The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[Karmachanic]

Tried Rapido-Eze?

[como]

1 hour ago, invisuu said:

@como I have not gotten rid of the stain. But I also don't want to send the pen back, because then I'll be without it for at least 4-6 weeks.  So right now I'm battling with my inner self if I should just accept the stain and live with it (I have no plans whatsoever to sell it, so resale value is meaningless to me), or be without the pen for 4-6 weeks and get rid of the stain. It's not an easy decision for me, because I use the pen daily and I really, really enjoy it.

 

There's also the option to just flat out use permanent blue in this pen and not seeing the stain anyway

@invisuu I understand you. I bought a Le Petit Prince Planet version LeGrand last year, in the middle of the lockdown. The retailer had just one pen in that model which had an M nib. Not my favorite size but I took it and planned to do nib swap. Hamburg was in lockdown and there would be significant delay. Like you, I didn’t want to part with my new pen. The M was ok but the nib felt a bit blunt or dull. No hard start or skip but just a bit unpleasant. I could also just leave it but I really prefer my pens writing perfectly. A couple of months ago I was in MB Boutique for something else, I had the LPP with me, so I asked them to do something with the nib. They said nib adjustment would cost 61 Swiss francs. I said that the model only came out last year and I surely still have the warranty. They took it in and gave me back the pen in about 4 week, having adjusted the nib and replaced the feed free of charge. The burgundy LPP is perfect now. 
 

I told you the above so you know that you still can have it mended. Warranty is two years. Maybe when you have a moment that you feel finally that you also want to play with your other pens, you can still send it in, with no rush 🙂.

[fpupulin]

Dear invissu, I second como’s advice.

 

I personally do not care about the staining of the window - in fact only yesterday I noted for the first time that I have a149 with ambered window and another with a frozen effect… -, but you are in your right to request Montblanc to fix a problem caused by their ink in a new pen.

 

I would not part with my Calligraphy anytime soon, so I understand  your reluctance to send it out for service. As como said, however, you can just send it in a moment when you know you will not be using the pen intensively, for example prior your next holidays.

[como]

I tried to reverse write this nib. It’s really like needle point. I didn’t think that it would be even possible to reverse write this pen, but I can actually write like this. No problems, very pleasant for what it is.
 

 

Afterwards I decided to cheat a little by adding some highlights to the original letters to make it look kind of “Spencerian”. Ok, I don’t know how to write Spencerian (yet), but I thought it would look something similar, very thin but a little flex here and there. 
 

 

Sorry, just playing with my pen! 🙂

[N1003U]

15 minutes ago, como said:

Sorry, just playing with my pen! 🙂

 

Thank you for the lovely demonstration. I am simultaneously amazed at the performance of the pen and envious of your penmanship. I have no doubt you will be a master of Spencerian in short order.

[Frank C]

2 hours ago, como said:

I

2 hours ago, como said:

I tried to reverse write this nib. It’s really like needle point. I didn’t think that it would be even possible to reverse write this pen, but I can actually write like this. No problems, very pleasant for what it is.

 

Afterwards I decided to cheat a little by adding some highlights to the original letters to make it look kind of “Spencerian”. Ok, I don’t know how to write Spencerian (yet), but I thought it would look something similar, very thin but a little flex here and there. 

 

Sorry, just playing with my pen! 🙂

I will have to try the reverse writing. Your letter forms are perfect. You are well on your way to mastering Spencerian. 

 

[como]

@N1003U @Frank C You are too kind. Thank you!

 

I was recently at MB Boutique at the airport and bought a case for the 149C. I was looking for the one Franco @fpupulin got, but they didn’t have it. They had just three cases that could fit a 149. Two were the Sartorial model and one of the plain leather with a flap. The Sartorial came with either embossed leather or soft calf leather. I picked the embossed one. I could have equally picked the calf one too, difficult to decide. Both were very nice. There is an elastic loop to hold the pen in place, which I don’t use. The loop is a bit too tight for 149 and also inconvenient to get the pen in and out. The triangle shape of the case easily fits my pen, and can accommodate a microfiber cleaning cloth if I want to. I don’t know how much this case normally costs, but it had a small discount at the airport and was 125 Swiss francs. The lady there said most of the things were on some kind of promotion. I didn’t have too much time or dare to look (I saw Le Petit Prince Aviator version Solitaire with metal barrel and brown leather cap and wondered if it was on discount too - probably not. Better not know...) 😀

 

[fpupulin]

Montblanc Boutiques at airports are a dangerous affair. Their inventory is often quite limited, but if you have time to spend between connection flights, you may well end doing some impulsive buy! A few years ago I was very close to buy a Scipione Borghese fountain pen with a serious discount. It would have been the more expensive of any Montblanc I ever owned and truly far from the style of pens I normally like. Still today, I am really happy that a bit of good sense eventually prevented me, at the last second, from pulling out my credit card!

