Dietrich "skipping And Skipping" Is That A Wellknown Diva Problem

[jlindhardt]

Hi All:

 

I bought a Dietrich fountain pen for my wife for Christmas (not the super exclusive one), gorgeous pen she really loves it. But there is a major problem as i keeps skipping so it's totally impossible to get a flow in your writing, as parts of the letter constantly is missing (down-strokes are particular problematic). I should be said that this pen is supposed to be "a writer" and not a show-piece.

 

Immediately after Christmas the dealer was contacted, the pen went to Montblanc and was gone for 8 (eight) weeks. When the pen was picket up at the dealer the problem was not solved the pen was still skipping. Back to Montblanc this time they returned it faster than lightning (this is a joke as it this time was gone for 4 weeks).

 

Problem NOT solved. For comparison she tried out a John Lennon edition medium nib), and this wrote as a dream - I tried it as well and it was really smooth and perfect.

 

We can rule out problems with the angle when writing as 4 people (2 of them dealer representatives) experienced the same problem.

 

The dealer has offered to swap the pen with another model.

 

Does any expert in here know what to do.

 

I should mention that an explanation given was that as the nib is so relatively small in the Diva line there might be a problem with a medium nib because of the amount of ink flowing - but really, one should thing that Montblanc shouldn't have this kind of problem ............. but does the expert in here thing that fitting a fine nib might solve the problem.

 

Sorry for this very long message, hope someone can help.

 

Kind regards

Johnny Lindhardt

 

 

[Vlad Soare]

I should mention that an explanation given was that as the nib is so relatively small in the Diva line there might be a problem with a medium nib because of the amount of ink flowing

 

This is rubbish.

I don't know what the problem is, but I can tell you that the pen is definitely not supposed to behave like that. It should be wet and silk-smooth.

Don't give up. Montblanc's service tends to be sloppy at times, but given enough patience they will get it right eventually. Another option would be to send it to a nib specialist, but that would cost you extra, so you may want to resort to this option only if everything else fails.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Vlad Soare

[FredRydr]

The dealer has offered to swap the pen with another model.

 

Ask them to swap it for another of the same model.

 

Fred

[Pentulant]

Sorry you're having so much trouble with the pen. I wouldn't send it to anyone else but MB because once you have someone else work on the pen, I'm sure your warranty would be void.

 

One thing that comes to mind is ink. Have you tried a couple of different inks in the pen to see if there is a difference?

 

It's such a beautiful pen to be having such issues.

[Vlad Soare]

A Montblanc should write normally with any ink. Limiting yourself to a certain ink that happens to hide a flow issue is not really a solution, in my opinion.

I'm sure Montblanc will eventually get it right. I've had issues with their service, but in the end everything turned out OK. But if course, it's very frustrating when this happens.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Vlad Soare

[VivienR]

I recently got my Princesse Grace, also Diva line with medium nib. I using Diamine Imperial Purple with it and writes really well. But I didn't tried with any other ink yet. Hope you overcome the problem.

[Pentulant]

Definitely agree that such a pen should write with any ink. Trying other inks, though, may give some additional insight to the issue.

 

I have both the Dietrich and Princess Grace and have no trouble. I hope this gets solved for the OP very soon.

[VivienR]

Maybe a really thorough cleaning could solve the problem. One review mentioned that Princesse Grace had some skipping till got flushed. MB test its pen, so ink residue can be build up.

[zaddick]

I should mention that an explanation given was that as the nib is so relatively small in the Diva line there might be a problem with a medium nib because of the amount of ink flowing - but really, one should thing that Montblanc shouldn't have this kind of problem ............. but does the expert in here thing that fitting a fine nib might solve the problem.

 

These pens all ship with M as the default, so the explanation given to you is pretty weak.

 

If this pen is under warranty, send it to MB until they get it right. If employees are observing this issue, but the service center is not, ask for clarification of how they are testing at the service center. If they are dipping the nib to see if it writes, there will not be any skipping as the feed will be saturated. Confirm what paper they are using, or include some of your own that exhibits the issue so they can test on it. the more clarity you can add to the testing/replication process, the faster you can achieve success.

 

If you are paying out of your own pocket, send it ti a nibmeister and get this fixed in about a week.

[Ghost Plane]

I write notes demonstrating problems when sending in any pen for service. If it's subtle, I use a highlighter to point out the problems. A see of yellow or orange seems to make the point.

 

The explanation you were given is fertilizer. A large & fragrant load.

[Richard F]

I've sent two pens to MB over the years, each with skipping problems, and each with notes demonstrating the problems. Both times the pens were returned after about 2 months with the problem uncorrected. The rep at the boutique suggested the issue is that I'm left-handed. Nonsense.

I sent the pens to John Mottishaw, who performed his magic. Problem solved.

[fravin]

Is it a converter pen?

 

Converters are problematics some times... Give it a try with a cartridge.

Edited April 1, 2015 by fravin

[jlindhardt]

Thanks all for very good input.

 

It's a cartridge pen, and the ink used is MB own cartridges with royal blue ink. We did actually write a text with a ballpoint pen and repeated the text three times with the Dietrich and believe me no need to use a highlighter ). The paper is paper we bought at the dealer and it's the same paper they're using for demonstration purposes. We did not flush the nib ourself but one should think that MB would suspect this an clean the nib.

 

Example of the skipping below, and as you see this is some serious skipping. Actually the entire "2014" is missing in the MB part - see last line in the examples

 

Text with Ballpoint pen:

 

 

Text with Dietrich pen:

 

This is after the pen was returned the second time.

 

It's still under warranty, but it's frustrating to keep on trying to get them to fix the problem,

Edited April 1, 2015 by jlindhardt

[dneal]

Did you send a writing sample of the problem along with the pen?

[fravin]

This is tragic!

 

Never see something like this. A huge skip!

[jlindhardt]

Unfortunately Vintage, the sample was only shown to the dealer. Maybe that's next step.