Is a 149 the same as a Diplomat?

Thanks

Harv

Yes, Diplomat is just the older name (I know it was called the Diplomat for awhile. Now it is just the 149). Don't confuse it with the brand Diplomat.

Montblanc Meisterstück 149 aka Diplomat
Montblanc Meisterstück 146 aka Le grand
Montblanc Meisterstück 145 aka Chopin
Montblanc Meisterstück 144 aka Kleine Meisterstück
Montblanc Meisterstück 114 aka Mozart

Oh is the Mozart the 114? Damn I kept getting it mixed up with the 144...thanks for the clear-up, Pilgrim!

Now I am confused. I thought the 149 was the old name, and MB is now using proper names like Diplomat.

Fred

Or Classique?

Fred

Funny I also thought the Mozart was the 144

I just quote from this site

And, Fred, like it was stated Montblanc and Diplomat have nothing in common.

Just to confuse things, I believe the 146 was referred to as the "Classic" when it was reintroduced to the the US market in the 1970's. I think I'll stick with the model numbers for this series...

The Mozart range of fountain pens are defenitely 114's. Got an official MB reference book here which gives all the production model numbers. Very handy for sorting out the various models and what numbers apply to what.

My brain is starting to hurt. MB should just stick to the numbers. When I was at a boutique, one person had no idea what pen I was referring to when I was using the numbers, like 145, 146, etc. I guess MB is trying to make the new naming stick.

We can probably (as usual) blame marketing... Names on products evoke feelings for the product based on the names, and MB marketing appears to like 'em as impressively named as possible.

Somehow, I think that the number indicates the size of the Meisterstuck in mm. Obviously, the Mozart is 114, not 144

The model numbers are based on a system that Montblanc started using in the mid-1930s.

Originally, the first digit stood for the line of the pen (1=Meisterstuck highest quality, 3=economy line), the second digit for the filling system or model shape (4=piston filler with round ends, replaced 3= previous piston filler with squared-off ends), and the third digit for the size of the nib, which influenced the size of the overall pen (9=#9 nib size on the pre-1930 safety pens)

If you visit the websites mentioned in pages in the reference thread that's pinned to the top of the forum, you'll see a listing of all these model numbers, and other sites have pictures of many of these vintage models.
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=46957