100th Anniversary editions

[NoType]

4 hours ago, Lelouch said:

The Doue would be in memory of the passing of my father since his favorite color was blue

@Lelouch My condolences on your loss.  It is lovely that you are paying tribute with the choice of the Doué LeGrand because it is offered in your father’s favourite hue.

[Lelouch]

20 minutes ago, NoType said:

 

With resin pens, personalisation on the cap is also available.  In the case of the caps of The Origin Collection, one may be able to request an engraving on the cap on the opposite side of the existing engraving.

 

I believe that the official company position on engraving is limited to initials or a name, but on occasion if a boutique manager happens to have their own engraving apparatus onsite, they tend to be flexible regarding engraving content and location, and may accommodate reasonable special requests.  

 

Apologies for not giving an unequivocal answer to your question regarding engraving.  

@NoType 

the engraving would be on the Doue, with the only place I saw as a possibility the piston knob. 
 

I was thinking just his birthday and date of passing (most likely in two lines above one another) and since the cap doesn’t have a plain space opposite the meisterstück engraving (thinking of vintage pens with their dedicated designs/spots for monograms or initials; and the barrel likely being a poor choice to avoid potential damage leading to ink leaking out) the knob was what was left. 
 

though if anyone has done engraving other than on the cap or through Montblanc, please feel free to let me Know your experience. 
 

these two would also be the first Montblancs I’ll have purchased.  
 

thank you all for your input, I’ll get the 149 origin first, if the Doue sticks around for a bit, as I’m sure it’s likely to as well, I could get it on his birthday. 

[NoType]

1 hour ago, Lelouch said:

the engraving would be on the Doue, with the only place I saw as a possibility the piston knob

@Lelouch Of course, The Origin Collection Doué LeGrand!  I should have realised this, as that is the pen with which you pay tribute to your late father, and I knew this but somehow still kept thinking about The Origin Collection 149.

 

As you correctly observe, the Doué LeGrand’s metal cap does not offer a space for engraving, and if the clip’s shape proves too curvaceous to allow engraving, it is a very good question as to where Montblanc might engrave a personalisation.  Montblanc has released models featuring engravings on the piston cone — the Around the World in 80 Days II Solitaire LeGrand and Solitaire LE811, and the just-released Traveller 149 LE1924 come to mind — so perhaps you will prove correct in the supposition that Montblanc will agree to engrave the cone.  An inquiry with the Ala Moana Montblanc boutique should reveal an official answer to both location and content questions regarding personalisation.

 

Happy to hear you will purchase The Origin Collection 149 first; please let us know how that goes, and also what you learn about personalisation for The Origin Collection Doué LeGrand.

[fpupulin]

Oh, well, I just realized that I posted my photographic elegy to Meisterstück in the wrong thread (I am obviously too used in posting on the 149 Calligraphy thread…). So, here it goes, where it was intended to be!

 

With just over two months to go until the end of the year of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Meisterstück, I liked the idea of also celebrating my relationship with the pens of this series.

In the next two photographs, I bring together three of my favorite Meisterstück pens (Hemingway, which began as the "Meisterstück Edition", Calligraphy, and The Origin), emphasizing the persistence of their timeless aesthetic.

 

 

[NoType]

34 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

Oh, well, I just realized that I posted my photographic elegy to Meisterstück in the wrong thread (I am obviously too used in posting on the 149 Calligraphy thread…). So, here it goes, where it was intended to be!

 

With just over two months to go until the end of the year of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Meisterstück, I liked the idea of also celebrating my relationship with the pens of this series.

In the next two photographs, I bring together three of my favorite Meisterstück pens (Hemingway, which began as the "Meisterstück Edition", Calligraphy, and The Origin), emphasizing the persistence of their timeless aesthetic.

 

 

@fpupulin Simply superb images of simply superb implements that carry your thoughts and ideas to paper.  Thank you for this wonderful elegy to the legendary Meisterstück, with photographs as timeless as this line of pens.

 

By the way, the opulent carved wood base for this Meisterstück trio is quite dazzling in its own right, and makes one wonder about it.

[fpupulin]

In this other photograph I emphasize the functional component of the Anniversary pen. The additional weight of the metal filling cone does not seem to unbalance the 149 significantly and I find it barely perceptible. The piston, however, is one of the best among my many (too many) 149s, comparable in smoothness of action only to that of my Hemingway. The nib is a "classic", stubbish B, typical of Montblanc nibs of this size. As you would expect from a Meisterstück 149, it always writes, without hesitation.

 

[fpupulin]

1 minute ago, NoType said:

@fpupulin Simply superb images of simply superb implements that carry your thoughts and ideas to paper.  Thank you for this wonderful elegy to the legendary Meisterstück, with photographs as timeless as this line of pens.

 

Thanks, @NoType, your comments are always too generous...

