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S.T. Dupont vs Montblanc - whose quality is better


pennywise

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I have several 146s and 149s which are vintage models they are enough robust and reliable. They have from semi to full flex nibs, a thing that Duponts don't have. I prefer older mbs to duponts even if duponts are very well made.

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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Duponts have wonderful build and the lacquer finish is gorgeous

HEAVY, though and some of the styling is a tad too flamboyant gaudy for me

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  • 6 months later...

I am a recent member and have never had a post, but when I came across this topic and read all the prior posts from knowlegeable FPN members, I was encouraged to add my comments on the quality, variety and relative cost (fit, finish, feel & finances) of ST Dupont pens. My collection of Duponts began early this year (2012) when I spied a "Classique" fountain pen advertised on Ebay by a gentleman from Toulouse, France. His description of the Chinese Laque over vermeil & 925 sterling body included the warning that the pen had been run over by a car and that explained the condition in the photos as well as the low price. Since I was collecting vermeil French Parker 75s I bit on the bargain Dupont. Never a regret. I did some minor straightening with a wood dowel in order to insert an ink cartridge (most of the damage was to the barrel) and this "wounded warrior" wrote right out the box with a butter smooth feel & medium line. On the strength of that experience and especially the lovely color and feel of the laquer finish I have gone on to acquire nine more Duponts, a mix of the "Classiques" and the "Fidelio" models.

 

Just to keep the post in bounds of the topic, "Dupont vs. Montblanc", I do have one Montblanc in my collection, a 144 with 14K medium nib and have used it in the past as a daily writer - until it started leaking ink from the nib section. I agree with the other comments that MB has capitalized on it's earlier reputation for quality by turning out some pretty shoddy examples in their common commercial lines. Not so Dupont. Fit, finish, feel & my finances: used and vintage Duponts - with an occasional Waterman & Parker - are my mainstay now.

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I'm going with the majority here. I have about as many ST Duponts as Montblancs. With Montblanc I've had a few not so great nibs. Skipping, dryness, the like. Dupont: not one. Write first time, every time.

 

Their service is, as far as my experiences go, a major letdown. I once ordered a pen from their online shop which never got shipped, but they charged my credit card nonetheless and nothing I did in matters of phone calls and e-mails made them refund my money. No permanent harm was done since I could have the credit card company get the money back, but still I doubt I would trust them with the repair of a pen - who knows if it would ever come back? Montblanc might be expensive but at least they won't ignore you (right..?).

 

Unfortunately they seem to have discontinued my favourite model, the Olympio. Generally they have a much smaller range than MB.

Read more about me, my pens, photography & so on my little blog

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Oh the Defi would be a dream if it came with a gold nib!!

 

I beg to differ. The Defi above all St. Duponts leaves me scratching my head, to the extent that I asked the salespeople to explain its USP - which they could not. The steel nib is fitting - save its price point. The rest of it looks and feels equally cheap. I went into the boutique looking for some semblance of luxury or better yet, some soul, and left thoroughly disappointed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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For writing characteristics, Dupont is better than Montblanc. For build quality, they're about even -- but Montblanc made two design mistakes with the Meisterstück series, viz., the choice of "Precious Resin" ( a brittle fiberglass-reinforced resin that is prone to crack and even shatter) and the choice to include the section's flared end as part of the nib/feed collar (leading to leaks on the exterior of the section and to breakages that cause the end of the section -- a flange on the collar -- to simply fall off). I consider these two design choices inexcusable, and they are the reason I recommend avoiding these pens.

Then how do you and Steve Light get along?

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I have a vintage 149 and a 145 (black/chrome) along with 2 ST Duponts and find the writing experiences totally different, but both good, with nod going to MB. While as noted above, a DuPont may be able to write after getting run over by a car, I love filling my piston fillers and the MB nibs rule over the stodgy DuPont nibs.

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Then how do you and Steve Light get along?

As much as I'd like to dicate to the world what pens should or should not be used, I find that people have a nasty habit of disobeying me. Silly of them, of course, but they do it nonetheless.

 

Steve likes his pens, they're working for him, why should I rock the boat?

 

Also, I have learned from Brad Torelli, who is a master penmaker and a genius with resins, that Montblanc's resin is not glass reinforced. It is a relatively ordinary moldable acrylic resin, and the key to it brittleness lies in that fact. Moldable resins have a lighter molecular weight than casting resins, and there are significan stresses set up in objects that are molded. (It's really fun to look at a clear molded object under polarized light: RAINBOWS everywhere!)

sig.jpg.2d63a57b2eed52a0310c0428310c3731.jpg

 

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Oh the Defi would be a dream if it came with a gold nib!!