 

You did a great job buying that splendid and unusual case, and I guess also a good deal. I very much like embossed leather, not only aesthetically, but also for its extraordinary resistance to the scratches, so I would have chosen the same pouch…

 

It looks a very comfortable and elegant house for your Calligraphy!

[fpupulin]

So then, back home I inked my Calligraphy again with Montblanc's Blue Permanent, a combination that never ceases to amaze me for its perfect functionality.

 

 

After reading about como's experiment with the reverse writing of his Calligraphy, and having seriously appreciated the beautiful photo of his letters in Spencerian style, I also tried my pen with the nib upside down. With difficulty, but it writes. With my nib, however, I couldn't call it a good experience.

 

The first "Spencerian" letters in the upper left of the page on the right were written with the nib upside down, and also the last word on the page ("reverse"), the other letters with the nib in regular position.

 

As you can see, with a light hand the nib of my Calligraphy writes, in normal position, almost the same width as when used in reverse, but the writing experience, when used properly, is simply stellar!

[Frank C]

I tried a little reverse writing myself. This is my first written post here. I am awed (intimidated) by the abilities of some regular posters here. 

 

 

As you can see, my pens don't write in reverse well at all. It seems to be a feed issue. The lines start off extra fine and then trail off—not enough ink getting to the paper is my diagnosis. 

 

I also posted photos of two other clean pens. The one on the left is a 90th Anniversary with a broad nib. I usually use it for MB Burgundy ink, but the last fill was MB James Dean Rebel Red—a dark red ink. I followed my usually cleaning pattern: Flush until clear water comes out, then 60 minutes with the nib and section in the ultrasound. This is how the Calligraphy pens appeared after cleaning; they are full of ink, now. The other pen is my original 146 from the 80s. I used to use MB Washable Blue in it, but I filled it with Permanent Blue when that ink became available to me in 2013. I think that the pen sat for a while, unused, and dried out. It was also rinsed and had a session in the ultrasound. There is some build-up on the window, as you can see in the next photo. As @fpupulin said, "I personally do not care about the staining of the window . . . ." By the way, on this series of the 146, the ink window came from the factory with a blue tint. 

 

 

(Note to self: Next time wipe the fingerprints from the pens before photos!)

[como]

@fpupulin and @Frank C Thank you for your inputs on reverse writing. We are just a curious bunch! Of course even if reverse writing is possible, it would have no real use apart from writing in extremely fine lines. But how wonderful it would be if it could reverse write a needle point AND flex a little 😀😀😀 I must be in the dream world of pens again. 
 

Franco, you are absolutely right about MB airport boutiques being a dangerous affair. Part of what saved me from inquiring and buying an expensive pen that I would probably regret was that I thought to myself: how much would I enjoy writing with it, along with my Calligraphy? The answer was probably not very much. Then I should save the money to buy something I truly desire. But if one has something in mind and is hunting for it, stumbling upon it at a great price in an airport Boutique would be super!

[fpupulin]

Since my trip to Italy I have brought back with me numerous different types of paper, which I cannot find here where I live. One of these days I will post a photograph of my large pile of papers, which filled half of my suitcase! Among them are German, Italian (the majority) and even some French papers.

With one of these, a Clairefontaine paper that is sold in an envelope (pochette) of 12 sheets of 24 x 32 cm in several colors, I wrote a "thought" today for a pen friend of an Italian forum. The paper was sold to me as a laid paper, but not all sheets are. It is a hard paper, with a very pronounced pattern of lines parallel to the long side, evidently more suitable for drawing and "dry" techniques (for which it is actually proposed) than for pen and ink. However, since I took it with me across the Ocean Sea, I will have to use it anyway ...

So I start with one of the pastel colors (in the clutch there are also red and black and dark brown leaves), in a color that I would define as “light lilac”. The ink-tightness of the paper is excellent, but the very marked texture hinders the smoothness of the nib.

