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Fountain pen users, rejoice!
- Thread starter sk1wbw
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I've collected them over the decades. Some of them were gifts, others I bought. I have never seen any deals on Montblancs I was interested in. Most of the time I buy them in Duty Free Shops in the UN.
P.S.: When I am interested in some rare vintage pieces, I usually look on eBay (mostly Japanese sellers).
P.S.: When I am interested in some rare vintage pieces, I usually look on eBay (mostly Japanese sellers).
My collection, plus some unpictured Lami Safaris. I like the platinum finish more than the gold.
They are all 146's (Le Grands) except for the last one is my first Montblanc, the Boheme in BB. Silver color is medium nib, Gold colored one is a document marker, which is why I chose gold as it lets me know its the highlight. Then a rollerball and extra fine nib. Work I carry the 146 rollerball and Fine nib. Days off I carry the Boheme and home office is the metal version.
Next purchase is a 149 in platinum, extra fine nib.
The 146s are a little too large to be entirely comfortable in my hand, and the 149 is an absolute monster. But enjoy them.
I inherited a pen like that from an elderly aunt who had died - it was ancient and battered, but wrote like a dream.
I almost always buy mine from authorised dealers. Occasionally, as @Ulenspiegel mentions, I have bought some in duty free shops when working abroad.
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I usually buy from the montblanc boutique nearest to my home. Only when trying to acquire the sold-out-20-years-ago special edition Edgar Allan Poe i went to eBay.
Fountain pen network .com has a good classified selection. Otherwise the Las Vegas Montblanc store, as there isn't one near me. They have good sales every couple of months or so, 30-60% off if I recall.
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Thanks! Have tried the smaller "classique" and it was too small for me, even posted. 149 is a monster!
Yes, I would imagine that the 145, or the 146 (the 144, my own personal favourite is no longer being made, but I have a sufficiency of them for now) are more than perfectly adequate.
Actually, it is not that the 145, and 146 are that much longer than the 144, - they're not - but they are wider, or thicker. However, I can well imagine someone with a larger hand feeling more comfortable with them.
Here's just a little story to interject in here.
For the past year or so, my two used pens have been my Pelikan that I pictured earlier in the thread and a Lamy Safari. Unfortunately, the Pelikan developed a tiny crack in the section(after 5 years of daily use) that caused it to leak ink into the cap. It's now at Pelikan in New York for a new barrel. My Lamy 2000 is also in Texas for what is it's now second section replacement. Aside from some of my antiques, I'm temporarily without "good" pens for daily use so have been dusting off some that were mothballed.
One is a lower end Sheaffer's made a few years back. It does have a lifetime nib(pearl dot on the cap) although I don't think the newer "lifetime" nibs really mean what they use to. In any case, it's a typical Sheaffer nail with quite a fine point and is pleasant to write with. It has a metal barrel and cap, which give it a nice amount of weight(although I admit it feels a bit "off" after writing with so many plastic pens, although the section is nicely shaped such that it's easy to grip). It has become my go-to at least until the Pelikan gets back
One really pleasant surprise, though, was a cheap Cross I bought when a local Office Depot moved locations a few years ago. I cleaned out ALL their fountain pen stuff-I remember just scraping packages of international cartridges off the racks for like $.17 each. One of the few pens they had left was a Cross with a retail price of $40 or $50 I think, and was down to about $12. It's nothing spectacular-just a nicely proportioned black body and a nice and smooth but very firm medium steel nib. Cross cartridges are proprietary and I don't really like Cross inks, and being my cheapskate self opted to just refill cartridges. It was my dedicated Baystate Blue pen for a while.
In any case, I pulled it out last night and almost dreaded taking the cap off because I'd sort of forgotten about it and figured it would be an unsalvageable mess.
Much to my surprise, there was a TINY spot of dry ink on the nib, but that was it. Even more amazingly, it wrote immediately after being capped for a couple of years. That blew me away-a cheap pen with a notorious ink that didn't skip a beat in that amount of time.
