Nib Finish Deterioration

[Joe Penmanship]

I have a Montegrappa Fortuna Skull that I purchased in 2013. It has been a reasonably good pen, performance-wise. Not the greatest. Not the worst.

 

The important note is that I have not used it much (since it is not the greatest performer) and it has remained happily capped and in a secure box most of its life. In fact, I only remember inking it two times (with normal standard inks that everyone uses, nothing weird, alien or BSB) and have only written with it probably a total of two-hours during its cushy little life. And I have cleaned it carefully and properly, as I clean all of my pens after some period of use. It has never been dropped. I have never lent it to someone else. I haven't stirred my coffee with it. Bottom-line, this pen has been treated like a princess (pencess?).

 

So I went to visit this Fortuna this morning since I haven't caressed it for awhile. And upon removal of the cap, I see that the black finish on the nib has somewhat deteriorated - bits of silver shining through the black here and there.

 

I rub the nib and no more comes off -- so it doesn't seem to be just flaking away. It just seems to have dissolved away into space.

 

And it is now an ugly nib.

 

I have a note into the store that I bought it from -- haven't heard back, yet.

 

But has anyone else had this issue with Montegrappa Fortuna Skulls? Is this a known issue that in someone's similar experience the manufacturer or place of purchase might be willing to rectify?

 

I did a search on the forums here, but did not uncover anything.

 

I attached a photo.

 

Cheers!

 

Joe

[Honeybadgers]

Wow that's something I'd expect of monteverde. Not montegrappa.

[Inkling13]

Is this a steel nib? Gold?

[Joe Penmanship]

Inkling, it is a steel nib, I believe. Thats what I found on their website.

 

- Joe

[TassoBarbasso]

I have a similar situation with the grey plating on my montegrappa mule in copper and grey steel. Others have flagged simila issues with the rose gold plating on the Ducale. These nibs are made by Bock but I dont know if the coating is made in-house by Montegrappa, so Im not sure whos to blame, the supplier or the company

[Chrissy]

I hope the store you bought it from comes back to you. If they don't offer any solution (pen too old, no warranty, etc.) then I would send it to the manufacturer and tell them everything you've said here. See what they say.

[aardvarkbark]

Contact Kenro, the US distributor for Monty and ask their thoughts. I had dealt with Ryan there about some Omas nibs and a high-end Monty a year or so ago. Very helpful.

[Inkling13]

Dunno, steel isnt gold, so it may still corrode, but there may be other factors in play.

[sansenri]

Odd to read this.

I discovered something similar happened to my SAILOR Professional Gear Imperial Matt Black just a few days ago.

I have this pen since a couple of years. I used it last a few months ago and I admit I was forced to store it away inked as I did not have time for cleaning when I put it away. Recently I recalled it was stored inked, together with a few other pens, so I went to wash them.

 

The nib of the Matt Black was in this condition

 

 

I admit I was not happy to see this.

The black finsh is not flaking off, It looks as though it has dissolved...
I wondered whether it has to do with the ink used, I tried to recall what ink was in, but I do not seem to have recorded the fill up. By memory I would say it was a Private Reserve blue.
The pen was bought on the bay via a Japanese seller, and has behaved well until now.

Honestly it still does, since the loss of black plating on the nib has no influence on the nib's behaviour...

I bought the pen attracted by the "stealth" finish, which looks good on this pen, although I am not addicted to this finish luckily and have no other such nibs...

I am considering keeping the pen as it is...

[Chrissy]

I was considering upgrading to a black gold nib for my Lamy LX. Maybe I will change my mind and just upgrade to an ordinary gold nib.

[Joe Penmanship]

Sansenri, thank you for posting. It looks as if both of our bibs are losing the black finish nearest to the tip of the nibs.

 

This leads me to wonder if nib flex has something to do with it. Or maybe it is residual ink reacting in some way.

 

Hopefully there will be other folks who can chime in.

