Questions/help With A Mb 144 From Ebay

[Hunter5117]

Today I received a MB 144 gold over sterling fountain pen. As I always do I gave it a thorough going over regarding authenticity and found a couple of things that give me reason to question it.

 

I don't have facility for decent photos so hopefully my descriptions will be adequate.

 

First, let me say that other than the items stated, this pen seems to be of excellent quality, the nib is very nice even under close examination, and it is a good writer. Under close examination it has appropriate wear marks for an almost 20 yo pen. The overall finish is comparable to my other Montblanc's.

 

Here's what I find hinky....

 

1. The black resin and snowflake cap do not seem to be fitted to the metal barrel as well as I would have thought. I own 2 other Montblanc pens and everything is smooth and flush, on this one there is a definite "catch" between the resin cap and the metal barrel.

 

2. The paperwork with the pen listed it as a "Solitaire" model sold in 1995. Is this correct nomenclature for that date, when did MB switch from calling these pens "Classique" and start with the "Solitaire". The ebay listing was for a Classique.

 

3. As stated the pen was supposed to be sold in 1995 but the inside of the clip has the Pix logo, I thought this did not start being used until 1997 or later?

 

4. The pen came fitted with one of the known counterfeit "Mont Blanc" converters which in itself I don't have a big issue with the seller may have bought from Ebay thinking they were genuine. However, the pen does not have facility for a screw-in converter, is this correct for this presumed date? It does accept a cartridge from my Starwalker and the fit is tight.

 

5. Possibly most questionable is the "Meisterstuck" band. Instead of a series of gold-plated bands, the narrow band on either side of the Meisterstuck band is left silver. This is the only "two-tone" feature on the whole pen. The Montblanc-Meisterstuck engraving is also weak - when examined with a glass you can see the tops of the letters do not have a clear edge, and the whole line of engraving is slightly closer to the top of the band instead of evenly centered.

 

So what say yea? I did not pay a fortune for this pen but more than I would like to pay for a fake.

 

Thanks.

[jar]

Classique only refers to the size, basically the 144.

 

Solitaire refers to materials and can be most any size or model.

 

Is the pen hallmarked?

[CS388]

Hi Hunter5117. Welcome to FPN.

 

The marks and patina from 20 years of use are comforting. Very hard to fake that kind of stuff.

 

Logo vs 1995/1997 etc. Don't get too hung up on this, pens are not always easy to date, owing to transitional model changes and lying around in shops for years etc.

 

Fake converter is a bad sign. But as you say, not necessarily representative of the whole pen.

 

As you can imagine, despite your good descriptions, it's hard to say without pictures.

Do you have a link to the listing? May shed some more light on the subject.

 

Fingers crossed.

[Darius]

Points 2, 3 & 4 aren't really specific.

As jar mentioned, solitaire refers to the material and not the model.

Dating to a specific year is difficult. Through transition periods, parts that are in inventory in the factory maybe mixed and different combinations would be the result.

The converter, as you mentioned, may be a replacement. Regarding threads on the converter, earlier MB converters did not have them. I don't know when they were added.

 

Point 1 is potentially worrisome. The resin top with the star should be attached to a metal base of matching material to the pen. The whole assembly is fitted above the clip ring. From your description, I can't tell if this is the case or the whole part above the clip ring is resin. If it is the latter, then bad news.

 

Point 5 is what worry me most. I haven't seen a vermeil or gold plated Meisterstück with silver rings on it.

 

All that said, I may be wrong.

 

Pictures would definitely help.

[robmcdade]

Very interesting. Pictures please!

[mmahany]

Judging by the pictures it is fake....oh wait....