100th Anniversary editions

[fpupulin]

Here is a photo of the beautiful nib of the 149 for the 100th anniversary of Meisterstück, next to the nibs of other 149s and similar pens from Montblanc.

 

Aside from the nib of the Dumas, which is in a class of its own as it is, in my opinion, the most beautiful nib ever made, I would say that my favorites among those of the 149 are the tri-colored, followed by the all-gold nib of the Calligraphy and then the bi-color ones from the late 70s and 80s of the last century. Totally personal opinion, of course, but the mono-tone nib of The Origin is for me one of the least aesthetically striking ones.

[NoType]

1 hour ago, fpupulin said:

Here is a photo of the beautiful nib of the 149 for the 100th anniversary of Meisterstück, next to the nibs of other 149s and similar pens from Montblanc.

 

Aside from the nib of the Dumas, which is in a class of its own as it is, in my opinion, the most beautiful nib ever made, I would say that my favorites among those of the 149 are the tri-colored, followed by the all-gold nib of the Calligraphy and then the bi-color ones from the late 70s and 80s of the last century. Totally personal opinion, of course, but the mono-tone nib of The Origin is for me one of the least aesthetically striking ones.

@fpupulin What a wonderful family portrait you’ve provided here; the gentle asymmetric curve injects a welcome dose of modernist aesthetic to this assemblage of nib designs spanning five decades.

 

My descending order of preference amongst these nibs is identical to yours.  I also agree that the design of The Origin 149 seems to lack a certain je ne sais quoi.  The only point of departure is my inability to choose the best nib of all time, because as lovely as is the Dumas’ fluer-de-lys and border, featuring perfect scale, guilloché, and contrast to the nib’s background, I find there is a cornucopia of special nib stampings amongst the various lines (e.g., Great Characters, Patron of Art, and Writers Edition) making the task of selection impossible for me.  

[fpupulin]

Perhaps other owners of the 149 The Origin might also find it useful to know that the nib group is simply screwed on, just like it was on the 149 Calligraphy. The group is inserted with a screw without any pressure, so unscrewing and reassembling it is very easy and does not require any type of tool.

This makes cleaning the pen much easier.

 

[JCC123]

I wouldn't recommend people disassemble the nib like you did. Montblanc now uses a plasticky black seal vs the rubbery red ones used in the past, to prevent the nib from leaking. If you disassemble the nib for the first time you may have not noticed this seal as it's a very thin bead of black plastic like substance and hard when dried. It goes on the very edge of the nib assembly thread where I marked in red. I have a 90th anniversary 146 that started to leak around the black crown section of the pen body and I discovered that my seal was broken. I didn't have the new seal since no one seems to know what it's made of so I used the old red gummy seal that's sold on eBay to replace the original. These new seals are only replaceable by Montblanc and is probably a way they can tell if the nib has ever been removed because it's not resealable without a new application.

 

[Centurion]

25 minutes ago, JCC123 said:

I wouldn't recommend people disassemble the nib like you did. Montblanc now uses a plasticky black seal vs the rubbery red ones used in the past, to prevent the nib from leaking. If you disassemble the nib for the first time you may have not noticed this seal as it's a very thin bead of black plastic like substance and hard when dried. It goes on the very edge of the nib assembly thread where I marked in red. I have a 90th anniversary 146 that started to leak around the black crown section of the pen body and I discovered that my seal was broken. I didn't have the new seal since no one seems to know what it's made of so I used the old red gummy seal that's sold on eBay to replace the original.

 

So it’s much better to grease the piston by taking out the piston knob at the back end of the pen using a tool, and greasing the piston head ring directly? At a pen show a repair person fixed my tight 149 piston by removing the nib with a tool and putting a thin coat of grease on the inside walls of the barrel instead of directly greasing the piston head. I don’t recall the repair person putting on any sealing substance at the end of the nib assembly, but my 149 is not leaking either …

[Lam1]

1 hour ago, fpupulin said:

Perhaps other owners of the 149 The Origin might also find it useful to know that the nib group is simply screwed on, just like it was on the 149 Calligraphy. The group is inserted with a screw without any pressure, so unscrewing and reassembling it is very easy and does not require any type of tool.

This makes cleaning the pen much easier.

