Tale Of Two Montblanc 149 Celluloid Pens

[PFM 5]

These are two of my 149's, the one on the top is a 1950's celluloid 149 with the words "Made in Germany" on the cap. The one below has a celluloid cap without the "Made in Germany" imprint. This one however has a later (Non-Celluloid) resin barrel. Although the caps look similar, the one on the top has the early curved clip. In addition, the cap of the early pen will fit the resin barrel, while the cap of the resin pen will not fit the celluloid barrel. I would appreciate some insight and feedback from my Montblanc friends out there.

 

All the best!

 

Jose Garcia

 

PS: On the photo of the Montnblanc star the early cap is the one on the left, while the later celluloid is next to it. The cap on the extreme right is a later 1980's cap that I put there for comparison.

[meiers]

Thanks for the photos. Have you read Barry Gabay's wonderful article about the history of the 149?

Here is the link

http://download1477.mediafire.com/z932p9m3f1pg/499p4tbpfct4faa/BarryGabayPWMB149.pdf

[Joe in Seattle]

Love the aged stars....

[BlueJ]

Am I correct in guessing that the older nib is a Fine and the slightly newer one an Oblique Medium?

[zaddick]

Am I correct in guessing that the older nib is a Fine and the slightly newer one an Oblique Medium?

Looks about right. The new pen could be an OM or OB, depending on the writing characteristics. If it is more stubbish on the diagonals then I would say OB..

 

The new body seems tobe a replacement from 1984 to 1989 era as it is a two piece barrel (started around 84) with the plastic threads 9ended around 89) on the piston.

 

So one celluloid pen and two caps. i wonder if someon rethreaded the celluloid cap on the resin pen to make it fit since the trheading switched in the mid 1980s. That could explain why one will not fit the other. Just a guess though.

[PFM 5]

You are absolutely right Zaddick, in this picture you can see that the different threads on the caps.

 

Jose