What is so great about Mont Blanc fountain pens? Why are they so crazy expensive?

[PhiloPlume]

I have a really old one passed down from a relative so I really can't judge them.  I see they go from $800-thousands of dollars.

 

Any idea why?

 

[langere]

They are very well made and have really, really good advertising.

 

Erick

[markofp]

Answer to the first question: nothing in particular.

 

Answer to the second question: because people are willing to pay. 

[jchch1950]

Good quality, nice design, good repair service and excellent marketing.

[tde44x]

Good quality, classic design, great marketing over decades.

I have a 149 I bought new in the early 1990's. Have used it on and off over the years and has never failed me. Great, smooth writer. I would use it more except I now prefer broad and stub nibs and this one is a medium. It is not worth it to me to pay for another nib.

Would I buy another? Maybe if it were dirt cheap. Otherwise, I would prefer to spend the money on other designs.

[Karmachanic]

Same reason cars go from 12,000 to 400,000+ monetary units.

[PPPR]

The simple answer is marketing. MB prices began rising much more quickly than inflation would account for when advertising began describing their plastic pens as being made from "precious resin."

[Mark from Yorkshire]

🥱

[PhiloPlume]

3 hours ago, tde44x said:

Good quality, classic design, great marketing over decades.

I have a 149 I bought new in the early 1990's. Have used it on and off over the years and has never failed me. Great, smooth writer. I would use it more except I now prefer broad and stub nibs and this one is a medium. It is not worth it to me to pay for another nib.

Would I buy another? Maybe if it were dirt cheap. Otherwise, I would prefer to spend the money on other designs.

Thank you all! I won't rush out and buy one then.  No pen shops for me to look at them.  I see them in the Fahrney's catalog and they made me curious.  That's all.

 

They do look very elegant though but so do others for a lot less money.  The last thing I need is another fountain pen! 🙂

 

[Ambien]

Not sure as I've mostly owned the lower-end modern MB but they have such nice-looking stores I've seen them in the city on my commute. 

 

Also, I find the the vintage MB pens are great value too for around $100-$200 with semi-flexible nibs are great writers. They are pretty iconic as an FP design goes if you like mostly black pens. 

[Paul-in-SF]

3 hours ago, PhiloPlume said:

The last thing I need is another fountain pen! 🙂

 

You're in the wrong place and talking to the wrong people! 

[inkstainedruth]

3 hours ago, PhiloPlume said:

Thank you all! I won't rush out and buy one then.  No pen shops for me to look at them.  I see them in the Fahrney's catalog and they made me curious.  That's all.

 

They do look very elegant though but so do others for a lot less money.  The last thing I need is another fountain pen! 🙂

 

A lot of their LE pens are designed to be, as far as I can tell, for "c-worders" -- collectors who put them in a display case and don't actually *use* them (sorry, but some of us don't have that sort of discretionary income).  But even their more "standard" line pens seemed to be aimed at people who want to be "seen" using one (the same way that I've read that Parker sold caps for 51s so people could put them in a shirt pocket for people to see the "arrow" clip).  

The difference, of course, is that I've tried a few MBs over the years.  The smaller, older models 22s? were okay.  The MB 146 didn't have as nice a nib as that on my first semi-vintage pen -- and first pen that had a gold nib  (a Parker 45 found in the wild for which I paid about $11 US).  Admittedly, it had a medium nib and the 146 had a fine nib, but still....   And then the same person who had me try the 146 also, a couple of months later, had me try his MB 149.  And it did have a nicer nib than the 146, but the pen itself was just too big and heavy for me.

So, for the price of one of those, I bought TWO Pelikan M405s (one of which was the M405 Stresemann LE) -- and got different nibs on them (an EF nib on the M405 Blue Black, and a B on the M405 Stresemann).  And saved money at that because I got them from Rolf Thiel's eBay store.  And of course use them (because, well, pens...).  But I also use a couple of pens I've gotten (one at an estate sale and another at a little antiques fair down river from me) that still have the original price/nib stickers on them.   

YMMV

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mark from Yorkshire]

One of the metals used to coat the nibs of Montblanc nibs is a rare earth element that only occurs in certain petrological settings and are mined and then transported many miles. That and the last time one looked montblanc nibs are hand made. Thus adding to the cost. If you don’t like them fair enough. 

[PhiloPlume]

6 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

You're in the wrong place and talking to the wrong people! 

Not true!  I have  probably a hundred and just ordered another one from Franklin-Christof but just remembered they are located in North Carolina so I don't know if they are okay.  Not sure where Raleigh is and if the hurricane affected them.

[torstar]

18 hours ago, Mark from Yorkshire said:

One of the metals used to coat the nibs of Montblanc nibs is a rare earth element that only occurs in certain petrological settings and are mined and then transported many miles. That and the last time one looked montblanc nibs are hand made. Thus adding to the cost. If you don’t like them fair enough. 

 

precious resin

 

 

[PhiloPlume]

13 hours ago, PhiloPlume said:

Not true!  I have  probably a hundred and just ordered another one from Franklin-Christof but just remembered they are located in North Carolina so I don't know if they are okay.  Not sure where Raleigh is and if the hurricane affected them.

Just got an email from them. They are fine.  Just lots of rain in Raleigh, NC.

[ele]

However much their pens today are unexceptional in the market, I really think their vintage output earns them their reputation: the sections, the balance, the design, and of course the delightful often-flexible nibs etc. of their pens pre-1980 was really exceptional. No other pen I've owned from the mid 1930s feels quite as nice in my hand and timeless as the 124G, for example. Compare a Montblanc 20 (the first series of Meisterstuuk iirc) to a contemporary pen from really any other maker and it really does feel like a step above. (Personally speaking!)

[Mark from Yorkshire]

2 hours ago, torstar said:

 

precious resin

 

 

@torstar I don’t think it would work all that well coating the nibs of with precious resin. I was thinking of the ruthenium. Not sure if they do make nibs by hand but read that somewhere.

[Karmachanic]

9 minutes ago, Mark from Yorkshire said:

Not sure if they do make nibs by hand but read that somewhere

 

 Montblanc nibs are stamped out and ground by hand.  A minority of them are ruthenium plated.

https://www.montblanc.com/en-gb/discover/campaign/writing-instrument-craftmanship

[Mark from Yorkshire]

1 hour ago, Karmachanic said:

 

 Montblanc nibs are stamped out and ground by hand.  A minority of them are ruthenium plated.

https://www.montblanc.com/en-gb/discover/campaign/writing-instrument-craftmanship

Accepted. It’s usually certain LE’s that get the ruthenium treatment as far as I can tell in my limited experience and knowledge.