The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[fpupulin]

buzzz... Houston, I had a problem... buzzz...

[fpupulin]

Pens and photography can be an expensive match.

 

A few days ago, I decided to bring together in a single photomicrograph (the correct term would be photomacrography) the perfect design of an object produced by the human hand - the nib of a fountain pen - with a tiny perfect object produced by nature inside a orchid flower: a pollinarium.

I prepared the set under the lens of my photography microscope (in the past this was called a macroscope), with the nib of my Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy and a couple of pollinaria of a Phalaenopsis amabilis orchid (I had at hand a specimen native to Indonesia ). When I was ready for the second shot, my beloved pen slipped from the microscope stage, fell off the table and landed - with the tip - on the floor!

The sight that presented itself to my sight was truly horrendous. The left tine - the one that presumably hit the ground - was raised nearly 8 millimeters but, what was worse, had bent at a sharp angle that ran from the base of the vent hole to just above the top of the shoulder of the nib. 

 

Now, in my particular case, having damaged this nib is particularly hard to accept, for two good reasons. The first is that this pen has kept me company, starting from the harsh era of COVID that I spent in absolute solitude in my home, almost as if it were a pet, like a dear little dog... Secondly, here where I live, I have no way get it repaired. It will only be possible the first time I will return to Italy (in a year?), and I will leave it there to be sent to Germany to fix it, and to pick it up, once back in Italy, on my next trip again, in a couple of years...

In the two days following the accident, and after having let a period of profound discouragement pass, I set to work to repair the nib.

Luckily I have good stereo microscopes to observe well and work on the "fine" grade. In the small disaster of the situation, I discovered that the Calligraphy nib is indeed a small work of art. It is the product of a series of longitudinal and transversal tensions - and micro-twists - which force the prongs to remain united at the tip - almost with a small twist from the shoulder to the apex - and at the same time to adhere perfectly to the feeder. Once the "enchantment" has been broken, as I did by dropping the pen, there is no way to return the nib to its pristine condition, at least with the tools available to a mere mortal - however fine they may be.

 

With patience and a lot of love I "substantially" (but not perfectly) reduced the crease, bringing the left prong almost level with the right. I say "almost" because this is virtually impossible unless you recover the absolute flatness of the gold sheet where it was bent. Since the two prongs are now not at the same height, in order to somehow align them (and so that the nib doesn't scratch) I slightly bent the tip of the left prong downwards. Interestingly, there is no way for the two prongs to now hold as straight as they originally were and - at the same time - touching the feeder. The only way to obtain an approximate effect is to bend them imperceptibly downwards, but even in this way the adherence is not perfect. I believe that, once the "tension system" is lost, the combination of straight and close prong is impossible to reproduce.

 

After the delicate surgery under the microscope, the nib now writes and does not scratch. Curiously, it changed his behavior a little. It has become slightly stiffer - less flexible - but has retained its elasticity, or has even imperceptibly improved it. The geometry of the nib is no longer perfectly symmetrical. The left shoulder is slightly more closed in and with a tiny "line break" just above the widest point.

In short, my 149 Calligraphy did not pass the test unscathed, and bears - however barely perceptible - some scars. However, I myself have many scars from a life lived intensely, so I know I can accept it as it is. It will one day return to Hamburg for a complete beauty treatment, but in the meantime it will not be left in a drawer with a prong in the air. It will remain in use, on my desk, in its dedicated pen holder, and it will continue to keep me company as it has done in the past, like a dear friend with some more marks.

 

I am attaching a few photographs of some sheets written with the "repaired" nib. I'd say that, at least for the moment, it's fine as it is.

 

 

 

[empliau]

What a heartbreaking adventure - and I admire your courage and skill in making your precious functional again.  

 

Now that you know how amazing and delicate are the technologies that make your pen, I imagine it is even more beloved.

[txomsy]

You left me speechless! Little can I say, but maybe you can contact MB directly and mail them the pen directly as well? I know I would be certainly anxious.

[como]

@fpupulin You have done a fantastic job repairing and adjusting this nib. Certainly by the way of the beautiful calligraphy and the way it looks in the photo, it‘a as if it were never damaged. I don’t know if Montblanc can do a better job in Hamburg, without replacing the nib. By the way it looks, I would guess that Hamburg would only adjust, not replace. As @empliau said, an adventure indeed.

[Sinistral1]

Good grief, my heart nearly stopped!  You must have nerves of steel as well as a surgeon's eye for detail to make such a remarkable repair.  Congratulations!

[a student]

@fpupulin well done indeed; and much like @como, I cannot tell the difference between the work of the repaired nib and the work done previously.

[Uncial]

I feel your pain; what an awful thing to happen.

Dare I ask, what was the Indonesian orchid?

[fpupulin]

3 hours ago, Uncial said:

I feel your pain; what an awful thing to happen.

Dare I ask, what was the Indonesian orchid?

 

This is the flower of the Indonesian orchid Phalaenopsis amabilis (the scale bar is 5 cm), with its pollinarium on the right (scale bar = 3mm). The image is part of the only worldwide database on orchid pollinaria, made available by the Lankester Botanical Garden at the University of Costa Rica, where I created it.