 

- Joe

[sansenri]

Joe, I did also consider the flex action of the nib but in reality the nib is quite stiff and if you look at the discolouration it looks as though it is stained, circular shape, that made me possibly think of a reaction between the reuthenium coating and the ink??

who knows

that said I am not tearing my hair off, I will keep using it as it is, certainly I would advise to streer off this type of nib finish...the more so if Sailor branded.

I too am curious to know if this is happening to others or perhaps I got a defected nib with imperfect coating...

[Donald2]

My 10 year old Pelican fountain pen has the same issue with the gold on the gold plated nib flaking off. I haven't even used the pen for a very long time. Maybe the adhesion of the gold or whatever other material that they put on the nibs comes off after so many years because of age or oxidation. Who knows? I don't have an answer to this.

[Joe Penmanship]

Well, thank you, Aardvarkbark. I took your suggestion and contacted Kenro, the distributor regarding my nib finish deterioration.

 

They won't chat over the phone - the repair person that I finally got through to after calling and leaving (non-returned) messages was very curt and direct about this. I was told to go instead to the website and pay a non-refundable consultation fee of $35 US and then ship the pen with a note that details the problem.

 

Not sure what happens next. But I will probably not get an explanation of the issue based on the non-human communication scenario they have in place there. And I am guessing I will have to pay a repair or nib replacement bill. Trying not to be negative, here. But it feels like it is going that way.

 

Sigh.

[Uncial]

The Sailor Imperial black coated nib is prone to this. Sailor suggests only using Sailor ink. I'm not sure if that's a fix, but I kind of doubt it. Gold plating wears off over time but the black coated nibs don't have a particularly long life for their coating.

[aardvarkbark]

Well, thank you, Aardvarkbark. I took your suggestion and contacted Kenro, the distributor regarding my nib finish deterioration.

 

 

Well, that's disappointing to hear about your bad customer experience with Kenro. I have read that others have had similar experiences.

 

I see you are in So Cal. Would it be possible for you to attend the LA Pen Show second week of Feb? I think Kenro attends and may be able to give you a no-cost consult and possibly take the pen with them. Alternatively, you may want to consult with Monty sellers about their experience with this issue and suggestion, or with one of the nib repair folks who should be in attendance. I wonder if having the remaining coating removed is the best route.

[Joe Penmanship]

Thanks, Aardvarkbark.

 

I will indeed be at the LA Pen Show. However, being a bear of little brain, I did not stop to think that Kenro might potentially be present there. So I have already sent my pen in to them, blindly via post and with the $35.00 consulting fee.

 

Ah well.

[Joe Penmanship]

Well, just for the future and for anyone who searches "nib plating" or "nib rot" or "nib finish" in regard to a Montegrappa pen, I have received notification from Kenro regarding my Montegrappa nib issue.

 

Apparently, deteriorating plating on the Montegrappa Fortuna nibs is a known problem, and therefore Kenro has agreed to fix the problem at no charge.

 

So if you are experiencing a similar issue, definitely reach out to Kenro (https://kenroforyou.com).

 

Cheers.

[dzunglv]

On 1/22/2018 at 6:00 AM, sansenri said:

Odd to read this.

I discovered something similar happened to my SAILOR Professional Gear Imperial Matt Black just a few days ago.

I have this pen since a couple of years. I used it last a few months ago and I admit I was forced to store it away inked as I did not have time for cleaning when I put it away. Recently I recalled it was stored inked, together with a few other pens, so I went to wash them.

 

The nib of the Matt Black was in this condition

 

 

I admit I was not happy to see this.

The black finsh is not flaking off, It looks as though it has dissolved...
I wondered whether it has to do with the ink used, I tried to recall what ink was in, but I do not seem to have recorded the fill up. By memory I would say it was a Private Reserve blue.
The pen was bought on the bay via a Japanese seller, and has behaved well until now.

Honestly it still does, since the loss of black plating on the nib has no influence on the nib's behaviour...

I bought the pen attracted by the "stealth" finish, which looks good on this pen, although I am not addicted to this finish luckily and have no other such nibs...

I am considering keeping the pen as it is...

I have this same situation with my Sailor Imperial but I find this scuff to be a good fit over time and I think the pen even looks better in this used condition