[NoType]

12 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

In this other photograph I emphasize the functional component of the Anniversary pen. The additional weight of the metal filling cone does not seem to unbalance the 149 significantly and I find it barely perceptible. The piston, however, is one of the best among my many (too many) 149s, comparable in smoothness of action only to that of my Hemingway. The nib is a "classic", stubbish B, typical of Montblanc nibs of this size. As you would expect from a Meisterstück 149, it always writes, without hesitation.

 

@fpupulin Your artistry does much more than merely inform us of the functional aspects of The Origin 149, gracing our subforum with always welcome beauty to accompany the data.  

The shadow work is particularly fetching.

 

However, what is this “too many 149s” of which you speak?  Is there really such a thing?  That does not seem at all possible.

 

And, please, the splendid carved wood base in your previous post has left me yearning for more information about that.

[fpupulin]

Unfortunately, @NoType,I don't have much to say about the carved table. I bought it a few years ago from a nice Chinese man who didn't want to sell it to me... but I went back to his shop several times and in the end my insistence got the better of his resistance, or at least I think so because we communicated more with gestures than with words. I wanted the table - which I imagine was created for a bonsai - to photograph my pens. In fact, it is the third wooden table I have bought for this purpose, but this last one is definitely the largest and most beautiful.

I particularly appreciate the colour of the wood, this greyish brown, completely opaque, which contrasts with the shine and colours of the pens and with their metallic finishes.

[arellano81366]

On 10/10/2024 at 7:49 AM, Arcadian said:

I really don't get people who buy pens and don't play with them

While I agree with you 2000%, I just bought one of these 100th anniversary and I plan to leave it NOS for my son, he is 6 years old now and I hope that when he is old enough to use it properly, he can make it its own.

Let's cross fingers he likes that one! Currently he uses one Pilot Elite 14K and he holds it very well! (My boy is left handed).

Regards!

[NoType]

5 hours ago, fpupulin said:

Unfortunately, @NoType,I don't have much to say about the carved table. I bought it a few years ago from a nice Chinese man who didn't want to sell it to me... but I went back to his shop several times and in the end my insistence got the better of his resistance, or at least I think so because we communicated more with gestures than with words. I wanted the table - which I imagine was created for a bonsai - to photograph my pens. In fact, it is the third wooden table I have bought for this purpose, but this last one is definitely the largest and most beautiful.

I particularly appreciate the colour of the wood, this greyish brown, completely opaque, which contrasts with the shine and colours of the pens and with their metallic finishes.

@fpupulin Thank you for relating this fascinating story, which is quite satisfying, even if the details of provenance, wood species, artisan, etc, are not known.  And yes, this sumptuous miniature low table makes an ideal and unique platform for pens being photographed.  Not only do the table’s wood grain and colour provide dramatic contrast to the pens’ finishes and colours, as you point out, but the low table’s slightly rusticated appearance also offers an arresting contrast to the refined, glowing hand rubbed polish of the desk upon which it rests.  A marvellous juxtaposition of colours, visual textures, and play-of-light among all components in the composition!

[Seney724]

With so many beautiful photos and discussion about the Origin 149 being split between this thread & the "149 Calligraphy Appreciation" thread it sometimes becomes difficult to find / return to a point which was made in one or the other of the two threads.

What I would like to return to is the question about the availability of the 03B nib for the Origin 149.  I recall some poster(s) saying they had one on order but I also recall some poster(s) saying it could not be done.

Has this question ever been resolved?  Even better, does someone have an Origin 149 with an 03B nib?  And, if so, would they be so kind as to post some photos of it?

[NoType]

1 hour ago, Seney724 said:

to return to is the question about the availability of the 03B nib for the Origin 149.

@Seney724 An excellent question.  Unfortunately, I requested a BB nib for The Origin 149 from the local boutique and neglected even to ask if an O3B were available, but I can do so when the boutique opens today and report back.

[NoType]

8 hours ago, Seney724 said:

the question about the availability of the 03B nib for the Origin 149.

@Seney724 The local boutique manager says that their system shows that the O3B nib is part of the standard nib range for The Origin 149 and not included in the Bespoke Nib Program for that pen, so the manager deduces that the O3B nib is indeed available in the Complimentary Nib Exchange Program for The Origin 149.

 

The manager promised to double check with Montblanc to confirm this and then get back to me.  So, tentatively, the O3B nib is available.  I will report back as soon as I receive final word from the manager.

[Seney724]

2 minutes ago, NoType said:

@Seney724 The local boutique manager says that their system shows that the O3B nib is part of the standard nib range for The Origin 149 and not included in the Bespoke Nib Program for that pen, so the manager deduces that the O3B nib is indeed available in the Complimentary Nib Exchange Program for The Origin 149.

