Guide to 146 Changes Through the Years

[georges zaslavsky]

My 1986 MB146 has 18c750 nib and my 1985 MB149 has a 18c750 nib too and yes both were made for the French market.

[krom101]

all 146s have 14k nibs

I have the recent carbon fibre and chrome steel version, with a two tone 18k medium nib.

[GardenCity-NY]

My 1986 MB146 has 18c750 nib and my 1985 MB149 has a 18c750 nib too and yes both were made for the French market.

 

I'm new to the forum jut having gotten a MB 149 from my dad... the nib is a 14C585 (using the notation above). What does that 585 tell me? It is just under the word Montblanc based on the photos above.

 

Thanks -- Joe

[Diamondback]

My 1986 MB146 has 18c750 nib and my 1985 MB149 has a 18c750 nib too and yes both were made for the French market.

 

I'm new to the forum jut having gotten a MB 149 from my dad... the nib is a 14C585 (using the notation above). What does that 585 tell me? It is just under the word Montblanc based on the photos above.

 

Thanks -- Joe

 

Joe,

 

The 585 on the nib refers to the purity of gold that the nib is made of. In the case of your nib the alloy that it is made of is 58.5% pure gold. Hence the 585 designation. As a comparison, an 18C750 nib is made of an alloy that contains 75.0% pure gold and a if a nib was 24C it would be 99.9% pure gold.

 

Mark

[GardenCity-NY]

My 1986 MB146 has 18c750 nib and my 1985 MB149 has a 18c750 nib too and yes both were made for the French market.

 

I'm new to the forum jut having gotten a MB 149 from my dad... the nib is a 14C585 (using the notation above). What does that 585 tell me? It is just under the word Montblanc based on the photos above.

 

Thanks -- Joe

 

Joe,

 

The 585 on the nib refers to the purity of gold that the nib is made of. In the case of your nib the alloy that it is made of is 58.5% pure gold. Hence the 585 designation. As a comparison, an 18C750 nib is made of an alloy that contains 75.0% pure gold and a if a nib was 24C it would be 99.9% pure gold.

 

Mark

 

Thanks for the quick response. I would have never reasoned that out myself... Last question of the night would be; How can I tell what type of nib it is in terms of width? Fine, Medium, etc. I see an M in the center of the Montblanc logo on the nib but I belivee that stands for Montblanc and not Medium... :hmm1:

 

[Blade Runner]

Show us close ups of the nib and a writing sample with a ruler or some other way to measure the letters and perhaps we can help.

 

Best,

Jeen

[GardenCity-NY]

Show us close ups of the nib and a writing sample with a ruler or some other way to measure the letters and perhaps we can help.

 

Best,

Jeen

 

Will do... let me ink up and get the digitl camera... Thanks!

[TnargRellaw]

Hi all. I have one of the pens which may well have been made up from the spares for celluloid as well as some intermediate parts.  One slight issue. When I got it the feed grip tube, which has the straight sided end flange as opposed to the flared flange, was badly cracked and had a piece broken out-see photo-the metal in the photo is just to hold the tube still. I've replaced it with a flared flange one and it works beautifully BUT in the interests of authenticity I'd really like the older, straight sided flanged tube. Does anybody have one or know where I could get one please?

And one other thing, my pen has definitely not got any GERMANY engraving anywhere. The clip ring is devoid of any writing. It's one of the older more rounded bend types. Has anyone else ever seen this?

[AcLondon]

No clip marking of 'Germany' is what I'd consider normal in a 'transitional' 146.  I don't think that nib unit is the one from what's consider classically 'transitional' as it has a lip on the section. That nib section looks like the one from the early 1970s era.  I don't know where you'd get a part alone.  There are a relatively high number of 146 of that era that are sold by Japanese sellers on Ebay. 

[TnargRellaw]

Great. Thanks for the info. I have a couple of the newer 70's 146's with grey window, monotone 14k nib and the more right angled clips. One with W Germany and one with Germany but both have the flared flange.

The one I'm trying to sort has a 14C soft monotone nib-see photo, centre one is 14C-quite unlike the 14k monotone nibs in feel.

I have read that the 14C monotone may have started life as a two tone and then been polished. This may explain why the etching is not completely clear although the line seperating what would have been the two colours is still perfect and there is NO sign of the other colour.

All 3 have split ebonite feeds.

I'll just have to keep looking I suppose concentrating on the Japanese ones perhaps.

[AcLondon]

Yep, it's one of my very favourite of all Montblancs, the 70s 146.   If it has a split ebonite it means it's not the very first of the 1970s era.  The very earliest were solid ebonite feeds.  They are much scarcer, though, in my experience than the 149 solid ebonite. The monotone nibs are not necessarily worn two-tone nibs.  All nibs on resin 146s were monotone up to the early 1980s (except the true transitional model).  You do occasionally find a worn 1950s (or 1960s transitional) that are monotone.

[TnargRellaw]

Thanks.

It's taken me a year to get the tube I had fitted. I can wait until the right one comes up. As I said,  it writes beautifully as it is.

I have way too many pens than is good for my bank balance. 

[brain]

Given the large quantity of 146s that appear with the 14c nib (with the border line coming to a sharp point, old style 14C font) in monotone, I think it's safe to say that the 14c monotones are not the result of over-polishing. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

My '48-60 MB 146 is a medium-large pen, about the size of a p-51 or a Pelikan 400NN. It has superb balance, and a maxi-semi-flex nib (stubbed semi-flex would be the normal one of that era But I was hunting the maxi-semi-flex, having a 234 1/2 Deluxe and a rolled gold 742 with the only nib I have between my 35 semi-flex and my 15 maxi-semi-flex nibs.

The 146 cap rings were made or found by Francis, in they were missing, and it was a bent beater...He did grand work on both MB's....the Safety Pen is pre '23.

I think my two large 146 are late '80's to very early  '90.

They are nimbler than a Pelikan 800, but barely nimble...IMO

Bu I like standard and medium-large pens.

And I think that '48-60 146 a pen well worth hunting for!!.

 

One 146 I felt sorry for, no one was there and I got it for minimum bid at a live auction....pre computer and telephone bidding...the great old days. It was not one of the pens I had my mind on. The other one came with a inkwell for the same start and finish price.

Black glass stand.

[Michael R.]

On 10/26/2023 at 10:07 PM, brain said:

Given the large quantity of 146s that appear with the 14c nib (with the border line coming to a sharp point, old style 14C font) in monotone, I think it's safe to say that the 14c monotones are not the result of over-polishing. 

14C are older than the 14K nibs. Monotone 14C nibs on 1970s 146 pens are well documented. They have a very similar timeline with similar changes in features as the 149 pens.

[TnargRellaw]

Of the several 146's I have the C's all came from Japan and the K's from Europe.

All the K's are like nails. All very reliable but hard as hell. The C's are softer with one of them being the softest, most flexible nib I have (of over 100, various makes). It's almost like a paintbrush in feel. Beautiful nib. A keeper.

 

[Michael R.]

C and K was just a difference in time. For both Europe and rest of world. If you find authentic pens you will find overall older construction features in pens with C nibs.

Stiff-, Softness or flex can be different during the 70s-80s nibs. from my experience 14C/K tend to be softer in Montblanc pens compared to 18C/K nibs from the same time. Chances to find a more flex 14C nib are higher from my experience than with 14K nibs; maybe simply because the C nibs are older than the K nibs and Montblanc changed to more stiff nibs during the year. Not just on the 146 but also on the 149.