Fake Pens

[pricenelson]

I worked for Tabula Rasa, a fine writing instrument retailer in Salt Lake City. People would bring in fake Mont Blancs all the time wanting a refill or repair. sometimes a Faber-Castell refill would fit their pen. Needless to say they were surprised, and often offended when I told them their prized "Mont Blanc" was a fake.

[pricenelson]

Hello, if anyone out there has a fake Parker T-1 I would be happy to make an offer for it...thanks

 

Chas.

 

If it is a parker nuance you desire, I dont believe you will find it in a fake.

[OneRiotOneRanger]

Today, in poking around, I discovered that Sal Kaskas, of Raleigh NC, is STILL at it. This seller of conterfeit Parkers, as described in articles by Antonios Zavaliangos (on PenHero), Bill Riepl and myself on several pen boards over the past several years, is still selling his counterfeits on both eBay, as "eproductdistribution," a Top-Rated seller, no less, and on ioffer.com, under his own name. He offers, among other things, a gray Sonnet - a color not made by Parker.

Edited June 3, 2010 by OneRiotOneRanger

[printhardcopy]

I think ebay dont have experts to find whether the pens are fake or non fake.

 

From picture be it selling here or ebay..it is very difficult to judge whether the pens are fake or non fake.

 

It is indeed very tough job for people here or ebay people

 

Sometime ebay people simply dont understand what is fountain pen. (base on experience i dealing with ebay and paypal people)

 

To play safe, buyer got to carefully to check the person reptuation and whether they are authorised dealer or non authorised dealer.

 

Maybe some of us dont even know that they are keeping fake pens ? And still keeping it as treasure.

 

You guys can simply e-mail to the brand HQ to question about the seller name.

Edited June 21, 2010 by printhardcopy

[Bo Bo Olson]

I was at a German flea market, and suspected the Dupont could be fake. I asked how much he wanted for the replica. We settled on $35.

Some times you get wonderful deals at a flea market... I had hopes.

Had I ever in my right mind even thought of buying a Dupont and known about the this fake thread, I'd known.

Orange instruction booklet, not bed in the box, and I did not have a magnet with me....tattoo on hand bring magnet.

At home, I'd looked at the pen under a 10 X loope and it looked so good. I'd fallen for it at the flea market even with my 10 x Loope.

My wife who is a mechanical draftsman, and trained in a metal work shop thought it real.

 

Mr. Jars told me, "Sorry about that Charlie"...of course there was still hope...but it didn't write all that great...strike one....slowly I realized I at least got my top of the line Counterfeit for half Counterfeit price.

 

It's now sitting on an Art Deco Black Glass and crystal inkwell with square black glass topped double ink well. It looks real sharp there. Sigh....

 

That article on counterfeit Duponts is very good.

 

 

I think the fake pen section should be pinned in writing instruments and blocked.

Edited June 29, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[cir177]

I am not sure if my post fits right in here, but anyway...

I bought a fake Hero 100 on eBay from Comeon1788. I also have a genuine Hero 100 from eBay (vendor GoToSchool).

I have read somewhere on this site positive things about Comeon1788. Now you have the reverse of the coin. He still sells fake 100s on eBay (they are fake, no question about). Naive people like me go for the very low price and... get what we paid for.

[richardandtracy]

I know Comeon1788 does sell fakes, as I got an e-mail from him pointing to his non-E-bay store which is chock full of Parker, MB, LV, Gucci & Dupont fakes.

So hearing of fake H100's from him is not a great surprise, but thanks for letting us know.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

Edited September 20, 2010 by richardandtracy

[parilla]

Do you mean mekongmarket.asia? The site wont open for me.

[richardandtracy]

Umm, no. Address sent backchannel - I don't want to give it a wider audience than it deserves.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[elpaninaro]

There was an excellent article with superb photos by Bill Riepl in Stylophiles, 2006, on ST Dupont fakes.

 

The quality of some of the knock-offs is astounding.

 

http://www.stylophilesonline.com/02-06/02count.htm

 

 

I agree the photography is wonderful and a good article but:

 

I have a gold dust lacquer Olympio bought from a reputable store over 10 yrs ago and the box does not have ".. the Chinese lacquer logo running around the top edge, and the Dupont "D" on the front lower edge." Similarly over time the cap does now rotate relatively easily. SO from the criteria in the article, if I ever wanted to sell it (God forbid: it was a wedding gift from my wife), people reading that article would assume I'm trying to sell a fake. I'd be interested in whether others with genuine pens have similar discrepancies from the article and from what may come to be regarded as a definitive way to tell fakes?

