100th Anniversary editions

[NoType]

48 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

As for my photograph above, I forgot to comment on a detail that, at least for me, is relevant. The ink used in the alphabet and in the Ovid quote is Montblanc Midnight, a blue-black, a dye that is no longer permanent like its predecessor. Not only does this ink perform admirably with the broad nib of the 149 The Origin, but it also has the uncommon gift of not bleeding through the pages of my Moleskine notebooks, which despite their often terrible paper continue to be among my favorites.

@fpupulin Thank you for this addendum to your latest photograph, which reminds us that ink and paper have as much to do with the aesthetics of writing as do pen and hand.  

 

I had been curious as to the identity of the ink you had used above, which had exhibited such lovely shading.  That the non-permanent Montblanc Midnight blue did not feather or bleed through the Moleskin paper is remarkable, indeed.

[NoType]

Counterintuitively, I am less familiar with the scope of release of articles celebrating the most recent previous celebration of Meisterstuck, the 90th anniversary, merely a scarce ten years ago.  Thus, my list for the 2014 releases is much abbreviated, and restricted only to pens:

 

Meisterstück 90th Anniversary

      2014   Resin Red Gold SE  145|163|164

                 Resin Red Gold SE  146|162|Mid

                 Resin Red Gold SE  149

                 Solitaire Red Gold SE  145|163|164

                 Solitaire Solid Red Gold LE90  146

                 Solitaire Skeleton  149

[NoType]

1 minute ago, NoType said:

Counterintuitively, I am less familiar with the scope of release of articles celebrating the most recent previous celebration of Meisterstuck, the 90th anniversary, merely a scarce ten years before.  Thus, my list for the 2014 releases is much abbreviated, and limited to only pens:

 

Meisterstück 90th Anniversary

      2014   Resin Red Gold SE  145|163|164

                 Resin Red Gold SE  146|162|Mid

                 Resin Red Gold SE  149

                 Sol  145|163|164

                 Sol Red Solid Gold LE90  146

                 Sol Skeleton  149

At times like these, when I catch myself posting lists, I consider that I missed my true calling of accountancy.

[Uncial]

I was shown a solitaire covered in jewels (a lot of very beautiful looking emeralds). The fountain pen is part of the 100th anniversary and is very limited in number. My boutique was very excited to have been allocated one. It was an eye-watering price. They were so excited about it they even made me watch a little video about it. I really didn't have the heart to tell them what I earn.

[NoType]

5 hours ago, Uncial said:

I was shown a solitaire covered in jewels (a lot of very beautiful looking emeralds). The fountain pen is part of the 100th anniversary and is very limited in number. My boutique was very excited to have been allocated one. It was an eye-watering price. They were so excited about it they even made me watch a little video about it. I really didn't have the heart to tell them what I earn.

@Uncial It sounds similar to the 100th Anniversary Skeleton 149 that has tsavorites and matching green clear resin under a solid gold skeleton overlay, limited to 100 pieces, but the pen you saw must be a more limited edition since you don’t mention that it is a skeletonised 149.

 

This is the pen I am referring to:

 

The information is from here:

https://collectorspreview.com/artisan-2024#scroll-nav__6

[NoType]

Just now, NoType said:

It was an eye-watering price. They were so excited about it they even made me watch a little video about it. I really didn't have the heart to tell them what I earn.

@Uncial I started my reply before even finishing reading your entire post, and it gave me a chuckle when I got to this second half.

[Centurion]

9 hours ago, NoType said:

@Amit.  149 100th Anniversary Skeleton (green), and 149 100th Anniversary Calligraphy (blue and white), all of which have already been announced.

 

I will place a call later in the week to see if I can reach a boutique manager or three to see if anyone knows more, and then I will report back.

“149 100th Anniversary Calligraphy (blue and white), all of which have already been announced” —> We’re going to get a Caliigraphy flexible nib this in a blue and white body this year? When did the announcement say they will be released? TIA

[NoType]

25 minutes ago, Centurion said:

“149 100th Anniversary Calligraphy (blue and white), all of which have already been announced” —> We’re going to get a Caliigraphy flexible nib this in a blue and white body this year? When did the announcement say they will be released? TIA

@Centurion The pen below, with an italic nib which is a new nib from the Calligraphy series that is different from the previous Flex Nib and Curved Nib releases, was previously announced and I believe it is already available for sale:

 

The information is from here:

https://collectorspreview.com/artisan-2024#scroll-nav__6

 

 

 

[Amit.]

