When did MB begin carving "pix" under the clips of their pens? I have seen it on my modern MB pens, and have NOT seen it on the knock-offs.

Yet a friend has a MB that is maybe 20 years old which he got legit, and it is not present. Is this a newer practice to curtail fakes??

I'm not 100% sure when MB added Pix under the clip but I think it's been fairly recent (~ 10 years?) and designed to distinguish their authenticity from the fakes. I've got a mid 80s 146 at home that I can check and see if it's there. Something new that I noticed on my 147 that was made in May of 2007 is that it also has Pix on the middle cap band.

I have a mid 90s 149 and it's not the Pix under the clip. It's perfectly legit, bought in an official dealer.

Where is the "pix" located? I looked under the clip of my 146 (bought a few months ago in a MB boutique) and couldn't see anything. Clarify which part of the clip please.

I know of legit MB's bought at a boutique which do not carry the pix insignia... also a faker will eventually put it in... if they can put in something as complicated as "Meisterstück" I don’t see how adding the text "PIX" will possibly phase them! Instead, most likely ways to spot fakes are where it would cost the faker money, or at least substantial effort to make the fake look authentic; such as: inlaid nibs with elaborate cursives, brass threads, etc... all of which are not beyond a fakers reach, mind you, BUT, will come at a considerable cost and will cut substantially into their profit margin... and ironically, MB is cutting corners making it easy for fakes to look pretty authentic. I see brass threads are mostly gone now replaced by regular black plastic for the piston ends, some nibs are monotone with no inlays or cursives (though I am not an expert and perhaps these are not genuine? Can someone please comment?)

Having said that, I think the “PIX” addition is a recent one and I wouldn't necessarily associate it with authenticity... why MB started it, only their suits will know.

The Pix is located on the underside of the clip. It is small and may be hard to see without a loupe or magnifying glass.

I know that it's absence does not always negate the authenticity of the MB- As some have said, older MB's do not have it.

However i DO know that knock offs do not have this marking. I had the opportunity to inspect some knock offs from New York that were being sold for around 100 dollars, and aside from the engraing being much lighter, the twist mechanism being flimsier, and the serial numbers all being the same, they were missing the Pix engraving.