 

I beg to differ. The Defi above all St. Duponts leaves me scratching my head, to the extent that I asked the salespeople to explain its USP - which they could not. The steel nib is fitting - save its price point. The rest of it looks and feels equally cheap. I went into the boutique looking for some semblance of luxury or better yet, some soul, and left thoroughly disappointed.

 

 

I think the carbon fibre one feels quite good

The pen I write with, is the pen I use to sign my name.

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I don't know about the regular MB plastics, but the plastic on the MB Virginia Woolf feels really nice. Not sure if its any more durable

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Must say, Dupont.

Here is not the question about piston or cartridge fillers or flexible or not nibs, but about the quality. Dupont is pretty much flawless in this matter, immaculate design and construction and very solid feel generally. Sadly, I wish I could say the same for the MB.

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In my opinion a comparison between S T Dupont & Mont Blanc is not relevant as they use vastly different materials to make a pen. I have an Olympio FP in M Nib, which is finicky about inks. As mentioned by other FPNers it does best in S T Dupont inks, which is limited to 2 shades-Black & Blue. It would skip & screech even in some shades of PR inks that otherwise go in almost any pen. Then I inked it with my own mix of Omas Red,Omas Sepia & Black Quink, called Chocolate & it did sweetly. Finally, in Sailor Sky High ink it seems to have found a perfect match.

 

Between my Olympio and Mont Blanc's Starwalker (Metal Rubber) pens. The MB is a clear winner as it started the business of writing straight out of the box & takes any ink that I put into it using a FC convertor. No wonder, presently it is in one of my favorite-Epinard by Sailor.

 

Mind, I have had trouble with 2 Mont Blanc 144s & a John Lennon of the 'Precious' resin sort. One 144 in 14K Nib was totaled some 5 Yrs. ago. I bought another, this time in 18K M, subsequently it's leaking nib holder was repaired by myself using branded sealant & glues. Presently, it is in Edelstein Topaz. What a pen-slim,light,looks great & above all writes like a dream. My test-driver that's soon going to commander Irosi..inks.

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A few months have passed and my S.T. Dupont collection has increased quite a bit. I now have 1 "Elysée" in M, 6 "Montparnasse XL"(EF, F, 3*M and B), 1 "Plume ultime" (F), 1 limited edition "Neptune" (M), and 2 Néoclassiques ("Dragon" and "Samouraï, both in M) and a Classique II (F) more, and I have preordered the Empire limited set. All of these I have already are winners straight out of the box. Since I haven't bought any Montblanc for a while, I won't compare, but there is plenty of happy factor with these pens.

http://i.imgur.com/bZFLPKY.jpg

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I believe the original question was comparing st duPont to montblanc NOT just the meisterstuck range. Montblanc has a variety of designs and use a range of different materials for their many pens .... So we shouldn't be obsessed with 'Precious resin' too much. Having said that, my 149s are great writers with amazing nibs and Im perfectly happy with the quality of the pens.

 

Having heard so much good about the duPonts, they're definitely on my radar from now on...

http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i420/Fahad_Mahmood/adf85b8e-ac76-49f5-94e8-b5173443175d_zpsdb9c20d3.jpg

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life,

the whole aim and end of human existence" Aristotle

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I would only ever comment about any pen, or car, or watch etc if I had actually owned & used one so this is a debate I cannot contribute fairly in.

 

DuPont is one of the very few makers I have never tried in respect of pens, although I was once given a lighter of theirs, so judgement is not for me a user friend is very impressed with the build quality and he is critical so draw what you may from that.

 

I cringe when people say to me about the various cars I drive around in that they are this or that because Jeremey Clarkson on Top Gear says they are so !

 

Put yer money up, buy the product THEN tell me what you think and I will listen with interest!

A wise man once said    " the best revenge is wealth "   but a wiser man answered back    " the best revenge is happiness "

 

The true definition of madness - Doing the same thing everyday and expecting different results......

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I started with one ST Dupont pen and it didn't take long for me to like them so much that I expanded to a collection of 4, with two Montparnasse and two LEs (see photos below). The quality of the Dupont pens, the lacquer they use, their attention to the minute details and the nib performance (they write every time, from the time I took them out of the box)are truly amazing and hard to beat. I happen to like using the converters. They are easy to clean, to be replaced and to change inks.

 

I don't own any MB pens and therefore cannot offer any comments but I doubt I will ever own one, as I am quite happy with the Duponts that I have.

post-83563-0-41638500-1351532065.jpg

post-83563-0-49289200-1351532094.jpg

post-83563-0-05389000-1351532111.jpg

post-83563-0-97049900-1351532139.jpg

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I wasn't aware of this Opus X version! This thread made me ink my 149 again, and I like the nib very much - EF, a little flexbility. I think it's better to have a bit of everything. That beehive guilloché Montparnasse is sweet, the warm honey-ish colour makes it my most beautiful pen, I think.

http://i.imgur.com/bZFLPKY.jpg

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