17 hours ago, NoType said:

@Amit. As luck would have it, neither of the three Montblanc boutique managers with whom I have a working relationship were at their respective boutiques today, so I was unable to get any information from them about what else Montblanc has yet to reveal for the hundredth anniversary of Meisterstück.  

 

The associates I did speak to admitted that they are not told by Montblanc in advance about products that are yet to be released, as a way of ensuring that information about future articles is not leaked early.  Of course the associates and I know that this is actually a polite fiction, as oftentimes loyal and very important customers are quietly informed of future articles before the general public, but I think that that sort of privileged conversation is private and not known by the general boutique staff.

 

None of the associates I spoke with over the phone knew me well, and none divulged any new information to me, all of them claiming that the 149 Traveller is the last product for the Meisterstück centenary celebrations of which they are aware.  

 

So for now, I cannot shed any light on the issue except to speculate that as there are only seven weeks remaining in 2024, there may not be any other new products besides the 149 Traveller, 149 100th Anniversary Skeleton (green), and 149 100th Anniversary Calligraphy (blue and white), all of which have already been announced.

 

I will place a call later in the week to see if I can reach a boutique manager or three to see if anyone knows more, and then I will report back.

@NoType Thank you so much for going out of the way to find an answer to my query. My local boutique too did not have any information and will share whatever information they get i.e. if they get any. They did mention that The Origin Collection black149 has been the one with the maximum interest amongst the launches.

[NoType]

1 hour ago, Amit. said:

@NoType Thank you so much for going out of the way to find an answer to my query. My local boutique too did not have any information and will share whatever information they get i.e. if they get any. They did mention that The Origin Collection black149 has been the one with the maximum interest amongst the launches.

@Amit. It was my pleasure.  It seems ironic that The Origin 149, the one model that Montblanc anticipated would be the least interesting as merely a “another black 149, but with a metal cone,” would have met with such international success.  

 

(Upthread on page 34, I had written: “. . .I was informed by someone at Montblanc that the project planners did not anticipate the high level of interest in The Origin 149, and so production was on a smaller scale than for the other pens of The Origin Collection.  There was a small increase in production when the planners realised their error, but total output was still dwarfed by the other pens in the collection. . .”)

 

I will try again to reach a boutique manager before the end of the week and then report back.

[digitorum- Leonardo_W]

1 hour ago, NoType said:

 

I will try again to reach a boutique manager before the end of the week and then report back.

 

@NoType A quick note that your research is always appreciated.

[NoType]

27 minutes ago, digitorum- Leonardo_W said:

 

@NoType A quick note that your research is always appreciated.

@digitorum- Leonardo_W Thank you.  It is my pleasure.

 

[sandy101]

On 11/13/2024 at 2:36 PM, fpupulin said:

Since I have seen in the pages of this thread that many of the new owners of the 149 The Origin will opt for - or have already done so - broad-tipped nibs (B, BB, OB, OBB, OBBB), 

 

 

It looks lovely. What paper are you using, please? Is it Montblanc's?

[fpupulin]

5 minutes ago, sandy101 said:

It looks lovely. What paper are you using, please? Is it Montblanc's?

 

Oh, no, this is a very current large lined Moleskine notebook, which basically means a paper of unpredictable quality... But I can not resist Moleskine, and I am particularly fond in the size of the large notebooks, which is a sort of "slim" A5.

In the photo there are two notebooks inserted into a single leather cover. I like the subdued color of the Montblanc Midnight Blue, but what made it a very special ink for me is that it does not bleed through the poor paper of Moleskine notebooks.

[fpupulin]

This thread dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Meisterstück has become a very varied and entertaining meeting and exchange place. There is a risk, however, that much of the excellent information collected in these pages - such as the recent lists of products with which Montbanc has celebrated various of its anniversaries at least in the last 25 years, made available by @NoType - is irretrievable for the many who might be interested in it, because they probably would not come looking for it here.

It might perhaps be a good idea not to say separate this information, but at least copy it into another post whose title alludes to this type of interesting informative content.

[fpupulin]

As @NoType rightly noted a few posts above, we are approaching a time of year when there is more time to indulge in our little passions and obsessions.

 

For those of us who have already acquired a pen from The Origin series with a truncated nib (B, BB, OB, OBB, OBBB) - as well as those who will do so in the coming weeks -, I propose another modern alphabet suitable for these types of nibs. Unlike the one proposed above on these pages, the alphabet I present here is of the slanted type, which people commonly (but not exactly) refer to as cursive.

