What A Good Montegrappa Ef Nib I Bought

August 30, 2019

During my summer visit to Montegrappa in Bassano, Italy, I took the opportunity to have one of my Extra 1930 medium nibs swapped for an extra-fine. My insider friend, Peter, had told me that they had a last EF nib of the previous generation, a beautiful two-toned nib with the gold hallmark reading *1140MI, made in Milano during the Richemont governance of Montegrappa.

I know that Montegrappa nibs differs from most other Italian siblings being in general narrower than you expect from their nominal width, in a way more similar to eastern nib grades. I have two F nibs (none in the 8 size of the Extra), and they really are on the very fine side of a F. So I hoped to have a "real" extra-fine nib from Montegrappa.

My hope was well placed. Michele, Montegrappa's technician, installed on my Extra a fantastic, extra-extra-fine nib that I really like a lot.

The nib is firm, but no unpleasantly so, as it has some responsiveness, and literally glides on the paper for how much it is smooth.

The grade of the nib is perfect for taking notes and writing with small characters:

This was written using all the lines of a Moleskine journal.

It can also be used with larger characters, using every other line:

A great nib!