 

 

 

And this is the photograph of the nib with orchid pollinaria, "guilty" of causing the accident:

 

[fpupulin]

10 hours ago, empliau said:

What a heartbreaking adventure - and I admire your courage and skill in making your precious functional again.  

 

Now that you know how amazing and delicate are the technologies that make your pen, I imagine it is even more beloved.

 

Thank you, @empliau, for your words.  I would have preferred avoiding the adventure, but it was nonetheless very instructive about the unique characteristics of this nib. And I certainly do not like my pen less than before...  

[fpupulin]

8 hours ago, txomsy said:

You left me speechless! Little can I say, but maybe you can contact MB directly and mail them the pen directly as well? I know I would be certainly anxious.

 

I have the feeling that I must be patient, @txomsy, and wait until visiting personally a boutique and be sure to let my pen in the hand of somebody who understood what I want. Using my pen, albeit she is not perfect, makes me less anxious... 

[fpupulin]

7 hours ago, como said:

@fpupulin You have done a fantastic job repairing and adjusting this nib. Certainly by the way of the beautiful calligraphy and the way it looks in the photo, it‘a as if it were never damaged. I don’t know if Montblanc can do a better job in Hamburg, without replacing the nib. By the way it looks, I would guess that Hamburg would only adjust, not replace. As @empliau said, an adventure indeed.

 

Thank you, my dear friend @como! It is also my guess that, when the time will come, Montblanc will have to replace the nib. But I hope to have a chance to explain what I am doing with the pen and to convince them to search for a true extra-fine specimen, as the one I had before the accident. I rarely appreciated my microscopes do much for something that is not my botanical work. But I can well understand now why fine engravers work under the microscope to accomplish their difficult work. I would never been able to "rectify" my nib without the aid of a stereo microscope. 

[fpupulin]

7 hours ago, Sinistral1 said:

Good grief, my heart nearly stopped!  You must have nerves of steel as well as a surgeon's eye for detail to make such a remarkable repair.  Congratulations!

 

Thank you, @Sinistral1.  As I commented above, I had the luck to count with the correct optic instrument, even though I never thought to use it for such a painful surgery! I really learnt something about the quality of this nib.

[fpupulin]

7 hours ago, a student said:

@fpupulin well done indeed; and much like @como, I cannot tell the difference between the work of the repaired nib and the work done previously.

 

Dear @a student, in terms of results, I also feel that the "before and after" of the accident are barely distinguishable. The feeling of the nib under the hand is nonetheless quite distinct. I can not say you if it is for better or for worst, but my Calligraphy nib is now a bit stiffer and a bit more elastic.  

[KAC]

While the accident is unfortunate indeed, the damage is hardly evident (if at all) in the magnified photograph you've posted. In short, it seems cosmetically excellent and functionally exceptional. 

 

Decades ago, I dropped my Hemingway and it landed on the nib. MB had already performed a "nib swap" and the medium left oblique nib was damaged in much the same way as your own nib. Fortunately, at that time, MB/Hamburg readily accepted and promptly replaced the nib. Lacking your mechanical (and artistic) skills, I would have been out-of-luck otherwise.

 

Anyway, congratulations on the successful repair.

 

KAC

[fireant]

6 hours ago, fpupulin said:

And this is the photograph of the nib with orchid pollinaria, "guilty" of causing the accident:

 

 

I'm glad you were able to repair it.

I also want to say that those pollinaria make me think of tiny floating sea creatures. Very lovely.

[jmccarty3]

Much as cats land on their feet, fountain pens seem to land on their nibs. I'm so glad you were able to repair yours, Franco.

[txomsy]

1 hour ago, jmccarty3 said:

Much as cats land on their feet, fountain pens seem to land on their nibs. I'm so glad you were able to repair yours, Franco.

That is true, I had a beloved Montblanc Slimline fall during a course in (I believe) Marrakesh and, certainly it fell nib down. The tines were misaligned, but I could more or less get them back though I couldn't totally get rid of the scratching. It was a pity, for much as it is considered a 'nail', this particular EF had enough line variation to give a nice and pleasurable flair to my writing. It is still a most beloved one and still a favorite.

[Uncial]

On 7/10/2023 at 4:28 AM, fpupulin said:

 

This is the flower of the Indonesian orchid Phalaenopsis amabilis (the scale bar is 5 cm), with its pollinarium on the right (scale bar = 3mm). The image is part of the only worldwide database on orchid pollinaria, made available by the Lankester Botanical Garden at the University of Costa Rica, where I created it.

 

 

 

And this is the photograph of the nib with orchid pollinaria, "guilty" of causing the accident:

 

 

There was a fashion in this part of the world (perhaps elsewhere too) in the 1800's to create silver, heart-shaped trowels with handles decorated in ivory or amber. They were used to add the first scoop of mortar to the foundation stone of somewhat grand churches and then the heart-shaped trowel would be engraved with a date and sometimes a name. Your little pollinaria remind me of them; a foundation stone for something so small, yet more grand than the results from their silver mimics. 

Thank you for the pictures : beautiful to see.

[dftr]

so sorry to hear of this accident, but I'm happy that it has not discouraged you and your writing as always is well executed and clean.  It may be after a while you may prefer to keep this nib as it has been your companion.