Legrand Why Two Colours

[Albinoni]

Montblanc charge an arm and a leg for their pens but you would think they would offer better ink choices for the Legrand rollerball refills.

 

My big question here is why does the Legrand only come in black and blue refills and no other like their ballpoint refills.

[Opooh]

Why is the 149 only avalable in black with gold trim? Marketing I suppose.

[Albinoni]

Why is the 149 only avalable in black with gold trim? Marketing I suppose.

Is it? I'm sure I've seen it in burgundy or some other colour

[FredRydr]

The Le Grande is the 146, not the black-only 149. In addition to ubiquitous black, the 146 was once offered in bordeaux, which regularly come up on the used market.

 

Montblanc did assign a name to the 149, carelessly choosing Diplomat, a trademark owned by a competing pen company.

 

Fred

Edited March 25, 2015 by FredRydr

[Chrissy]

Is it? I'm sure I've seen it in burgundy or some other colour

Not the 149. The 146 and 144 have been available in bordeaux. Maybe even the 145 too, I'm not certain about that one

Edited March 25, 2015 by Chrissy

[FredRydr]

Not the 149. The 146 and 144 have been available in bordeaux. Maybe even the 145 too, I'm not certain about that one

 

 

Montblanc manufactured many post-celluloid pens in bordeaux plastic, including the Meisterstuck cartridge-fillers 114, 144, 145, 147 and the Meisterstuck piston-filler 146. Several series pens other than the Meisterstucks were offered in bordeaux plastic as well. Model numbers will typically end in the suffix "R" to denote the bordeaux color. But as mentioned several times, never the 149.

 

Photos of bordeaux pens appear throughout this sub forum. Just search "bordeaux."

 

Burgundy is a darker color that Montblanc has occasionally used since before the second world war. I owned a rare pre-war German-made 224 in burgundy. Osman has it, now.

 

But wait! All this has nothing to do with the OP's original question about ink refills; Opooh hijacked the thread. So, as to the OP's question:

My big question here is why does the Legrand only come in black and blue refills and no other like their ballpoint refills.

 

Why? Don't know. But check out the Monteverde rollerball refills to see if they fit (their ballpoint refills fit Montblanc ballpoint pens).

 

Fred

Edited March 25, 2015 by FredRydr

[JLS1]

AFAIK, the OP is asking about the color choice for rollerball refills, not the color of the pen.

 

For the OP: I believe there's a thread somewhere in the forum that describes how to add ink to a rollerball refill (I searched quickly but couldn't find it). However, I did find the following information in this thread:

 

"I'm currently using Pilot G2 gel refills on my 163. Those refills are shorter than the MB ones, and lack the threads near the point. I cut a cylindrical eraser spacer and put it into the bottom of the barrel to supply the additional refill length needed. As for the threads, they are not needed. The tip of the gel refills are secure in place and do not wiggle much. G2 gel refills cost 1/8 the price of a MB refill, last longer and you can leave your pen uncapped all the time if you want. Btw, this works for me, but it is not canon. I have to say that I hated my 163 (the money I spent on it) and it stayed boxed away until I started using Pilot G2 refills with it. Now? It is 20 inches from my hand at this very moment."

[fravin]

Not the 149. The 146 and 144 have been available in bordeaux. Maybe even the 145 too, I'm not certain about that one

And the 147 too!

[fravin]

My big question here is why does the Legrand only come in black and blue refills and no other like their ballpoint refills.

 

Probably the right answer will be Marketing Purposes. When you decide to sell such a luxury product, you must start by looking inside the consumers are looking for. And then you could move ahead, designing the product itself, their box, the way it will be offered, the advertising campaing...

 

There are so many features involved than one product cannot be ruled by only single person, but by a chain of marketing professionals. Maybe the decision to offer only blue and black as refills can be one of these features hidden in the product lineup.

 

The only objective suitable for marketing purposes is not to sell, but to develop desire in the audience. That's why Ferrari's car that best sell is red, Mercedes is black, Audi is white...........

[_Stormin_]

And maybe they realize that a majority of people buying an MB ballpoint want nothing to do with writing experience, and everything to do with the MB status symbol. Those people don't give a damn about colors beyond blue or black in refill options. The costs of manufacturing, packaging, shipping, and stocking a third/fourth/fifth color, obviously don't get overtaken by the potential increase in revenue that their people must view additional colors generating. Remember, they pay to research viability and they have no aversion to making money... If something this simply doesn't exist, they've probably done their homework.

[Matlock]

And maybe they realize that a majority of people buying an MB ballpoint want nothing to do with writing experience, and everything to do with the MB status symbol. Those people don't give a damn about colors beyond blue or black in refill options. The costs of manufacturing, packaging, shipping, and stocking a third/fourth/fifth color, obviously don't get overtaken by the potential increase in revenue that their people must view additional colors generating. Remember, they pay to research viability and they have no aversion to making money... If something this simply doesn't exist, they've probably done their homework.

 

Very true. My father-in-law, who worked for the Bank of England, bought both his daughters and his wife Mont Blanc Classique ballpoint pens. To my knowledge, none has ever been used. My wife uses a Parker Sonnet, no contest.

I do use my Mont Blanc 149, 147 and 144 but I have never even considered a MB ballpoint.

[Albinoni]

I've got a both the Legrand 146 fountain pen and also the rollerball and even myself hardly ever touch or use the Rollerball yet alone the fountain pen, most of my everyday writing pens are mainly fountain and are Pelikan or recently I've been using my beautiful Parker Vacumatic which I just simply love and for the Pelikans either my M600 or my 400nn.