Help With Identification And Authentication Of Montblanc 146

[ALeonardoA]

Hello Montblancers,

 

I am wondering if someone could help me identify the time period and authenticate this Montblanc 146 pen I have. It was given to me by my father and I am under the assumption that he purchased it sometime in the 1970s or 1980s possibly. I notice that there is no "Germany" imprint or serial number on the clip washer or anywhere else that I can see so far. Did Montblanc ever make pens without any imprint on the exterior at any point? I have not opened the pen to see the plunger mechanism to see if there is anything stamped or imprinted internally. The nib seems legitimate and has a 14C (not 14K?) stamp as well as "Montblanc" and what seems like the number 585 below it, in addition to the large 4810 number. Also as you can see the reservoir window is slotted as opposed to completely clear. It seems like an authentic pen to me and I have perused some of the posts on the website about various production eras but I thought I might get some input from the FPN community. Hope I didn't go overboard with the pictures. Thank you kindly!

 

Sincerely,

 

ALA

[Zdenek]

Not an expert but nib stamping looks strange.

[ALeonardoA]

Hello Zdenek,

 

It could be the quality of the picture and reflections/distortion that make the nib look a little funky, otherwise I'm not sure as I'm the furthest thing from an expert. The nib looks like the one from this post except it has 14C instead of 14K and that particular pen doesn't have the slotted reservoir window like mine. Looking through the pen with a strong light behind it I do see the reddish hue from the resin, which if I am correct is one indicator of it being authentic? Anyways, thank you for the response.

 

ALA

[Zdenek]

You are right. In the reference you provided I can see that the nibs were not decorated as today. My sorry for rash judgement.

[Chrissy]

It's authentic because it's a 146 piston filling pen with an ink window in the barrel. There are no fakes that are made in exactly this way.

 

There is a slightly older 146 version that has a monotone gold nib, but it isn't stamped in exactly the same way as the later 2-tone nibs. There is also the possibility, that your nib was originally 2-tone but that the rhodium plating has been cleaned off or has worn off.

[Nathanb]

^^ as per the above

[ALeonardoA]

Thank you members, I appreciate the input. Any ideas as to the time period or even the year of the pen? By your responses then, the question as to whether Montblanc ever made pens without any "Germany" imprint or any imprint at all (on the exterior at least) would be confirmed. Seems curious that they would do this. Thank you.

 

ALA

[Chrissy]

If you look at the pinned threads about dating your Montblanc pens you may be able to learn more about it's age.

[ALeonardoA]

Thanks Chrissy, I'll take a gander.

 

ALA

[GardenWeasel]

Beautiful pen. Love that nib size for a Montblanc. Bet it is a joy to write with!

[ALeonardoA]

Hello Garden Weasel,

 

I must say there is something appealing about these older Montblanc pens, I can't quite put my finger on it, no pun intended. Maybe it's the idea that it's not brand spanking new and shiny so it's OK to use now, as silly as that sounds. My father must have kept some ink in there for a long time, because when I received it the ink had gummed up a bit and left some tiny sediments and the ink flow was skipping when I tried writing with it. I checked the ink bottle he used with it and it says West Germany on it, just to give you an idea. I had to thoroughly flush the pen repeatedly with warm distilled water and polish and clean the nib and now its spick and span. I find the 146 to be the perfect size for me, very practical. Saluti!

Edited January 17, 2016 by ALeonardoA

[GardenWeasel]

Much congratulations!

[ALeonardoA]

I've spent a good amount of time looking at various threads and articles in the hopes of dating my pen but I haven't had much luck. The fact that it has no Germany or West Germany imprint could be an indicator but I can't find anything on when Montblanc started putting those imprints on their pens. Apparently the combination of slotted reservoir window and monotone 14C gold nib plus no imprint at all seems to be an unusual one as I have not found a pen so far like this though entirely possible I've missed it. I doesn't seem like the nib could have been a two-tone that lost its rhodium finish as suggested, at least I see no indication of this and I know that my father did not use this pen very much at all and because of this chances are he never had it serviced, though I can't be 100% sure. Any information from the FPN community and Montblanc experts would be appreciated. I'm not too worried about the date as I love the pen regardless and am confident that it is authentic, but it would be very interesting for me to know. Thank you very much!