 

 

On the left page this style is used to quote a maxim of Ovid: "There is scope for chance everywhere; let your hook always be ready. In the eddies where you least expect it, there will be a fish."

 

In these lines I have used this "inside the line" style, but modern styles are particularly suited to writing very freely "around" the line, both above and below, while maintaining a linear flow. In the images that follow you can see the effect of modern writing when it does not strictly "obey" the line.

 

 

 

Finally, using a better paper for the nice medium nib of the 149 The Origin, and after having drawn in pencil equidistant "medium lines" for each line of writing, on which the text undulates, I made a fair copy version of Ovid's saying. The pencil lines were erased after the exercise.

 

[singlechange]

1 hour ago, fpupulin said:

As @NoType rightly noted a few posts above, we are approaching a time of year when there is more time to indulge in our little passions and obsessions.

 

For those of us who have already acquired a pen from The Origin series with a truncated nib (B, BB, OB, OBB, OBBB) - as well as those who will do so in the coming weeks -, I propose another modern alphabet suitable for these types of nibs. Unlike the one proposed above on these pages, the alphabet I present here is of the slanted type, which people commonly (but not exactly) refer to as cursive.

 

 

On the left page this style is used to quote a maxim of Ovid: "There is scope for chance everywhere; let your hook always be ready. In the eddies where you least expect it, there will be a fish."

 

In these lines I have used this "inside the line" style, but modern styles are particularly suited to writing very freely "around" the line, both above and below, while maintaining a linear flow. In the images that follow you can see the effect of modern writing when it does not strictly "obey" the line.

 

 

 

Finally, using a better paper for the nice medium nib of the 149 The Origin, and after having drawn in pencil equidistant "medium lines" for each line of writing, on which the text undulates, I made a fair copy version of Ovid's saying. The pencil lines were erased after the exercise.

 

fpupulin,   Is your writing sample here done with your 149 The Origin that has the Broad Nib?  I notice that this posting refers to your 149 The Origin with the Medium Nib. Do you own both the Broad Nib and the Medium Nib for your 149 The Origin?

[fpupulin]

22 minutes ago, singlechange said:

fpupulin,   Is your writing sample here done with your 149 The Origin that has the Broad Nib?  I notice that this posting refers to your 149 The Origin with the Medium Nib. Do you own both the Broad Nib and the Medium Nib for your 149 The Origin?

 

@singlechange, I should go back through the various posts I have made in these pages, to see if at one point or another I have referred to the nib of my 149 The Origin as a medium. But no, the nib of my pen is a broad, and with this nib I have written all the lines that I have presented in this thread.

I confess that I am also the happy owner of a 149 The Origin in double broad, but due to those curious circumstances of life, my second pen (which in reality was purchased first) has remained "trapped" at the home of a very dear friend on the other side of the ocean, who will take care of her until I have the opportunity to return to old Europe.

[NoType]

1 hour ago, fpupulin said:

As @NoType rightly noted a few posts above, we are approaching a time of year when there is more time to indulge in our little passions and obsessions.

 

For those of us who have already acquired a pen from The Origin series with a truncated nib (B, BB, OB, OBB, OBBB) - as well as those who will do so in the coming weeks -, I propose another modern alphabet suitable for these types of nibs. Unlike the one proposed above on these pages, the alphabet I present here is of the slanted type, which people commonly (but not exactly) refer to as cursive.

 

 

On the left page this style is used to quote a maxim of Ovid: "There is scope for chance everywhere; let your hook always be ready. In the eddies where you least expect it, there will be a fish."

 

In these lines I have used this "inside the line" style, but modern styles are particularly suited to writing very freely "around" the line, both above and below, while maintaining a linear flow. In the images that follow you can see the effect of modern writing when it does not strictly "obey" the line.

 

 

 

Finally, using a better paper for the nice medium nib of the 149 The Origin, and after having drawn in pencil equidistant "medium lines" for each line of writing, on which the text undulates, I made a fair copy version of Ovid's saying. The pencil lines were erased after the exercise.

 

@fpupulin Another gift of another script from you is the exception to the maxim “too much of a good thing,” and many of us here are much in your debt.  Thank you for gracing this thread once again with your industry and passion for both literature and writing, both beautifully showcased by your skilled photographic work.  Your “lesson plans” are a treat to the eyes as well as the soul.