It did get a cleaning and a fresh fill of BSB, but it's going back into service. The only evidence of mistreatment was a cartridge that was an opaque blue color
For the past year or so, my two used pens have been my Pelikan that I pictured earlier in the thread and a Lamy Safari. Unfortunately, the Pelikan developed a tiny crack in the section(after 5 years of daily use) that caused it to leak ink into the cap. It's now at Pelikan in New York for a new barrel. My Lamy 2000 is also in Texas for what is it's now second section replacement. Aside from some of my antiques, I'm temporarily without "good" pens for daily use so have been dusting off some that were mothballed.
One is a lower end Sheaffer's made a few years back. It does have a lifetime nib(pearl dot on the cap) although I don't think the newer "lifetime" nibs really mean what they use to. In any case, it's a typical Sheaffer nail with quite a fine point and is pleasant to write with. It has a metal barrel and cap, which give it a nice amount of weight(although I admit it feels a bit "off" after writing with so many plastic pens, although the section is nicely shaped such that it's easy to grip). It has become my go-to at least until the Pelikan gets back
One really pleasant surprise, though, was a cheap Cross I bought when a local Office Depot moved locations a few years ago. I cleaned out ALL their fountain pen stuff-I remember just scraping packages of international cartridges off the racks for like $.17 each. One of the few pens they had left was a Cross with a retail price of $40 or $50 I think, and was down to about $12. It's nothing spectacular-just a nicely proportioned black body and a nice and smooth but very firm medium steel nib. Cross cartridges are proprietary and I don't really like Cross inks, and being my cheapskate self opted to just refill cartridges. It was my dedicated Baystate Blue pen for a while.
In any case, I pulled it out last night and almost dreaded taking the cap off because I'd sort of forgotten about it and figured it would be an unsalvageable mess.
Much to my surprise, there was a TINY spot of dry ink on the nib, but that was it. Even more amazingly, it wrote immediately after being capped for a couple of years. That blew me away-a cheap pen with a notorious ink that didn't skip a beat in that amount of time.
It did get a cleaning and a fresh fill of BSB, but it's going back into service. The only evidence of mistreatment was a cartridge that was an opaque blue color
Here's just a little story to interject in here.
For the past year or so, my two used pens have been my Pelikan that I pictured earlier in the thread and a Lamy Safari. Unfortunately, the Pelikan developed a tiny crack in the section(after 5 years of daily use) that caused it to leak ink into the cap. It's now at Pelikan in New York for a new barrel. My Lamy 2000 is also in Texas for what is it's now second section replacement. Aside from some of my antiques, I'm temporarily without "good" pens for daily use so have been dusting off some that were mothballed.
One is a lower end Sheaffer's made a few years back. It does have a lifetime nib(pearl dot on the cap) although I don't think the newer "lifetime" nibs really mean what they use to. In any case, it's a typical Sheaffer nail with quite a fine point and is pleasant to write with. It has a metal barrel and cap, which give it a nice amount of weight(although I admit it feels a bit "off" after writing with so many plastic pens, although the section is nicely shaped such that it's easy to grip). It has become my go-to at least until the Pelikan gets back
One really pleasant surprise, though, was a cheap Cross I bought when a local Office Depot moved locations a few years ago. I cleaned out ALL their fountain pen stuff-I remember just scraping packages of international cartridges off the racks for like $.17 each. One of the few pens they had left was a Cross with a retail price of $40 or $50 I think, and was down to about $12. It's nothing spectacular-just a nicely proportioned black body and a nice and smooth but very firm medium steel nib. Cross cartridges are proprietary and I don't really like Cross inks, and being my cheapskate self opted to just refill cartridges. It was my dedicated Baystate Blue pen for a while.
In any case, I pulled it out last night and almost dreaded taking the cap off because I'd sort of forgotten about it and figured it would be an unsalvageable mess.
