Enjoying Montblanc Pens — Broad, Oblique, Extra Fine, Le & Bespoke

[Ghost Plane]

  On 5/14/2018 at 7:24 AM, Tom Kellie said:

~ Ghost Plane:

 

 

It's Danaus genutia on Asclepias curassavica.

Danaus genutia is widespread in India, where it's known as the “Common Tiger” butterfly.

It's in the same family as North America’s Danaus plexippus, the Monarch butterfly.

The flower is Asclepias curassavica, or “Tropical Milkweed”, also called “Bloodflower”. It's an introduced species in Hong Kong.

I apologize for failing to include the identification in the original post.

Tom K.

Thank you. I suppose it makes sense for similar appearing flora and fauna given they’re filling similar niches in similar climates. Isn’t the world a marvelous place?

[Tom Kellie]

Let's Play

[Tom Kellie]

Cherub

[Tom Kellie]

Ready to Write

[dascott]

Having only purchased new or NOS pens up until now, I confess my first forage into vintage pens with this 324 is quite a joy. Can anyone help me with the nib size, the nib looks oblique to me, could it be OB or OM? I haven’t inked it yet, as it is a push-button filler I am quite nervous about the integrity of the rubber reservoir. I will probably try it out with water before inking.

[thygreyt]

Sharing a picture of my favorite nib... the "old" 149 14C nib. Its from around the 70s, single piece ebonite feed, long soft tines, and writes nicely wet.

 

I love how it says "149" on the bottom

 

[meiers]

  On 5/15/2018 at 10:00 AM, dascott said:

Having only purchased new or NOS pens up until now, I confess my first forage into vintage pens with this 324 is quite a joy. Can anyone help me with the nib size, the nib looks oblique to me, could it be OB or OM? I havent inked it yet, as it is a push-button filler I am quite nervous about the integrity of the rubber reservoir. I will probably try it out with water before inking.

I am leaning towards OB.

[zaddick]

  On 5/15/2018 at 10:00 AM, dascott said:

Having only purchased new or NOS pens up until now, I confess my first forage into vintage pens with this 324 is quite a joy. Can anyone help me with the nib size, the nib looks oblique to me, could it be OB or OM? I haven’t inked it yet, as it is a push-button filler I am quite nervous about the integrity of the rubber reservoir. I will probably try it out with water before inking.

 

I think the tipping looks OB. Also, the nib is Palladium, used for a short time when gold use was restricted but before production moved to steel. This is indicated by the fancy looking P on the nib.

 

Water first is prudent. It may also be wise to budget for a restoration if you are uncomfortable working on the pen yourself. in the short term you can also use it as a dip pen to see how you like the nib prior to investing more money in the pen.

[dascott]

Zaddick, Meiers,

Thank you. Are the old rubber push-button reserviors unreliable? I will give it a try as you advise before considering restoration and will revert back if I need advice on that.

[zaddick]

Are they unreliable per se? No. But how long has the one in your pen been in use and when could it fail? A relatively small investment in a preemptive replacement of a sac could ease your mind about a potential failure.

 

You should know pretty quick if the has already failed.

 

I am having a new pen made that is a button filler. I just have to accept that eventually it will need to have the sac replaced, even if i don't use it much.

[dascott]

  On 5/15/2018 at 5:11 PM, zaddick said:

Are they unreliable per se? No. But how long has the one in your pen been in use and when could it fail? A relatively small investment in a preemptive replacement of a sac could ease your mind about a potential failure.

 

You should know pretty quick if the has already failed.

 

I am having a new pen made that is a button filler. I just have to accept that eventually it will need to have the sac replaced, even if i don't use it much.

Thanks Zaddick, I understand. Is this something MB could do with such an old pen, or would I have to seek someone out privately. (I lived in the Bay Area a couple of years ago so could have popped round to yours!). Anyhow, I will see how it goes first and not carry it around in my shirt pocket ;-)

[zaddick]

There are plenty of repair folks who can do this, and for cheaper than MB. I'll let folks in the UK chime in with more localized replies.

 

If you send it to MB they will likely do one of 2 things: 1) send it back and say it is too old to repair or they have not parts or 2) charge you a king's ransom to fix it and then they will send it to someone like Max Schrage in Hamburg to fix it before it comes back to you from MB and they have taken their large cut of the fee.

 

MB seems to only replace parts (vs repair), and mostly for recent production pens or those still in production like the 149. MB offers a great service for their pens. You can send them a smashed up, black resin pen and get a new one back (assuming the nib and clip are fine) for not too much money. Everything else will be expensive and involve consideration of what will be lost in the process, if they even agree to repair it.