 

In furtherance of this pedagogy, may I ask what is the exact nomenclature for a slanted script that may otherwise be imperfectly referred to as “cursive?”  Or is “slanted script” actually the sole precise term?  I have thought of cursive only as longhand writing in which the letters are connected, not as writing with a slant.

 

I found the “around the line” writing style as fascinating as it is freeing, and look forward to practicing this posthaste.  From childhood, I have been inculcated with the idea that only the “inside the line” style was appropriate, and this belief has become so ingrained that I find myself writing on unlined paper as if I were following invisible guidelines.  The gentle undulation of “around the line” writing thus appears to me to be deliciously scandalous and naughty, as well as artful and creative.  Seeing your writing subtly “disobeying” the line has been nothing short of revelatory, nearly on the same scale of surprise I had felt when first encountering free verse poetry.

 

Thank you also for this quote from Ovid that is filled with hope, promise, and positivity, just what is needed in this season.

[NoType]

On 11/5/2024 at 9:12 AM, NoType said:

I will take pains to share information of the gift’s delivery, my request for a complimentary nib exchange, and, of course, the eventual receipt of the O3B nib, as these episodes occur.

Here is the second episode of my report of the unexpected gift of a 149 Traveller (ident 130327) from a too-generous relative: the delivery.  The parcel arrived after a four-day sojourn at US customs, and I had anticipated by this delay that the parcel would be opened and inspected.  Here are some photos, whose low quality I hope can be overlooked:

 

 

These first three eloquently describe the abused state of the parcel, resulting from the parcel having been opened and then re-sealed with insufficient padding, resulting in unsurprising crushing during shipping.  My heart was in my mouth as I started to open the parcel, not knowing in what condition I would find the contents.

 

 

 

This next trio of photos shows that someone in customs used a sharp knife to slice through the bubblewrap as well as the thin outer carton of the pen set itself.  Fortunately, this damage was limited to the underside of the carton, and the top and sides remained intact.  

 

 

 

This photo shows the intact top of the outer carton (bottom) and completely intact sturdy inner box, the latter containing the presentation case.  At this stage of the unboxing my heart rate slowed down and I began to relax a little.

 

 

 

Lifting the top of the inner box revealed the presentation case, enveloped in slim padding.  Beneath the padding sat a service booklet (separate from the thick manual) atop a sheet of black foam.

 

 

 

The four final photos show the Florentine-style pen case and pen in their own tray, revealed when the lid of the presentation case was lifted open; the two ink bottles and thick instruction manual, revealed when the top tray was removed; the collateral for filling the pen (two ink bottle adapters, cone adapter, and cleaning tool), revealed when the manual was removed; and all the parts laid outside the presentation case.  (In this last photo, the thin edge of the pull tab for removing the manual — better seen in the penultimate photo showing the ink bottles and collateral in situ — takes the form of a strange thin periscope-like object rising above the front edge of the open and empty presentation case.  I had forgotten to remove this pull tab before taking the final photo.)

 

Fortunately, everything proved to be present and accounted for in the presentation case (though the label for one of the ink bottle adapters and the cone adapter faced upside down), and the condition of everything was perfect.  The only damage was to the outer carton.  My relative had asked me if I wished for them to remove this thin outer carton, close it, and package it separately in the parcel to protect the carton, as they feared it was too insubstantial to survive international shipping.  I am grateful that I asked my relative to leave the carton as it had originally been packaged, surrounding the sturdy inner box and presentation case within, because the carton sacrificed its integrity to protect the inner box when confronted by the tip of the blade of what I can only presume was a customs officer with swashbuckling tendencies.  If I had agreed to my relative’s suggestion to package the thin outer carton separately in the parcel, then the sturdy inner box would have been cheek-by-jowl with the bubblewap that was cut by the knife and most likely the inner box would have been damaged in the process.

 

Now that the parcel is in my hands and I can see that everything important is intact, I can rest easier, my nervousness about the shipment having dissipated.  Tomorrow I will schedule a complimentary nib exchange (from M to O3B) with the local Montblanc boutique.  I plan to keep the pen sealed in its plastic sleeve in order to protect it until the boutique visit, after which I will report back regarding the O3B nib exchange experience for this limited edition 149.  In the meantime I will use some invisible tape to discreetly put back together the torn underside of the thin outer carton.  Unfortunately a lasting scar from its contretemps with a customs officer will be unavoidable. . .