Post-Repair Identity Crisis

June 30, 2015

My Noir et Noir from 1999, before Montblanc had to stop using that name, fundamentally broke about six weeks ago. The back barrel (flip-up part) had detached from the lower barrel such that it was now lodged deep in the cap. You could mount it on an exposed top screw such that you could make the nib retract and such, but the cap was useless in protecting the nib since its chamber was considerably narrowed by the stuck barrel part!

I took it to our L.A. MB boutique, which made me feel fancier than I am, and got a service estimate of around $100. I wasn't delighted, but since authorized parts were needed I didn't feel like I had much choice.

Well, I received the pen last week, and I have a lot of ambivalent feelings. On one hand, the pen was so broken the only salvageable piece of value was the nib assembly. Other than that, I suppose it's a new pen. That's cool, but it's lost its Noir et Noir band in favor of a Boheme band. Sure, if it has a new barrel assembly, it's going to have the new pen barrel. But somehow I wasn't thinking ahead to that, so it came as a surprise. I'm not so worried about the bump in collector value; that one broke, and I want to have a working pen that I carry around and use. But I had 16 years of history gripping that barrel and having pride in our "early adopter" status.

Anyone else have any technical problems with the barrel mechanism?

June 30, 2015

Yes, I indeed had the same issue a few months ago. It was a brand new Boheme on it's very first cartridge. I had the option to send it back to the boutique but I live more than two hours away. I searched the forum and web with no solution. So I decided to take a stab at it myself first and thought that I always have to option to bring it back if I mass it up.

Long story short, I unscrewed the screw in the blind cap (upper barrel in the OP's words). Since the entire blind cap is stuck in the cap, the blind cap became lose and fell into the cap. Then I can see the threads in the cap and part of the barrel ring that's over-tighten. With a soft tip screwdriver and gently, I tried to move this barrel ring in the direction that's gonna loosen the tension. Viola! It worked and I recovered the problem. From then on, I try not to screw the cap on too tight. I am sure one day I will drop the pen off for service because this issue bugs me since it's a new pen.

June 30, 2015

I have had my Boheme and have not suffered any of the aforementioned issues. I bought this pen at least 4 years ago and have been constantly using it but nothing has broke.

Curious, what is meant by the words "fundamental broke", to me this sound like nothing realy broke it just has the feel of being broke. ?

July 1, 2015

Hi, Zaphod. The only piece that broke was the hinge on the blind cap. It separated from the barrel and became lodged securely inside the cap. I tried many strategies to get it out, but it wasn't budging. With that piece stuck inside, I couldn't use the cap to expose, retract, or protect the nib. So while it was technically just a little piece that broke, its deleterious effect on the instrument was really pretty fundamental!

Congrats, luckduck on winging your own solution. Though I'm disappointed to hear that it's happening on new pens. I had chalked my problem up to perhaps a version 1.0 first model year defect that had surely since been ironed out...

Edited July 1, 2015 by tkmorrison