Much to my surprise, there was a TINY spot of dry ink on the nib, but that was it. Even more amazingly, it wrote immediately after being capped for a couple of years. That blew me away-a cheap pen with a notorious ink that didn't skip a beat in that amount of time.
It did get a cleaning and a fresh fill of BSB, but it's going back into service. The only evidence of mistreatment was a cartridge that was an opaque blue color
That is a very nice story and thanks for sharing.
Nevertheless, I imagine that you are looking forward to receiving your Pelikan and Lamy Safari pens back, all restored and in good order..
Indeed I'm especially excited about the Pelikan.
The Safaris I have are fine(I think they're all but indestructible)-the one at Lamy now is my 2000, which is their signature pen although mine has been oddly cantankerous.
I haven't seen much discussion of the 2000 here, but it's an old and distinctive enough design that it has been firmly implanted in the conscience of many fountain pen enthusiasts.
It comes from the Bauhaus design school, and the body is black plastic with part of the section being stainless steel. It's quite minimalist-the pen is cigar shaped and probably a bit smaller than the MB 146. The body is a matte fiberglass-type plastic(I forget what they call it) and the section is brushed stainless steel. An uncapped, unposted pen is proportionally virtually identical to the Braun electric razor designed around that same time. The cap is basic black also with a very utilitarian but indestructible spring loaded clip.
It has a 14K semi-hooded nib and is a piston filler. As I understand it, the piston cap is mated to the body before the final finish is applied, and the seam between the two is nearly invisible. Although it's not as much of a status symbol as a 146 or 149, it's an exceptional writer and is the epitome of minimalist design.
Thanks for you thoughts on the Lamy. I have a couple of ballpoint Lamy's and do like them although don't use them much anymore. I really love my MB 144 fountain pen but am definitely going to look into getting a Lamy. Thanks again.
I'm a HUGE fan of the Lamy 2000, my favorite fountain pen by a span.
Never forget, once a contractor grabbed it to sign a contract and completely ruined the pen.
The repair went wrong, due to the dealer's mistake - and Lamy sent me a brandnew one.
Thank you! Yes, I do use it daily and I enjoy it very much. Sometimes I do get a bit nervous as I tend to wear it in my shirt pocket all day, every day in a corporate/office environment....running in and out of meetings all day. I could see how it could slip from my shirt or I could leave it behind after a meeting... but in the end, I would rather risk it than have it collect dust in a drawer somewhere.
Just note: when wearing on your shirt's pocket, be very careful with what you hung over your shoulder. I have recently warped really bad my pen's clip because the strap of my messenger briefcase pressed on it against me and bent it out of shape.
I'm eager to find one to try, I'm mighty impressed with the cheapo Lamy Safari I use as my daily at the moment. I've heard pretty good things about the 2000...
Great watch out. How do others carry their pens? Maybe I should just carry one of my many Lamys and reserve the MB for desk writing?
I usually carry mine clipped to the inside pocket of my jacket. Occasionally, I will carry it in a briefcase, or in my jacket side pocket. Obviously, the cap is well secured.
Mine is either in my coat or scrub pocket. I have found having one pen on me makes me less likely to lose it. When I had a pocketful of pens I didn't care where they were, but having one I always am using it, making sure it is around.
Lamy service is absolutely fantastic-I really can't say enough good about them.
I guess they've spoiled me-I was actually a bit miffed to find out that Pelikan only gives a 3 year warranty.
Heck, SheafferS will still honor "lifetime" nib warranties from the 1920s. Granted no one in their right mind would actually take them up on it since they will simply replace the pen with a new model rather than repair, but none the less it's impressive that they will do it. They still sell Lifetime pens, too. To me, I'm just as happy to have the pearl dot of a SheafferS Lifetime poking out of my pocket as anything else, although it's not as widely known.
Have you seen the new 'Amber Black' 50th anniversary Lamy 2K? I'm a bit disappointed, I was hoping for a new material or new Makrolon colour. It's also a bit expensive!
Presume they mean the pocket on medical scrubs?
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