How Did You First Learn About Montblanc Pens?

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

A girlfriend told me her father said: "Get him a Montblanc" when she mentioned I'd told her I'd like the just- introduced (and advertised in National Geographic) Cross fountain pen for Christmas, but she didn't want to spend that much money ...

 

article is from the April 2017 issue of Pen World

 

 

[jmccarty3]

Fifty years ago I went off to college in Memphis. Walking around downtown, I came across a store that sold tobacco and fountain pens--in the window was the first Montblanc I'd ever seen, a 149. I bought it immediately, for the princely sum of $35. I still have it, and it's still a marvelous pen.

[neugeekig]

I came into contact with Montblanc over their ballpoint pens - or more precise pens that were “inspired” by them.

I think I was 10 or 12 years old (early 90s), when i started to realize a distinct design of ballpoint pens around hotels we went - or my father brought back from conferences. The Montblanc like cigar shape in black, brown or green with the hotel's name printed on the cap.

Here is a picture I took - my father still has some of those pens lying around.

 

I asked my father, why various hotels in different countries had the same sort of pen and he told me, they want to resemble an expensive brand. (btw, the "quality" of those hotel-pens was and is always worse than “bad”)

 

From that moment onwards I looked closely on the pens used around us.

My father never used fountain pens or expensive ballpoint pens. He signed documents at the place he was at that moment in the lawfirm with the next available ballpoint pen around - mostly own give-aways. My mother (court clerk) used ballpoint pens provided by the court or her pelikano fountain pen she had since school. I found out, that "the expensive brand" had a white star on their pens. And while bank managers or hotel managers treated those pens like precious goods, those friends and clients of my father who also had one of these pens didn't treat them with that caution.

(Sidenote: When I look back at this today, I know why. They are members of those groups of people for whom these "cheap" gadgets don't play any role. Today I know some of my father's friends belong to known and even dynastic families. At that time they were just friendly people who handed me over their rolex chronograph cause the 11-year-old me needed a stopwatch.)

 

So I was aware of the brand "Montblanc", but it never played a role in my life.

Also, going to school in the 90s, at some point ballpoint and gel pens took over and I stopped using my fountain pens (Lamy Safari & Parker Jotter).

 

When I left university and was looking for a job, I became aware, that a suit from a special brand is useful to show that you belong to the business-level you are applying for and that you are successful.

(Sidenote two: I was used to MTM suits or RTW suits I chose because I liked their look and not their brand.)

During the research on "how to dress for success", I stumbled across the accessories thread in one of the Yuppies forums. A Montblanc ballpoint pen would be the right choice as a writing instrument - because of the worldwide recognition of the brand.

So there again, Montblanc popped up.

(I learned that the “I pretend, I'm successful” sort of people chose even writing instruments on their recognition rather than on the writing skills - and therefore are satisfied with a ballpoint pen. - That opened me the possibility to continue playing a game, I was playing for years: “guess if I'm in your social class or several above you”

As I grew up with people from so many different classes of society, I found out what the distinct status symbols of various classes are - and during my studies, I developed the game of messing them up and play with the prejudiced attached to those status symbols. And if someone thought I was in the class below him and he could “bully me”, I pulled something out if my hat that showed: “2-3 classes above you ” / I know, a weird game, but it is a lot of fun!)

 

At the same time, the company I had my internship at, had some business with Montblanc. Surrounded by Montblanc ...

So besides buying two other fountain pens (Pelikan and Waterman), I looked around on the Montblanc website and found my grail pen (Meisterstück Solitaire Platinum Plated Facet). As I was working for a swiss manufacturer of ballpoint pen refills and although I owned two fountain pens, the ballpoint pen was the first Montblanc I wanted to own.

A Montblanc ballpoint pen, to "play the game", but one with a design that was not ordinary, as I always have more joy with stuff that is a bit extraordinary.

 

But, ...

Years went by, the money from my granny I wanted to use to buy that ballpoint pen stayed untouched. I never felt it was “the right time”. And I had so much fun with my fountainpens and still a lot of good-writing ballpoint pens from my internship.

Beginning of last year, I found out, the series was discontinued by Montblanc and so the plan of buying the ballpoint and later the fountain pen couldn't be put to action.

Then came the autumn 2016, I changed the job and wanted to treat myself. Lying with my ipad on my couch, I surfed the net, landed on ebay and bought an early 90s 146 OBB for 173 €.

And since then 10 more followed

(And the most recent one is a Meistertück Solitaire Platinum Plated Facet 146 - I still don't own that ballpoint pen.)

 

Wow, what a long story. Shall I edit it, shorten it? Well, no, let’s give you something to read

 

Stefan

[horationelson]

During a visit (one of many) to Selfridges in Birmingham back in 2006-7, while I was at university, I walked through the in-store Montblanc boutique and must have stopped to look at the pens. I don't know why I stopped or what caught my eye (from memory, they were based somewhere on the menswear floor - slightly out of place - so I must have bumped into them during a shopping trip for tshirts/clothing).

 

They must have had a very good salesperson, because I was persuaded to sit down at try various fountain pens and settled on a 146 with an OB (or OBB, I can never remember) to be fitted as a nib exchange. From memory, I bought the pen for myself as a birthday present (it must have been my 19th or 20th). It wasn't completely spontaneous - I took extensive notes at university (read English), so it was a practical, albeit indulgent, purchase.

 

It was a supreme pleasure taking notes at lectures and in the library with an OB (or OBB?) nib. I still keep a number of my university notebooks, if only to marvel at the ink and handwriting (I purchased and used a number of the limited edition inks - mostly Seasons Greetings) back in 2006-2008.

 

Unfortunately I stopped using the pen on a daily basis by the time I had started work in 2010 (OB wasn't conducive to office work). In 2013 I decided to swap the nib for an M, but this was never quite right so I recently swapped it for an OM and now use it on a near-daily basis, along with a growing collection of other MB pens.

[neugeekig]

Unfortunately I stopped using the pen on a daily basis by the time I had started work in 2010 (OB wasn't conducive to office work). In 2013 I decided to swap the nib for an M, but this was never quite right so I recently swapped it for an OM and now use it on a near-daily basis, along with a growing collection of other MB pens.

Thank you for this nice story, horationelson.

You are right, OB( isn't for office use. I use my OBB to write down my plan for the one year world trip - and my weekly grocery list

[Chrissy]

I used to collect pens from the cheaper end of the more accessible pen ranges like Parker and Sheaffer, mainly ballpoints, but I eventually bought myself a new brown Parker Falcon when they were first produced, and I had a Sheaffer Targa Brown Roncé FP and BP set as part of my collection too. It's not like I had a fascination for brown, but those were two I ended up with.

 

I knew of Montblanc pens, and always wanted one, but they were out of my price range. Even a BP was too expensive.

 

My OH knew this, of course, and one Christmas day he played a practical joke on me. He's not known for being a practical joker, so I was totally unaware.

 

He gave me a pen box shaped present that had a couple of lines about this present being associated with a famous, white snow capped, mountain. I was so excited to unwrap it! However, his joke was that he had wrapped up one of my own cheap BP's in it's box and given it to me. He deeply regretted his joke when he saw my utter disappointment.

 

That was sort of a trigger for me. I sold all of my pens on eBay, apart from my Sheaffer Targa set, and with the proceeds I bought my brand new Montblanc Meisterstück BP with GP trim.

 

My one regret was that I sold my Parker Falcon that looked as new, in mint condition. I was always very precious with it. I tried replacing it by buying one on eBay at a later date, but it has various dinks and marks, so I've never loved it like I did my original one. If I could go back and 'unsell' my Parker Falcon I would do that.