16 replies to this topic

[Quackedo]

Just bought a Montefiore Chatham Mocha with a cool 2 tone nib.

Does anyone have any experience with them?

Edited by Quackedo, 05 September 2012 - 18:07.

[jar]

IIRC they are rebranded Jinhao pens.

[Quackedo]

I Just found this on another website:fountainpensguide.com


"The History of Montefiore Fountain Pens


The Long Island town of Westbury, NY has long since been home to many businesses. One such company that originates from this small middle class neighborhood is Montefoire Writing Instruments. While somewhat innocuous on the surface, this company has produced some truly brilliant fountain pen designs.

Montefiore Pens are quite new in comparison to other pen companies on the global market. These pens on just debuted on the world market in 1996. They did, however, make quite the impression as the visual allure of the pens was (and is) stunning.

Best of all, the pens are promote themselves to be inexpensive which is an added benefit to those seeking collectible and functional pens.

Let the truth be told: even though Montefiore Fountain Pens are relatively new to the writing instrument industry, they have the potential to be major names for decades to come."


So, how are they Re-branded Jinhao's? Where are they actually made? They seem to be designed in NY, but possibly manufactured elsewhere?

Edited by Quackedo, 06 September 2012 - 16:56.

[jar]

I Just found this on another website:fountainpensguide.com


"The History of Montefiore Fountain Pens


The Long Island town of Westbury, NY has long since been home to many businesses. One such company that originates from this small middle class neighborhood is Montefoire Writing Instruments. While somewhat innocuous on the surface, this company has produced some truly brilliant fountain pen designs.

Montefiore Pens are quite new in comparison to other pen companies on the global market. These pens on just debuted on the world market in 1996. They did, however, make quite the impression as the visual allure of the pens was (and is) stunning.

Best of all, the pens are promote themselves to be inexpensive which is an added benefit to those seeking collectible and functional pens.

Let the truth be told: even though Montefiore Fountain Pens are relatively new to the writing instrument industry, they have the potential to be major names for decades to come."


So, how are they Re-branded Jinhao's? Where are the actually made? They seem to be designed in NY, but possibly manufactured elsewhere?

Go take a look at the Jinhao pens.

[Quackedo]

OK, I went to hisnibs website and looked at every pen they list for Jinhao. I also did a Jinhao search on Google images for a similar Jinhao to a Montefiore Chatham and I can't find one with the same or even similar cap clip. I am starting to think that re-branding may not be totally correct and that Montefiore-a NY based company-has designed some pens and has done what so many other companies in this country have done-farmed out the manufacture to the Chinese Company that makes Jinhao. I think that the German nib used is the same or similar to the X750 two toned nib which is actually quite a nice writer.

Eventually we may have a similar situation to cars ie.

Feed made in Switzerland, nib made in Germany, barrel made in China, colored in Japan, converter made in India, and assembled in Mexico, based on a US design. A french Pen. Ink would be from Spain of Course (wait, do they even make ink in Spain?).

Edited by Quackedo, 06 September 2012 - 01:30.

[AltecGreen]

I think that the German nib used is the same or similar to the X750 two toned nib which is actually quite a nice writer.

Just some information for you to file away later.


Nibs marked Iridium Point Germany do not have to be made in Germany. In fact, the nib was most likely made in China. The term Iridium Point Germany means that the 'iridium' used to tip the nib was made in Germany (most likely produced by Heraeus). This is all that is required by law for the nib to be so marked. In fact, it is not clear if even the tipping is from Germany. On another point, 'iridium' tipping actually contains very little iridium.

Edited by AltecGreen, 06 September 2012 - 01:55.

[Jerome Tarshis]

The so-called history of Montefiore was obviously not written by a native speaker of English. Nor by a person with much knowledge of Long Island, and possibly not of towns. Westbury is an upscale suburb in a rather upscale part of Long Island. That isn't an obscure fact. To describe a town or village as a small middle-class neighborhood seems painfully unworldly.

Granted, that text did not originate with the company, unless maybe it did. I'd like to think the company wouldn't misspell its own name in the second line of its own publicity materials.

As I write this, I haven't tried to find Montefiore's own Web page. If there isn't one, that is suggestive, although it says nothing against the smoothness of the OP's nib. Whether any part of the nib originated in Germany is an open question in my mind, as suggested by AltecGreen above. To say German origin of the tipping material is "required" is not to say that that is the way the world actually works.

Edited by Jerome Tarshis, 06 September 2012 - 09:55.

[Quackedo]

Wow, it's worse than I thought. The "History" quote was from fountainpensguide.com. The actual Montefiore web site is http://www.montefiorepens.com (turn your volume down loud music embedded!) and of course they say nothing about where the pens are made. They do however take credit for the designs they sell. I'm guessing they design a pen on paper and then have it manufactured elsewhere (Jinhao?). Probably China at any rate.


Quote from Montefiore Website:


"About MontefioreElegant pens at affordable prices.

When we crafted our first pen fourteen years ago, it was the culmination of a dream. We believed that everyone, not just the wealthy, should be able to enjoy a little luxury. And that first pen embodied everything that has become our mission today. Unique form, beauty and elegance. Real function for everyday life. And affordability, the best for less than you'd expect.