 

 

Thank you for sharing this, @fpupulin. 

I was unaware of this fact and it is a great piece of information.

I usually remove the piston to lubricate my MBs (and may well continue to do so since it is a 5 min process, at most), but it is great to know that the I can remove the nib. 

Now, anybody knows if this a feature in all newest 149s?

 

 

[fpupulin]

Thank you, @JCC123, for this important information, which obviously suggests much more caution than I had imagined.

I have to say that perhaps it was just luck, but I unscrewed the nib group of my 149 Calligraphy about ten times, apparently without consequences. Now we'll see if I had the same luck with the 149 The Origin...

[JCC123]

11 hours ago, Centurion said:

So it’s much better to grease the piston by taking out the piston knob at the back end of the pen using a tool, and greasing the piston head ring directly? At a pen show a repair person fixed my tight 149 piston by removing the nib with a tool and putting a thin coat of grease on the inside walls of the barrel instead of directly greasing the piston head. I don’t recall the repair person putting on any sealing substance at the end of the nib assembly, but my 149 is not leaking either …

Is your pen made within the past 10-15 years? If not, you may have the old nib assembly where they're still using the pink bubble gum seal. Montblanc also puts a seal at the back of the pen, the piston side. They use some kind of clear rubber cement like substance. It's not as sticky as rubber cement. Almost like a very weak form of rubber cement. But I would rather take off the back piston side since the threads there seems to be more leakproof. Also, you actually have the piston keeping the ink contained.

10 hours ago, fpupulin said:

Thank you, @JCC123, for this important information, which obviously suggests much more caution than I had imagined.

I have to say that perhaps it was just luck, but I unscrewed the nib group of my 149 Calligraphy about ten times, apparently without consequences. Now we'll see if I had the same luck with the 149 The Origin...

@omarcenaro documented this in his posts. You can see the pink bubblegum type of sealant used in the older Montbalnc fountain pens.

About a decade ago, or longer, they switched to using the black version which I think Omar also posted about but I'm not sure now which thread topic? Perhaps he can chime in. The leak on the new nib assembly type wasn't drastic, it was only after a while the pen will start to stain your finger when you rub it against the crown/collar part of the pen above the nib.

[JCC123]

Oh BTW, here's a link to a rare 149 demonstrator showing the pink sealant that Montblanc uses. 

 

[dbs]

On 10/26/2024 at 3:15 PM, JCC123 said:

Is your pen made within the past 10-15 years? If not, you may have the old nib assembly where they're still using the pink bubble gum seal. Montblanc also puts a seal at the back of the pen, the piston side. They use some kind of clear rubber cement like substance. It's not as sticky as rubber cement. Almost like a very weak form of rubber cement. But I would rather take off the back piston side since the threads there seems to be more leakproof. Also, you actually have the piston keeping the ink contained.
 

 

Montblanc pens made after 2020 use integrated flat o-ring seal. Early version is pink, later version is clear. There's no any sealer below thread part, inclusive. The photos show early 2020 production (platinum 149), late 2021 production (149 curve), early 2022 production (WE Grimm). I have 149 flex (2019) but cannot turn with fingers so I guess it is still glued. 

 

The seal is hot injected during nib housing molding, not easily get damaged or peeled off. Not any type of liquid gasket. I guess the integrated seal means automation in mass production, no longer need any human in the middle.

 

Edit: 149 flex nib can be turned out using fingers and it is not glued, has gasket identical to 149 on the photo.

 

 

 

 

[a student]

3 hours ago, dbs said:

 

Montblanc pens made after 2020 use integrated flat o-ring seal. Early version is pink, later version is clear. There's no any sealer below thread part, inclusive. The photos show early 2020 production (platinum 149), late 2021 production (149 curve), early 2022 production (WE Grimm). I have 149 flex (2019) but cannot turn with fingers so I guess it is still glued. 

 

The seal is hot injected during nib housing molding, not easily get damaged or peeled off. Not any type of liquid gasket. I guess the integrated seal means automation in mass production, no longer need any human in the middle.

 

 

 

 

 

Remarkable, doing all this with great confidence. You evidently have a second career handy!

