The Queen vs the Princes.

I feel like this comparison is tearing up my pen family.
I love these 2 pens so dearly but due to few people asking me to make this review I decided to go along and even though this might cause some friction I am sure these 30 year old beauties will learn how to patch up any potential argument.

What can I say about the design of these pens I love it. The cigar shape is so known world wide and I think it’s the classiest design of any pen ever made.
There is something so respectful about these pens.

The 146 is a smaller size 149 or that’s what it looks like.
The 149 is longer and wider. Somehow the size of the 149 looks more right as if this is the optimal size of this design. The 146 looks great until you put it side by side next to the 149, somehow it looks skinny and small.
Don’t get me wrong the 146 isn’t a small pen, it’s a full size pen while the 149 is a true oversize pen.

The first pen I took out to test was the 146. There is something very familiar about it.
Every time I take this pen and use it it feels as if I never left it. It’s like an old friend welcoming you home. It is so comfortable and natural in the hand with perfect balance and light weight that it makes me want to use it more and more.

Taking the 149 on the hand has a very different feel to it. This pen feels like true royalty,
There is something very unique about this pen, every time I hold it in my hand it makes me smile and feel like I just walked in a 5 star hotel. The feeling hits me every time I hold this pen in the hand.
It is a fat pen (even though it does not feel as fat as the Delta Dolce Vita). But even though this pen is big it feels very good in the hand, it doesn’t feel as accessible as the easier going 146 but in its own regal way it is very comfortable and great to use. For a pen its size the 149 is light weight and also nicely balanced.

Both pens use the wonderful piston filler. What can I say that hasn’t been said about this filling mechanism? It’s simple, reliable and most of all fun to use. It hold a lot of ink and even though the 149 holds more ink it is obvious the 146 is not shy about its capacity that is more then enough for all your daily needs.

So I guess its time for the business end of this comparison.
The nibs look different. Both are 14k gold but the 146 is a single tone while the 149 is a two tone nib.
No doubt the 149 nib is one of the most beautifully designed nibs out there and its big, very big to be exact.
Next to it the 146 looks small and almost simple.
This time I used the 149 first. I really don’t use my 149 all that often and I really should, this pen is a wonderful user and I tend to forget it. The nib has all the characteristics I think a nib should have, its wet, very smooth and wonderful feedback.
I kept writing with it and nothing short of joy filled my soul. I love fountain pens and how they make me feel and the 149 makes this experience ever so better.
There are no bad things I can say about this nib, I hardly touched the paper and it already leaves a wet gorgeous line with zero effort-true joy.

Well in this department the 146 is shining too. This pen as mentioned before feels so very familiar and natural and this motif continues with its nib. It just invites you to use it and in such a wonderful way. It is smooth, wet and very responsive.

These 2 nibs once you forget the size difference actually feel very similar, as much as I tried to find a difference I couldn’t. These are stiff nibs with very moderate flex to them.
I wish all my pens had such a great nib on them as these 2 pens do.

Conclusion

For those who know me this is a very hard part for me as I love these pens so dearly.

So here goes. The 146 is a pen that in a way is easier to handle in the hand, it feels like it is always ready and very eager to go and it does it with a lot of fun and grace.
The 149 feels a bit slower and more relaxed, there is nothing ordinary about using this pen and it makes you feel wonderful when you hold it and use it.

I’d say the difference between the two pens is like a Mercedes S550 while the 146 feels more like a smaller sports car.
Which car would you take to a drive down town? The heavier luxury Benz or a nimbler sport car?

If I had to choose one pen only I’d take the 149, the way this pen makes me feel is different then any other pen I have and that’s what fountain pen should do, it does what it does in a slower royal step and it is what I like so much about it.

Funny but which pen do I use more?
It’s the 146, its easier for me to use for quick notes like a shopping list and I wouldn’t loose as much tears if god forbid something would happened to it compared to the 149.

Confused?

I am too but that’s me. For those who consider getting one of these pens I hope my review helped a bit and the best advice I can give you is get both pens as they are so different and great in there own special way.

Owning three 149s and two 146s, the two models are both very good. My last 149 a 1977 model is one of my daily writers. I like it more than my 146 because it holds more ink but also I got used to it and the nib on the 149 has more feedback than the nib on the 146. Aside from that I have big hands also another reason why I favor the 149. However the 146 has many merits, it will fit people with small and average sized hands, it is reliable and has a very good nib that writes perfectly out of the box. I always like to write with my 149 because it is comfortable to write with and because it is an elegant pen.