 

The manager promised to double check with Montblanc to confirm this and then get back to me.  So, tentatively, the O3B nib is available.  I will report back as soon as I receive final word from the manager.

Thank you @NoType for this really helpful and reassuring information.  I thought this was the case for this specific pen but the questions raised here surely casted some doubt upon it.

I should also add that you are very fortunate to have such a helpful, knowledgeable boutique manager locally.  I am far, far from an expert on MB pens yet I am constantly finding myself in the awkward position of knowing more about them than do the salespeople in my local boutique.  Much of this, of course, is due to the fact that I like to spend my free time here "hanging out" with such amazing and all knowing people like yourself!!  

[NoType]

3 hours ago, Seney724 said:

Thank you @NoType for this really helpful and reassuring information.  I thought this was the case for this specific pen but the questions raised here surely casted some doubt upon it.

I should also add that you are very fortunate to have such a helpful, knowledgeable boutique manager locally.  I am far, far from an expert on MB pens yet I am constantly finding myself in the awkward position of knowing more about them than do the salespeople in my local boutique.  Much of this, of course, is due to the fact that I like to spend my free time here "hanging out" with such amazing and all knowing people like yourself!!  

@Seney724 I am only too happy to try to be of some help.  (But let us wait until the manager confirms their deduction with the nib specialists at Montblanc before we get too excited about an O3B being available on The Origin 149.)

 

I am in the same boat as you, and have gratefully received much of my information from the many experts here on the subforum, and also like you, have occasionally discovered that salespeople are “not in possession of the correct facts.”  It can be very awkward, indeed.  Thank you for including me among the experts, but as flattering as that is, the truth is I am merely a grasshopper.

[fpupulin]

Yes, I also believe that in this case the information should be handled with caution. Montblanc's literature is clear in indicating that an O3B nib is still available as one of the options for the 149, but this does not mean - for sure - that it is also available for The Origin, whose nibs have a different engraving, tied to the anniversary.

I copy below, directly from the Montblanc page, the information on the nib options for the 149 The Origin.

 

 

As you can see, the O3B nib is not included. It may be just an oversight, but it is also - and more likely - that this type of nib was not produced with the Anniversary engravings. At least, this is what is shown by the official Montblanc source.

[NoType]

37 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

Yes, I also believe that in this case the information should be handled with caution. Montblanc's literature is clear in indicating that an O3B nib is still available as one of the options for the 149, but this does not mean - for sure - that it is also available for The Origin, whose nibs have a different engraving, tied to the anniversary.

I copy below, directly from the Montblanc page, the information on the nib options for the 149 The Origin.

 

 

As you can see, the O3B nib is not included. It may be just an oversight, but it is also - and more likely - that this type of nib was not produced with the Anniversary engravings. At least, this is what is shown by the official Montblanc source.

@fpupulin Thank you for this sobering reminder of the exclusion of the O3B from The Origin 149’s online nib guide.  

 

Although it could be well argued that the nib guide on The Origin 149’s page, strictly speaking, is only meant to define nib width measurements and general availability rather than demonstrating what is actually available specifically for The Origin 149, and considering that the quantity of errors, both those factual and of omission, that appear with alarming frequency on Montblanc’s website make it quite possible that the exclusion of the O3B was in fact committed in error, your point is nevertheless well taken.  

 

Whether one of the two possibilities — website error or actual O3B exclusion — is the more likely, however, is in my mind eminently debatable.  

 

On my part, I hope that the O3B nib is available for The Origin 149 just as it is available for other 149 models, including for the recent High Artistry A Journey on the Orient Express Limited Edition 1883 Coffret version.  I take comfort in the boutique manager’s contention during today’s conversation that oftentimes the nib selection is greater in scope for limited editions than the standard line, by which logic one could argue that if the O3B nib is available for the standard 149, then it also should be available for a special edition like The Origin 149.

 

And yet.  “Oftentimes” is not “always.”  We would do well to heed @fpupulin’s advise and remain cautiously optimistic rather than recklessly confident.

 

As soon as I receive word from the boutique manager, which will not be until well into Monday, perhaps the end of that day or even possibly Tuesday, since the nib specialist who needs to be consulted is off for the weekend; as soon as the manager contacts me, I will report back.

[fireant]

5 hours ago, Seney724 said:

 

I should also add that you are very fortunate to have such a helpful, knowledgeable boutique manager locally. 

 

I emailed a shop last night to ask about the OBB but they never responded. I followed up with a call but got a sales person who had no idea. Sigh. Now I know to ask for a OBBB (fingers crossed).

[Lam1]

I just checked my correspondence with Fritz Schimpf at the time I ordered My 149 Origin (end of March), and they told me that the Origin 149 was offered in the full range EF to OBBB. I went with a BB because I already had a 149 Platinum trim with OBBB.