[JCC123]

17 hours ago, dbs said:

 

Montblanc pens made after 2020 use integrated flat o-ring seal. Early version is pink, later version is clear. There's no any sealer below thread part, inclusive. The photos show early 2020 production (platinum 149), late 2021 production (149 curve), early 2022 production (WE Grimm). I have 149 flex (2019) but cannot turn with fingers so I guess it is still glued. 

 

The seal is hot injected during nib housing molding, not easily get damaged or peeled off. Not any type of liquid gasket. I guess the integrated seal means automation in mass production, no longer need any human in the middle.

 

Edit: 149 flex nib can be turned out using fingers and it is not glued, has gasket identical to 149 on the photo.

 

 

 

 

Interesting! Thanks for the update. The updated gasket design is much better! Makes me want to upgrade...😉

[fpupulin]

Good to know that I can continue to "with impunity" disassemble the nibs of my Calligraphy and The Origin to thoroughly clean them and keep the reservoir and piston in order. Great!

[fpupulin]

Every time I look closely at the beautiful nib of the 149 The Origin, I can't help but notice that whoever designed it went overboard with the numbers...

 

I notice, for example, that if they had not engraved the number "4810" (which adds nothing to the anniversary theme), the nib would have been, in my opinion, much cleaner and more beautiful.

 

[como]

52 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

Every time I look closely at the beautiful nib of the 149 The Origin, I can't help but notice that whoever designed it went overboard with the numbers...

 

I notice, for example, that if they had not engraved the number "4810" (which adds nothing to the anniversary theme), the nib would have been, in my opinion, much cleaner and more beautiful.

 

Thank you all for this great thread, which I somehow totally missed! 
@fpupulin This “too many numbers” reminded me of the Leica M4, which the word “LEICA” appeared in four different places of the camera body. 😂 At that moment the Canadian made Leica seemed to be screaming for attention as an equal Leica 😀 (though mechanically it made no difference apart from some cost cutting downgrades in material).

[NoType]

On 10/28/2024 at 9:17 PM, dbs said:

 

Montblanc pens made after 2020 use integrated flat o-ring seal. Early version is pink, later version is clear. There's no any sealer below thread part, inclusive. The photos show early 2020 production (platinum 149), late 2021 production (149 curve), early 2022 production (WE Grimm). I have 149 flex (2019) but cannot turn with fingers so I guess it is still glued. 

 

The seal is hot injected during nib housing molding, not easily get damaged or peeled off. Not any type of liquid gasket. I guess the integrated seal means automation in mass production, no longer need any human in the middle.

 

Edit: 149 flex nib can be turned out using fingers and it is not glued, has gasket identical to 149 on the photo.

 

 

 

 

@dbs This is absolutely fantastic information, and data one could never otherwise find without your intrepid disassembly and analysis!  Immense gratitude for sharing your results.

 

As @a student said above, truly remarkable work!

[NoType]

2 hours ago, fpupulin said:

Every time I look closely at the beautiful nib of the 149 The Origin, I can't help but notice that whoever designed it went overboard with the numbers...

 

I notice, for example, that if they had not engraved the number "4810" (which adds nothing to the anniversary theme), the nib would have been, in my opinion, much cleaner and more beautiful.

 

@fpupulin Thank you for this outstanding image.  Your photography never fails to amaze and delight 

 

In regards to the “4810,” it seems to me that the only nibs without the designation are the bespoke designs that Montblanc now allows one to select, where every part of the nib’s appearance can be specified.  I am racking my brain trying to come up with an example of a special, limited, or numbered limited edition pen whose nib lacks the “4810” label, but I cannot.  

 

In any event, the nib would undoubtedly look more elegant with the negative space afforded by the absence of “4810,” or perhaps a different design incorporated in the border between “1924” and “2024.”

[ak47]

Hi

Someone has bought a 149 origin and has changed nib in a O3B?

How does it work?

Thanks

[maia]

1 hour ago, ak47 said:

Hi

Someone has bought a 149 origin and has changed nib in a O3B?

How does it work?

Thanks

Hi. Yes. Just send it in for the complimentary nib exchange service.

[Arcadian]

Since both the Calligraphy Flex and the Origin have screw-in nib units, might one perhaps switch the flex nib to the Origin? The slightly added weight of the Origin would, I imagine, make the nib bounce wonderfully. 

 

 - P.