[CS388]

Very nice. I have the same pen, now that it has just returned from a service.

 

No, that nib hasn't lost any plating. It's always been like that - and they are excellent nibs. Mine has been used daily for many years and the boutique manager said it was in pristine condition. True workhorses!

 

As far as I can gather, these monotone nibs would have originally come on a 146 with a blue or grey (unstriped) ink window. The piston threads may have been black, instead of brass and the body of the pen was slightly smaller than a modern 146.

You say that the pen is unlikely to have been serviced?

In such cases, you may have a transitional example - ie. the older style nib in the newer style body.

The tricky aspect of this is the unmarked clip (mine is marked W GERMANY). I have some older Meisterstucks with unmarked clips, but that would clash (date-wise) with your modern body?

 

As such, the pen is hard to date accurately - but the nib can be comfortably put in the 1970's/1980's period.

 

They are wonderful pens to use and I hope you get many happy years from it.

 

Enjoy.

[ALeonardoA]

Thank you for the information CS388,

 

Might I ask you how much you paid to have it serviced? I'm thinking of going to the boutique closest to where I live and asking them to service it. It's good to know the boutiques will still service these older pens.

 

I figured the same in regards to what you said about the ink windows on the 146. My guess is that my father had not serviced the pen. I don't think he would have since he really did not use this pen very much. My guess is he bought it, used it a handful of times and then let it sit in the box, as he did with other things like watches etc. but anything is possible of course.

 

I would imagine that between the possibility of part changes, being sold with an older nib, maybe even a clip repacement or anything in between it's going to be next to impossible to date it. I just wanted to see if someone knew of one in existence that had these distinguishing features of slotted ink window, no country imprint, and monotone 14C nib. I asked my mother, who's memory is not the best these days (then again neither is mine) about it and she says it was either purchased in 1977 or 1980 in Rome. Possibly sometime in between? Anyways, thanks again.

[CS388]

Hi ALeonardoA

 

I'm in the UK and my service was £63 - but I had a lot of parts replaced and it was a Level 2 service.

A basic service (Level 1) is £44, in the UK.

 

But, from looking at your pictures and reading of your experience, I'd say that it doesn't look like it needs a service? If it had old ink inside it, that can take a lo-ong time to get rid of. Much longer than we think, soaking and flushing, again and again. Or, you could try one of the commercial pen cleaning/flushing solutions (sorry, no personal experience of these, so can't point you to one - but other members report good results from them).

I'd also try another ink - rather than your father's old bottle (if you haven't done so already?)

In short, unless your pen has cracks, or leaks, or some major malfunction - I really wouldn't bother sending it off for service, just yet. Once you get it running smoothly, it should continue to do so for many years, without issues.

 

I appreciate that if your father seldom used it, it's unlikely he had it serviced. But, other things can happen. It might have been stood on, or dropped, or crushed etc, necessitating a service and therefore getting a modern body? Just guessing, here.

 

Good luck.

[ALeonardoA]

I definitely flushed it repeatedly with warm distilled water until what came out was completely clear. It does look pretty clean inside but I'll do it once more just for good measure. I definitely wouldn't use my father's old West German ink, I just get a kick out of the bottle and the fact that it's almost full. Once I'm done restoring my dad's Parker 51 I'll take the 146 for a test drive. Thanks for your help CS388!

[FredRydr]

Nice pen! Many of us want to see the feed and the threads for the knob. Details details details.

 

Fred

[ALeonardoA]

Thanks FredRydr, as per your request:

 

Edited January 20, 2016 by ALeonardoA

[FredRydr]

I meant the piston filler's knob, not the cap. Was the original feed replaced with your plastic feed at some point?

 

Fred