 

Same story here- I have the oversize gold dust FP from Dupont, plus I used to sell Dupont when I worked at a pen store in college and can attest to the fact the packaging shown in the article is not common to all of the laque de chine pens.

 

Overall, I think the article is extremely valuable and when it comes to discussions of the pens themselves I find it highly accurate. I have come across more than a few fake Duponts, and the article hits on all of the telltale signs I spotted in the past thanks to the fortunate experience of routinely handling the real thing.

 

The packaging discussion is problematic however- my original box is much as you describe yours, and a reader of the article would mistakenly assume I too own a fake. It has been long enough I do not remember all the terminology and names and won't until I have had time to fully dive back into the hobby again- but it is my recollection that the more expensive ranges of Dupont's laque de chine such as Montparnasse did all have the leaves running around the upper border of the box for example, but the Olympio range did not.

 

So you could have something like the Gold Dust or Vertigo Olympio that has a much more complex and opulent outward appearance than, say, a black Montparnasse- but it is the packaging for the latter that is more elaborate. That is counter-intuitive to the uninitiated buyer, and it does pose an unfortunate difficulty for buyers and sellers when a potential buyer relies solely on the content of the article you referenced.

[stephl]

I've recently been reporting obvious fake montblanc such as http://cgi.ebay.com/Montblanc-Meisterstuck-Sol-Platinum-Legrand-Pen-102382-/290510838023?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a3cb9907, but there are so many fakes out there that sellers of fake are actually saying stuff like (authentic...if you don't believe, don't bid). When you actually take the time to do some research on these pens, you find out that either Montblanc doesn't make that pen, or there are obvious discrepancies between the frankenpen and the real one.

 

Buyer beware I guess. Ebay must be so overwhelmed by reports of fakes that they just give up.

 

Stephan

[1000km]

Ebay doesn't take any notice of fake pen reports. Recently at least ten of us reported an obviously fake Montblanc and the sale still went through a full week later.

Edited December 18, 2010 by 1000km

[wbsr91]

I've recently been reporting obvious fake montblanc such as http://cgi.ebay.com/Montblanc-Meisterstuck-Sol-Platinum-Legrand-Pen-102382-/290510838023?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a3cb9907, but there are so many fakes out there that sellers of fake are actually saying stuff like (authentic...if you don't believe, don't bid). When you actually take the time to do some research on these pens, you find out that either Montblanc doesn't make that pen, or there are obvious discrepancies between the frankenpen and the real one.

 

Buyer beware I guess. Ebay must be so overwhelmed by reports of fakes that they just give up.

 

Stephan

[oneill]

I wanted to add a recent experience regarding what I believe is a counterfeit Montblanc Chopin FP. I purchased the pen from a posting on Craig's List. No need for lectures, I won't be doing that again. But the pen was very convincing as was the packaging. The pen barrel glowed a deep red as it should have, the nib was engraved with the correct markings, the cap barrel was engraved Meisterstuck as you would expect and it has the requisite serial number on clip ring, 2 letters and 7 numbers, the clip was a solid piece not rolled and had PIX on the underside. What made me doubtful was that the clip ring was loose and as was the barrel for the nib. Has anyone come across something similar. I had it looked at by the people from FPH while at the Philadelphia Pen Show who confirmed by fear. Fortunately I am getting my money back.

BEWARE OF CRAIGLIST; I too parted with $130.00 us some time ago and never got the pen nor would paypal refund me because they said it is not on their list as a reputable site.

[amyx231]

wow. thats some scam. how do you guys tell what's fake though? i mean, the picture qualities aren't that good on ebay, etc.

[noetus]

I've never seen a fake pen but if there was some way of knowing which brands are more likely to be faked, Mont Blanc for example, that would be good.

[jar]

I've never seen a fake pen but if there was some way of knowing which brands are more likely to be faked, Mont Blanc for example, that would be good.

 

I've come across fake Montblanc, Parker, Caran D'Ache, Pelikan, Cartier, ST Dupont, Dunhill, Waterman.

[1000km]

Piston-filling fountain pens are less likely to be fake.

[dozuki]

I am lookand at a Vosconti van goh and was wondering if anyone new of ways to tell a replica from an original. After reading all the fake pen posts I am kind of afraid to buy a pen on line. But it just looks so nice.

[richardandtracy]

I've not heard of a faked Visconti. It's not a well known brand outside a relatively small circle, so you're unlikely to find too many fakes if you buy from a reputable seller.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.