 

 

[Have enchanting curves

the words 

and sounds like those

that Sirens sing sweet]

 

However, this was not a serious impediment to the Calligraphy nib. I hope that from the photograph you can see how the paper has perfectly preserved the finer lines produced by the nib, maintaining a precise and smudge-free stroke even on the lines obtained with pressure. The Blue Permanent goes well, in my opinion, with the lilac color of the paper.

[cactus235]

On 7/30/2021 at 2:15 PM, como said:

@invisuu I understand you. I bought a Le Petit Prince Planet version LeGrand last year, in the middle of the lockdown. The retailer had just one pen in that model which had an M nib. Not my favorite size but I took it and planned to do nib swap. Hamburg was in lockdown and there would be significant delay. Like you, I didn’t want to part with my new pen. The M was ok but the nib felt a bit blunt or dull. No hard start or skip but just a bit unpleasant. I could also just leave it but I really prefer my pens writing perfectly. A couple of months ago I was in MB Boutique for something else, I had the LPP with me, so I asked them to do something with the nib. They said nib adjustment would cost 61 Swiss francs. I said that the model only came out last year and I surely still have the warranty. They took it in and gave me back the pen in about 4 week, having adjusted the nib and replaced the feed free of charge. The burgundy LPP is perfect now. 
 

I told you the above so you know that you still can have it mended. Warranty is two years. Maybe when you have a moment that you feel finally that you also want to play with your other pens, you can still send it in, with no rush 🙂.

I was recently gifted a Montblanc Le Petit Prince Meisterstück and the fountain pen also isn't working perfectly. In fact, it's rather unpleasant, as it's much too wet (compared to all my other pens). 
 

I'm happy to hear that they replaced the nib and feed free of charge, as I was thinking about getting MB to repair it too.

[Frank C]

16 minutes ago, cactus235 said:

I'm happy to hear that they replaced the nib and feed free of charge, as I was thinking about getting MB to repair it too.

 

The MB International Warranty gives you two years from the date of purchase, as mentioned above.

 

https://media.yoox.biz/ytos/resources/MONTBLANC/pdf/all/International-Guarantee_Non-WA.pdf 

[invisuu]

I've ordered 2 cleaning solutions from Röhrer & Klingner and J Herbin, neither of which were successful in removing the stains caused by Montblanc Permanent Blue. I guess it really is a chemical reaction, as I had suspected. That's really a shame.

[Martty]

For what it is worth: My Calligraphy was filled with Permanent Blue. I tried to clean it out with a lot of flushes. All of the ink was removed but there remained a blueish hue on the ink window.

I then filled it with Pilot Take Sumi. When I’d finished that I cleaned it again, with 20+ flushes. I have also shaken the pen quite vigorously to “force” ink to come loose. Of course I held the precious Calligraphy in a very tight grip whilst doing this!

And to my surprise the ink window was now perfectly clear again! 

[invisuu]

Really? Well I have Take Sumi at home. I'll try this now.  Thanks!

[Frank C]

5 hours ago, Martty said:

For what it is worth: My Calligraphy was filled with Permanent Blue. I tried to clean it out with a lot of flushes. All of the ink was removed but there remained a blueish hue on the ink window.

I then filled it with Pilot Take Sumi. When I’d finished that I cleaned it again, with 20+ flushes. I have also shaken the pen quite vigorously to “force” ink to come loose. Of course I held the precious Calligraphy in a very tight grip whilst doing this!

And to my surprise the ink window was now perfectly clear again! 

 

This post comes from a Pilot Custom 823 topic. @A Smug Dill is quite knowledgeable about pens and ink. I have never used Sailor Doyou ink, myself. 

 

A Smug Dill

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Posted Friday at 09:55 PM

   On 7/30/2021 at 9:46 PM,  kenrapoza said: 

I also think that their RickyuCha is worth looking at for this type of color.

 

I like Rikyucha far more than I do Doyou, but the latter has a reputation for being an ink with miraculous cleaning power for stains and such from other inks.

[fpupulin]

4 hours ago, invisuu said:

Really? Well I have Take Sumi at home. I'll try this now.  Thanks!

 

Please notify us all about the results of your try!!

[Martty]

5 hours ago, invisuu said:

Really? Well I have Take Sumi at home. I'll try this now.  Thanks!

I must add that the Take Sumi was in my pen for about 4 days before I flushed it thoroughly…. But who knows, it might work quicker than that!