Help Id-Ing This Tchibo (Montblanc Copy? Pen

[xwingrox]

Hello all. I picked up this Tchibo fountain pen set in a local thrift shop. The owner said it was part of an estate sale and had no idea where it came from.I instantly fell in love with the Montblanc-esque design and the wonderful piston mechanism. The body is made of cheapish plastic but the nib and piston work fantastically.

 

Can anyone help me identify the name and model of this pen? I'd love to buy another of the fountain pens with a fine nib. A search on FPN turns up a post from 2009 that has a dead link to what could be this very pen set. I searched the current tchibo site and it has no mention of fountain pens. Apparently, Tchibo makes Coffee...

 

For reference, the box says "Tchibo Stilvolles Schreib Set Royal." The body is a kind of a creaky plastic but there is an ink window. The nib is stamped with an unassuming "B" with little decoration. I think the language is German... but Google wasn't very helpful...

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Frits B]

Tchibo's main product is indeed coffee. This pen set is obviously advertising material - which doesn't make its quality inferior. The text translates as follows:

Zeitlose Eleganz: Füllfederhalter und Drehkugelschreiber in nostalgischem Design mit vergoldeten Metallteilen. Komplett mit gefülltem Tintenfass = Timeless elegance: fountain pen and twist ballpoint pen in nostalgic design with gold-plated metal parts. Complete with filled inkwell.

Kolben-Füllfederhalter mit hartvergoldeter Feder. Drehkugelscheiber mit Grossraummine. Gefülltes Tintenfass. Alle Metallteile hartvergoldet = Piston fountain pen with gold-plated nib. Twist ballpoint with large size refill. Fill inkwell. All metal parts gold-plated.

"hartvergoldet" is in the same category as Montblanc's precious resin: gold-plated but just a tick better.

 

As for the makers of the pen: no clue. Let the experts come in.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Tchibo is a coffee shop franchise that sells good odds and ends also.

 

That pen looks like a Senator pen. In that it's piston it could well be. A Senator is a good second tier German pen, the company is or was in family hands until just recently has survived a number of Generations.

 

"""a creaky plastic""" perhaps the piston has dried out a bit...try a Noodler's Eel ink. How many German pens do you have?

Is it Reform 'creaky plastic' or Pelikan 'creaky plastic'?

 

Normally Tchibo's odds and ends are of good quality.

 

 

Have you any price marks on the case...like 9 DM or 9€. That can date the pen better.

Is there something on the ink bottle that says who made it?

There are other pen companies that also come into question if the price is in DM.

 

I do have a Tchibo set...well had, I sent the pens to my god son, in it was I assume a solidly...classy designed... made Chinese C/C pen.(Could have been German.) (I had enough nails...but did think twice about sending that pen to him.....in it was pretty classy) So Tchibo normally has good products.

 

What I wanted from that was the real classy shiny black plastic pen case that 'matches' my 1925 Black glass and crystal (fire gilded) Ink well.

 

The box just before the clock opposite the ink roller.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/Inkwells/IMAG0082.jpg

[Aramchek]

I think the language is German

 

I just got a reminder that reading while the amount of caffeine in my bloodstream is too low is a bad idea. I read that as "I think the language is Chinese", presumably because I've opened the thread "What Chinese Pens Are You Using Today?" in the tab next to this thread. I looked at the picture and was amazed someone could see German writing and think it was Chinese :-)

Edited March 7, 2013 by Aramchek

[Frits B]

The same pen was discussed in 2006 on www.penexchange.de, a forum supported by Pelikan: http://www.penexchange.de/forum_neu/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1186

 

No manufacturer ID, nib B only, stiff nib. They go on eBay in Germany for about 7 Euros.

 

As Aramchek said, Tchibo offers lots of discounted goods alongside its main product coffee. Mainly in Germany where their shops can be found everywhere. Pen sets like their "Royal" have promotional value only, probably sourced in China but based on old designs like Senator's. There is a marbled light blue set on the Bay right now (Google "Tchibo elegantes Schreibset Royal").

[xwingrox]

The same pen was discussed in 2006 on www.penexchange.de, a forum supported by Pelikan: http://www.penexchange.de/forum_neu/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1186

 

No manufacturer ID, nib B only, stiff nib. They go on eBay in Germany for about 7 Euros.

 

As Aramchek said, Tchibo offers lots of discounted goods alongside its main product coffee. Mainly in Germany where their shops can be found everywhere. Pen sets like their "Royal" have promotional value only, probably sourced in China but based on old designs like Senator's. There is a marbled light blue set on the Bay right now (Google "Tchibo elegantes Schreibset Royal").

 

Thanks for the info! I only wish these came in M or F nibs. This pen is probably the best value pen I have ever used. IMO, it beats the Lamy Safari and all other pens in this <$20 pen class!

[mmahany]

Look very very similar to a Herlitz Pen set I have. My set has a fp/bp. The fountain has 14k nib, piston mechanism, and the whole thing came in a box with an inkwell. I think I paid $30 shipped for everything.

 

While mine is slightly different, I was quite impressed with the design of the pen and piston system.

[xwingrox]

Look very very similar to a Herlitz Pen set I have. My set has a fp/bp. The fountain has 14k nib, piston mechanism, and the whole thing came in a box with an inkwell. I think I paid $30 shipped for everything.

 

While mine is slightly different, I was quite impressed with the design of the pen and piston system.

 

Wow it does look exactly the same! Would you mind sharing where you got your set from? I searched around and the Tchibo/Herlitz sets are going for upwards of $100!!!

[mirosc]

Normally Tchibo's odds and ends are of good quality.

 

Indeed, a big part of their success in Germany comes from those good quality non-coffee items in their stores (from socks to bodybuilding equipment, from mobile phones to pens almost every week a new assortement - when one is gone there's little chance to see it again).

I remember the discussion when we started to send some troops to Afghanistan and several companies bought their binoculars from Tchibo instead of taking the official ones.

 

Unfortunately Tchibo is often very mum regarding the origins of their products. Often they are produced only for Tchibo and not anymore.

[katja germany]

Sorry, but you´ll never find out. Tchibos mean business is to sell coffee, that’s right. It´s second branch and Companies policy is to buy products from Contract Partners often OEM (original equipment manufacturers). So your beloved writing Set is part on a special offer, they often sold it on its own Brand TCM. But, please don´t misunderstand, it didn’t say anything about the Quality.
And if you are still interested, by fortune at a junk dealers store I found the same Box with the same writing Set (fountain pen and roller ball, the plastic parts in green but all parts of metal are, we call it “hartvergoldet”, with the B on the nib.), just last week. Is still in e very good condition.
Best regards Katja.