the OP has found the right pen. After all it has been over 8 years since the original post.

[meiers]

I sure hope the OP has found the right pen. After all it has been over 8 years since the original post.

[meiers]

You can check The Fountain Pen Hospital. They're an authorized MB dealer.

I love FPH.