Hello guys/gals,

I'm getting my 1st mont blanc (and it's a 149...YAY) and it's a used one. The things is i'm buying from a non-collector and he's not sure if it's a Medium or Broad nib. The numbers on the nib are 4810/18k/750. I don't think it's a fake. He sounds like a retiree over the phone and i'm going to his house to check out the pen. So my question is, how do i find out if it's a medium or broad nib? Any other precautions I should take?

Thanks in advance guys/gals.

May not help a whole lot unless you've got a nib(s) to compare, but here is a pic of my Broad-nib 149 (L) and my Medium-nib (R ). You've probably not got much to worry about if your are going to check out the pen in person, but I'd make sure the pen filled with ink and the nib wrote rather smoothly

Good luck, Eric

Click to view attachment

Why do some nibs show 18C and some 18K? Thanks.

18C denotes 18 carat gold in the traditional parlance. Today most, non-UK made, pens are marked 18K.

This means the same as the 750 mark. Seven hundred and fifty is the parts per thousand of gold in the alloy, 18 carat is 3/4 gold or 750/1000 parts.

I'm sure one of our vintage MB collectors can tell you the exact date that MB switched from C to K. Just wait a day or so...

Thanks. Really appreciate the comments so far. I'm going to check out the pen tomorrow morning. Wish me luck. Hope it's not a lemon.

What a great day today! So I left my apartment at 9am to go check out the Montblanc 149. It was pouring this morning but thankfully it was really easy to find the house. When I got there, I found the pen on the dining table with all the paperwork, box and some paper for me to test it. I spent about 30 mins checking out the pen, making sure the nib was good, that it wrote smoothly and most importantly, that it wasn't a fake.

I had a really good feeling about the whole transaction. He is a retiree and we talked a bit about the pens he's used and the one pen that frequently comes up is the Parker 51. According to him, he got the Montblanc as a gift back in 1996 and has never really used it because of his p51. Good for me I guess.

So I got home and flushed out all the old ink in the pen and put in some Noodler's Heart of Darkness. Wow, this pen writes like butter, smooth honey butter. I'm not an expert but I really enjoy writing with this pen. It just flows and flows. I just started getting into fountain pens 2 or 3 weeks ago and I can't believe my luck.

Btw, there's one question. In the paperwork, the nib is 10577 (BB nib) but there's a small sticker on the box that says 10576 (B nib). Would someone be able to identify it on this pic? Thanks

It's hard to tell, but I think it's a B rather than a BB. Pens, papers and boxes can easily get switched around by dealers...

Beautiful nib. I have always wanted to get a user-grade MB 149.


purpledog

Thanks for the id, Kalessin. Btw, it's nice to see New England represented here. I'm in cambridge.

btw, this might be a stupid question but what do you mean by user-grade, purple-dog. What other grades are there?

Congrats on a good pen buy. Not only is it your first 149, but you got it in a most pleasant way. You will always have a good story to tell.

With the price of MB pens at today's heights, I bought almost all of my MB pens used. "User grade" just means that it is a used pen with signs of useage, as contrasted with a pen new in the box.

I am discouraged that MB does not imprint the nib point size on their nibs. Each nib is a little different from any other, even in the same point size. You almost have to try the individual pen to see if it suits you. I am glad to hear that yours does suit you.

CONGRATULATIONS on your 149 Its the best pen ever..!!

It's always good to hear a happy story hehe.. may you enjoy it in great health.

Thanks for the encouragement! It was the perfect way to get such a lovely pen.

For a long time, i've associated a brand like Montblanc with the likes of Bose, overpriced, over-rated brands. Although I'm a classical musician, I'm pretty much a t-shirt and berms kind of guy. I probably won't be taken seriously if I walked into a Montblanc boutique. So to get it this way was a pretty special experience.

Is the MB149 a good value? Maybe not, especially at MSRP. But it is still a quality pen because it functions well. I think we tend to confuse value (price-to-performance ratio) with quality (ability to function at a high level). For example, if you get a free MB149 and a free Bose QC headphone, the montblanc is quality but the bose is still not. (Sorry bose fans, but you can't compare to Sennheiser, Grado, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, Shure etc )

I will be apart from my MB149 for 3 days =(

BUT I hope to do a MB149, Duofold and Man 100/200 death-match when I get back. Sheesh, this hobby is crazy. How do you people stay sober.

congrats on your 149.

nabwong wrote:

" ... Sheesh, this hobby is crazy. How do you people stay sober."

Sobriety is not an issue. Sanity is. How do we stay sane? Ha!

Frank,

I would respectfully disagree.....sobriety certainly not an issue, sanity is also not an an issue...

How to remain SOLVENT is the issue!!!!

I made need to get a second mortgage

Rick

talkinghead,

Repeat after me:

"My name is talkinghead and I am a penoholic. 'LE' does *not* stand for Limited Edition. It stands for...Limited Equity."

We pronounce you...Recovering.

--BAM