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585 Nib On A Vintage Montblanc Meisterstuck 146 Flexible Or No?


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I am looking at purchasing a vintage Montblanc Meisterstuck 146 with a 14kt-585-Fine nib flexible.? The nib has the 4810 engraved on the top. I can not tell from the pictures what number the pen body has engraved on it. This would be my first Montblanc pen and probably my only, as I am not often inclined to spend that kind of money on a production pen. This one however, is going for a decently reasonable price.

 

"You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling.” "Forever optimistic with a theme and purpose." "My other pen is oblique and dippy."

 

 

 

 

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There's no way to tell without trying it as far as i know, since some vintage nibs were also stiff.

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Vintage is also a broad enough term with the 146 that it could be from anywhere between the 1950s and the mid-90s. You're quite a bit less likely to get flexibility from a more recent pen, though that is no guarantee either way.

 

Fact is, with vintage pens, you have to try them yourself or take the seller's word for it. That's part of why it can be so valuable to buy from a dealer with a good reputation.

 

If the price is below $200 and it works, it's a fairly low risk. You won't have trouble flipping it if you don't love it.

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Vintage is also a broad enough term with the 146 that it could be from anywhere between the 1950s and the mid-90s. You're quite a bit less likely to get flexibility from a more recent pen, though that is no guarantee either way.

 

Fact is, with vintage pens, you have to try them yourself or take the seller's word for it. That's part of why it can be so valuable to buy from a dealer with a good reputation.

 

If the price is below $200 and it works, it's a fairly low risk. You won't have trouble flipping it if you don't love it.

I thought this might be the case. Very good advise. Thanks.

"You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling.” "Forever optimistic with a theme and purpose." "My other pen is oblique and dippy."

 

 

 

 

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Very broadly speaking, MB started generally stiffening up their nibs in the mid-late eighties as the number of customers who were brought up on using a ballpoint increased. That's not to say (as jsolares points out) that all nibs before that are flexible - some customers preferred a stiff nib. But you're more likely to find something flexible on an earlier pen because of 1) customer preference and 2) use over time will have softened a nib's stiffness.

"Truth can never be told, so as to be understood, and not be believ'd." (Wiiliam Blake)

 

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Really flexible nibs on Montblanc pens are more often found on the 3xx level student pens in my experience.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

My 1990s era 146 nib in 14k is not flexible.

 

But boy is it durable compared to the 18k nibs out there. They can take much more writing stress without getting sprung. In addition, you can have flex added to a 14k nib whereas nibmeisters will not usually offer that on 18k nibs.

 

Good luck!

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I am looking at purchasing a vintage Montblanc Meisterstuck 146....

 

 

When you write "vintage," do you mean pre-1960?

 

Fred

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I have a couple of 1950s 146. They are quite flexible to some extent (but not Waterman full flex), i.e. I can achieve obvious line variations with some pressure. It is difficult to tell just by the 146 nibs which are flexible. The 50s models are more likely to be flexible (to varying extents).

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The old timer trick is to push the nib to your thumbnail. If the area under your thumbnail turns white before the tipping starts to spread, then it's not going to be a flex nib, if it starts to spread before the bed of your nail turns white , it's possibly a flex or semi-flex nib (if right at white or immediately after, maybe springy/soft).

 

The reason for the thumbnail trick is because it doesn't take much pressure to cut off blood flow to the nail bed thus turning it white, and ideally you would not want to use any more pressure than for that to happen when actually writing with a flex/semi-flex nib.

Edited by KBeezie
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