[dascott]

  On 5/15/2018 at 5:42 PM, zaddick said:

There are plenty of repair folks who can do this, and for cheaper than MB. I'll let folks in the UK chime in with more localized replies.

 

If you send it to MB they will likely do one of 2 things: 1) send it back and say it is too old to repair or they have not parts or 2) charge you a king's ransom to fix it and then they will send it to someone like Max Schrage in Hamburg to fix it before it comes back to you from MB and they have taken their large cut of the fee.

 

MB seems to only replace parts (vs repair), and mostly for recent production pens or those still in production like the 149. MB offers a great service for their pens. You can send them a smashed up, black resin pen and get a new one back (assuming the nib and clip are fine) for not too much money. Everything else will be expensive and involve consideration of what will be lost in the process, if they even agree to repair it.

Ok, thanks again Zaddick :-)

[nishantdr83]

Received the gorgeous Mark Twain FP with B nib ... it was billed as new but unfortunately, it wasnt. Dried ink on section ring and oodles more when I flushed it 25 odd times. Oh Well ! Dishonesty never escapes us humans.. does it ? All cleaned up now and hence, I inked it in Exupery ... This should provide me with good company while my first truly new Twain gets an EF nib on it voyage to Hamburg.

[niksch]

  On 5/16/2018 at 3:17 AM, nishant said:

Received the gorgeous Mark Twain FP with B nib ... it was billed as new but unfortunately, it wasnt. Dried ink on section ring and oodles more when I flushed it 25 odd times. Oh Well ! Dishonesty never escapes us humans.. does it ? All cleaned up now and hence, I inked it in Exupery ... This should provide me with good company while my first truly new Twain gets an EF nib on it voyage to Hamburg.

 

Is that your handwriting?

[nishantdr83]

  On 5/16/2018 at 3:52 AM, niksch said:

 

Is that your handwriting?

Yes.

[Lam1]

  On 5/14/2018 at 10:24 AM, Tom Kellie said:

 

 

~ Lam1:

 

Wow! Your Blue Hour arrived!

Thank you so much for posting the generous assortment of images.

I've never seen such excellent detail photos of the Blue Hour, bringing out its high quality craftsmanship.

For those who've considered a Blue Hour, your image set may be convincing.

An OB nib? That's a very pleasing choice, even if it wasn't really what you'd decided on.

The nib close-up — Oh my goodness! Such a beautiful photo of a stunning nib.

The handwriting sample shows what the OB nib does. Very, very nice.

The pen itself looks great against the musical note background, on the Visconti stand.

Both the blue lacquer and the precious metal work are shown with skill in your images.

The color is true. It's one of the loveliest Montblanc designs in many years.

Yubi remains a wonderful writing parter. He's so low-key and affectionate.

Now that the contract has been approved by the regional authorities for an extension until January, 2019, the university is seeking to have it further extended to July, 2019.

No matter what the outcome may be, I feel especially fortunate to have worked as a guest here for two decades.

Tom K.

 

Tom,

 

Thank you for your kind words about my pictures. You're very generous, since I'm a mediocre photographer at best.

 

The blue hour is a great pen indeed and I'm quite enjoying it. I also received a 1912 yesterday that I think I like even more than the Blue Hour.

 

I hope you get the contract extended again for many years.

 

Yubi's "baby pup" photo is awesome. He is so cute!

Hamlet says hello to him!

[Uncial]

Three cheers for Yubi; the pup with the finest taste in pens.

My gran always wanted a Pekinese but there were never any breeders near her. She had to make do with somewhat yappy Yorkshire mini's.

[Cyrille81]

Continue testing the M nib of the pen before sent it for an exchange to BB and the Emerald ink:

 

Edited May 18, 2018 by Cyrille

[Tom Kellie]

  On 5/15/2018 at 1:17 PM, Reed_thoughts said:

Sharing a picture of my favorite nib... the "old" 149 14C nib. Its from around the 70s, single piece ebonite feed, long soft tines, and writes nicely wet.

 

I love how it says "149" on the bottom

 

 

~ Reed_thoughts:

 

You've added to my Montblanc nib education.

I didn't realize that there were nibs with “149” engraved on them.

Thank you for the photo post, which is equal parts beautiful and instructive.

I appreciate your regular sharing of images.

That it writes well is very good to know.

Tom K.