Dating Montblanc 149s

[billydo]

Beautifully written Chris....

 

and glad to see you enjoying your Montblancs!

 

 

 

Neal.

[Lava Fountain]

Good morning Lava, I agree with your dating of your pen at 95-96. I have not come across a three-tone 18K nib with the first-generation plastic feed. Seems as if yours is one of the transitional models which are so interesting because they possess components from two clear and distinguishable periods in 149 production. All of the three-tone 18K nibs I've seen were paired with the second-generation feed. Thanks for introducing us to yet another 149 configuration. My family and I were living out of the country for a year from summer 95-summer 96 and were quite broke. My grant was small, but we had a wonderful year of village life, research, teaching, hard-class travel. I found interesting pens at Turkish & Balkan flea markets that year, but didn't dare enter many nice pen shops for fear of breaking down in tears. Back in the US in the fall of 1996, I snagged a Dumas and was back in the saddle. That was my intro to the second-generation plastic feed.

 

Good morning, Chris, Thanks for the photo of your new late-50s celluloid 149. It has the proper feed. Will you share some examples of your wonderful handwriting with this newest acquisition?

 

Have a great week, Everyone.

Barry

 

Lava: "Seems you are correct with that, as I can see from the Great chart that the members have worked on & privided & from other info, mine seems to be from around 95/96 +/- a yr or so if all that info is up to date & correct not withstanding any other unforseen variables.

 

Mine has an 18K Tricolor nib with the early plastic horizontal feed and 2 piece section with the brass/threaded mechanism section."

 

Good Morning Barry,

 

Thx very much for your personal reply on this matter, as well as al your Great work [as well as the many other diligent contributers] on this facinating perplexing & wonderful Fountain Pen from a Company that Loves to contribute to the ongoing Mystery

 

As I keep promising & eventually hopefully soon [i have CFS & some ongoing serious health related side issues I'm dealing with] but that aside, I do really want to get some nice photos to show you [all] & share just to really try & narrow this pen of mine down, but as you say that period sounds reasonable given all the info I have @ hand.

 

Your story sounds absoulutely facinating, I've done some failry extensive travelling & I know how you feel & envy your enjoyable sojourn to ther wonderful parts of the world for a continuing life education.

 

Yes, it's taken me a while reading all that I can find on the 149, so I'm interested in possibly adding 1 or 2 (maybe 3 more 149's to my FP Collection in the future, hopefully the 75th Anniversary SE or LE if the price is right (meaning cheap enough for me to go deeper in debt , and possibly one from the late 50's or early mid 60's with a nice flex nib, @ least that's my plan.

 

At least I can enjoy the one I have, [although I've thought about selling it as it's only been ink once to test it & put away] but I've been buying far too many other fp's that keeps my handwriting practice quite busy with a number of new fp's from Japan & England.

 

Although it is really ice to be able to be more informed on my 149 & to focus on it in the future.

 

Thx again for your reply and best wishes.

 

Regards.

 

Cheers,

LF

[Chris Chalmers]

Thanks to Barry and Billydo!

 

I am enjoying my MBs - always do, but am dismayed to hear what I had feared.........that the feed in my celluloid 149 is a late 50s - it was sold to me as "1950 model". Hey-ho! I still love the pen, and it writes beautifully even in my hand! The rest of it is correct in every way.

I posted a photo of the nib on another thread.........."which MB are you using today?"

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/93236-what-mbs-are-you-using-today/page__st__1000__p__1711737#entry1711737

Edited October 12, 2010 by Chris Chalmers

[J Sorrell]

149 flat feed picture attached.

 

Sorry it's not taken from a similar angle to the others on the chart.

 

Best regards,

 

Jamie.

[hari317]

very nice picture of the ski slope feed Jamie.

[J Sorrell]

Hari, thank you but I cannot take credit for it, it's not my handy work!

Edited October 12, 2010 by J Sorrell

[fountainbel]

Thanks a lot for your "enlightening" chart David, very helpfull hence much appriciated !

Francis

[DKbRS]

Version 2.0

 

Reformatted and image of ski slope feed added.

 

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/DKbRS/Pens/mbgridnewres.jpg

[Barry Gabay]

Just keeps getting better and better. Thank you, David and others!

[billydo]

This is a really useful guide for us 149 anoraks. Thanks very much for producing.

 

 

Neal.

[pwk5017]

Well displayed and organized, not to mention informative! Thanks.

[raulfragoso]

Great work, guys ! David, you seem to not have included the 18K bi-color nib image in your chart, so in case you want to add that here is my humble contribution:

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_MCvBWiEoWE4/TL4SxNWUB1I/AAAAAAAAAyk/5lotP7va2DM/s800/mb149-18k-bitone.jpg

 

Cheers !

[DKbRS]

Thanks very much Raul! I have added your image to v2.0 above.

[CS388]

Excellent work. Congratulations to DKbRS and all others involved.

 

Now that this is a pinned topic, is there any way to get the latest chart (version 2.0) onto the top page, so that it is the first chart that we see when the topic is opened?

I realise that this would mean we miss much of the journey and chat which got us here, which is interesting in itself, but as a resource/reference, would it be preferable to have the current chart in post 1?

 

Don't even know if this is possible. Just a thought, not a complaint.

 

Again, congratulations. It's wonderful.

[glennalvia]

This is neat! Now I know if the MB 149 seller is telling the truth hehehe...

[stylogos]

This chart is a most excellent resource! Many thanks to everyone involved.

 

One question I do have is about the barrel construction part of the chart: Was celluloid used only from the beginning through 1960?

 

I see no mention of construction materials after 1960 though I do read elsewhere resin is used. Please excuse my ignorance.

Edited November 14, 2010 by stylogos

[Kalessin]

Resin plastic from 1960 up through current production.

[QM2]

Thank you for this thread!

 

I've just stumbled into the possession of a 149 that I think is a near-mint early/mid-1980s.

 

Single unit barrel, split ebonite feed, 14c nib, and plastic filler threads.

Broad nib...

 

It is packaged in a fairly simple flat champagne-beige box with gold trim and MB insignia on the inside of the lid.

I wish I could determine the exact year, but the paperwork that came with it was never filled out!

 

Anyhow - thanks again! It was exciting to look up all the features and try to determine the pen's age.

Edited November 17, 2010 by QM2

[Kalessin]

Thank you for this thread!

 

I've just stumbled into the possession of a 149 that I think is a near-mint early/mid-1980s.

 

Single unit barrel, split ebonite feed, 14c nib, and plastic filler threads.

Broad nib...

 

It is packaged in a fairly simple flat champagne-beige box with gold trim and MB insignia on the inside of the lid.

I wish I could determine the exact year, but the paperwork that came with it was never filled out!

 

 

My bought-in-1979 149 has a 14c nib, used to have a split-ebonite feed until the last repair by MB, and came in a champagne-beige box that I still have (though it's a little battered now). Your pen could be from the late 1970's, too!

[QM2]

My bought-in-1979 149 has a 14c nib, used to have a split-ebonite feed until the last repair by MB, and came in a champagne-beige box that I still have (though it's a little battered now). Your pen could be from the late 1970's, too!

If mine turns out to be 1979 that would be a nice surprise, as it's my birth year!