We've grown, and now we offer scores of styles. We keep our prices low because we sell only through GiftValues.com and special mail and phone promotions with prominent retailers. We invite you to compare the quality and styling of any of our pens with those big name pens costing many, many times our prices.

That very first pen we sold in 1996 was our "Classic", the perfect beginning of a dream business, because we've sold many hundreds of thousands of them as we grew. "Classic" is now an expanded line of its own, including our "Classic Equinox" in 24kt gold-plate or fine silver-plate. Take a look. You'll see what we mean by elegance at a great price. "



I'll know more when the pens get here in a few days. Keep you posted.

Edited by Quackedo, 06 September 2012 - 17:12.

[Quackedo]

OK, the infamous Montefiore Chatham is here.
It seems to be a very nice pen. If I didn't know that it cost less than $10.00 (with shipping) I could easily be fooled into believing it costs $300.00 to $500.00. It is large, heavy, has a nice two-toned nib, and writes very nicely. Very smooth without a hiccup (hiccough).
I have purchased some pens by the "Big" makers (Sailor, Montblanc, Waterman, etc) and to be honest, I like this pen better than some of them.

If "name" didn't enter the equation, I would pick this pen as my everyday writer over many of them. I like the heft, feel in my hand, and the way it glides on my Rhodia paper.
So, I have to ask (hopefully without offending anyone), Why is my Sailor 1911 better than this pen? I'm assuming that the build and the quality of the materials is better . Will my Sailor last longer or be a more consistant writer?

Frankly, I have bought several vintage pens and I am not too in love with the way they feel and write but I like them for their history.

If I went through my entire collection blindfolded, and picked out the best ten pens with no idea which was which, I wonder what I would choose?

Hmmmm....

[CravenMoorehead]

Greetings everybody!  I too, have a Montefiore Chatham FP... it is actually the reason I joined this forum.  Since I got it as a gift, I have had trouble getting it to write properly.  Ink flow just stops mid stroke.  I am convinced that the nib and reservoir are faulty.  I have learned the following in attempting to remedy the problem... One, Montefiore pens are sold through giftvalues dot com.  They don't have much in terms of nibs and parts to fix problems.  Second, to get any real answers, you have to call a different number than that listed at their main web site, which goes to Smithsonian something... nice people, but again, they can't send out parts or anything. 

 

The pen itself is nice. Brass barrel and cap, beautiful paint exterior, very solid pen.  If I knew of a place here that repaired fountain pens, it would probably be my go to pen. 

 

Anyone know of repair places in the metro Detroit area?  Looking for them has become the proverbial search for a needle in a haystack.

[frolland]

[frolland]

This above, is my collection of Montefiore pens. Actually 10 of them. Let me alert you that all of them need some working on the nibs in order to write smoothly.. I do not know if they are re branded Jinhao pens. All I know that I personally serviced them all to have a smooth writing with all of  these ten nibs. The point of this nibs is titanium, and actually it is very hard to grind and shape them to match your writing. Once you do , though, they write beautifully. I purchased this collection from www.giftvalues.com and the price of them ( included the case) was $ 79,95 . Item # 36534 of the giftvalues catalog.

 

All of these pens use the international cartridge, but you can buy an international converter if you want to fill them directly from the ink bottle.

In all, the collection is very nice, bright colors and nice enamel over aluminum. The pens are not very heavy , some of them do not post well or not at all.

All of these nibs are friction fit.

 

Just don't expect to ink one and write smoothly with it. You have to align the tines and grind the titanium ball so that it writes smoothly. But when you do, you will find that these pens write as well as the big names like Parker or Pelikan at 1/20th or 1/100 of their  cost.

 

So this post is to respond to member Quackedo  who  asked the question if someone had experience with these pens. FR

Edited by frolland, 19 February 2015 - 19:07.

[kestrel]

I bought two of them in the late 1990s and both became unusable within two years because the cap would no longer stay securely attached to the barrel when "capped."  They were attractive pens that wrote fine albeit a bit dry.  I quit using them after one came uncapped in a pocket and ruined a shirt.

[frolland]

Kestrel:, thank you for the advise. Although I have these pens 1 year now and all of them cap well. We shall see with more usage.  Thanks again. FR

Note: some of them cap by screwing the cap in place!

Edited by frolland, 19 February 2015 - 20:09.

[corgicoupe]

I picked up a used Montefiore Chatham pen for a few dollars with the idea of discovering whether or not I should try to work on old pens. I found the answer is NO after breaking the section and feed. Is there anyplace to get replacements, or is it not worth the cost?

[benbot517]

Tried going to their website. It's either down, or, from what I can tell from the specific error message, gone entirely. Odd.

[xensen]

I have a montefiore pen that belonged to my father. It's not bad looking and doesn't leak, though it does write a bit dry. But I too have the cap problem. It's a pressure not a screw cap, and looking at it I can't see how it ever worked -- the design is extremely simple. I don't know if there's any possible fix.