You should work for MB. This more than anything else has made me seriously consider saving up to buy one.

Thanks you for this comparative review Amir. I understand that one was special for you, well let me tell you it was special for us. It was very passionately written and made for enjoyable reading.

As we discussed in the past I am not a fan of Montblanc but everytime you write about them with such enthusiasm I have to say it is almost tempting to save up for one!

We have to meet someday maybe the TPS (Toronto Pen Show) ?
I would be happy to let you try my pens and I would love to get my paws on that new Omas you are waiting for so eagerly and try it out

Ok please do not kill me.. or laugh hehe (I am laughing myself)

I still have not tried out 'either' of my two 149s, but I have been writing daily with my 146. It is two tone nib btw, yours is same tone maybe different year That is when the 146 convinced me that bottle fill inks and meisterstuck lines are way better than cartridge or starwalkers.. If you think that the 149 is even better well then I can't wait to give it a go..

In case you want to ask I am waiting to try my 149s on a nice occasion and am thinking that god willing this should be some time in September

Well once you try the 149 please do let me know how much you like it and how it compares to the 146.

Indeed my singel tone 146 is about 30 years old.I am well aware that the new 146 is a two tone nib but my guess is that they should write just as good as this older lady.

Amir... One of the best reviews ever! Thanks for doing this! I also like my 149 better than my 146"SP" but somehow I use my 146 more. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, except for me maybe its that when I use the 149, I want it to be "special". Like you said


Anyway... Great review, I really do appreciate your passion! Like xmattxyzx said... ... I would be sold (If I wasn't already)

Cheers!
Bryant

Thanks buddy for the kind words.

Funny but I really wouldnt mind working selling pens (especialy MB) but sadly it wouldnt pay my bills,maybe when I retire (in many more years).

You may have noticed that the MB 149's nib has very long tines. In fact I don't know any nib to compare in this rspect. Thus the Fine nib version is especially rewarding to write with.

I understand that the size of the MB 149 gave MB a chance to give the barrel thicker walls so that it is not as vulerable to breakage. Which is a big plus in the world of MB pens. It also has one of the biggest, if not the biggest, ink capacity of any pen available today.

At first glance the size diference between the MB 146 and MB 149 can be deceptive. Many people - even those behind the counter - mistake the silver or the vermeil version of the MB146 for a MB 149. the shiny metal pens just look bigger.

In fact MB decided that a silver MB149 would be unacceptably heavy in metal so they went for the MB 146 instead. Altough I believe there are some special 149s in metal.

Whatever prejudice one has about MB as a pen maker there is no misake that the 149, (as well as being just about the longest lived classic pen model) is one of the greatest pens ever made. I am sorry that it seems to attract a lot of hostility in the pen fraternity.

Solitaire.

Use them the minute you're able. Even I, the Visconti/Carene/YOL/Marlen/Krone lover, can't resist the stubbed feel of my 149's B nib. After my silver YOLs, the pen feels really light, but the size and proportions are perfection. And I have small hands!

I've seen longer tines on the Ancoras, but not by much...

Perhaps I should have also said - in extolling the MB 146 and 149 - that the sterling silver version with its gold clip and bands, is to my taste the most beautiful fountain pen in use today.
I am told it's no longer in production which is a shame.

I don't possess one - but at the right price it would desolve my determination not to buy any more pens.

Solitaire

great discussion, thank you. I've never even considered owning a MB. Somehow thought they were too - well, upper class?

unfortunately I am beginning to feel that little niggling thought at the base of my skull that says, "buy me something!"

aiiiiiiiiie, oh, the horror

Thanks for your review. Nice review. It was very useful to me.

I really want to get a 149! FPH won't ship to me though.
Must...find...way...

Got mine from Pengallery, but don't know how the exchange rates are running these days.

Your experience mirrors my own - two great pens with different "personalities".
My Meisterstucks are among the few models that remain perpetually in use.
Well done review!

Hello,

why won't FPH ship to you? Don't they ship to Canada?

No its funny but if you are not an existing customer they cant ship it due to MB restrictions.

A fantastic comparison, I am quite tempted to get a new 149, how much bigger is it then the grander roller ball?

An "existing customer" ?! I'm afraid I don't understand this one...

Me neither but thats what they told me.