Montblanc Red Gold 149 Obbb

[Ghost Plane]

 

Happy Year of the Rooster!

鸡年快乐!

Opened this thread at 5AM my time and thought I was hallucinating before breaking into whoops of laughter that probably woke the neighbors!

[zaddick]

OK folks, here it is... the hard to find 3B nib on a 149. Below is a writing sample. For scale, that is an entire sheet of US Letter size (8.5 x 11 inches) paper turned to landscape orientation.

 

 

A close up of the nib next to the no pressure (top) and some pressure (bottom) squiggles. The no pressure vertical line is about 1.6 to 1.7 MM and with pressure, around 2.1 to 2.2 MM. (I am eyeballing it with a clear ruller that has MM marks.)

 

Edited February 13, 2017 by zaddick

[Grzgrz]

Congratulations on a great pen. I really like the nib. I can not stop watching these pictures. Oh my ...

[meiers]

Very nice. Thanks for the visual treat.

Is that MB midnight blue fueling your 149?

Edited February 13, 2017 by meiers

[zaddick]

Very nice. Thanks for the visual treat.

Is that MB midnight blue fueling your 149?

 

I honestly don't know the color. I bought siome used MB ink a while ago and what you see is the color from the Turquoise bottle, but it is clearly not Turquoise. I also have some of the old blue-black and it is not that color either. It is almost like a concentrated Turquoise or a medium blue. It does not look like Royal Blue. It kind of reminde me of the old Diamond Blue, but less green.

 

So a long way to say I don't know but I find the color pleasing.

[Ghost Plane]

Happy sigh...

[meiers]

It looks absolutely spectacular.

[empliau]

Zaddick, you have achieved my MB dream. I am happy for you. If you should see another of those beauties in your travels, think of me ... I'll take it.

 

Use that magnificent beast, that tremendous machine, in good health!

[mhsvz]

 

Montblanc Red Gold 149 OBBB

~ Writing with two Montblanc 149 OBBB nibs throughout 2016 was a deeply fulfilling experience after years of having strictly written with EF nibs.

 

With passing time, the notion of a permanent rotation of OBBB nibs became appealing, such that at all times one OBBB might be inked, ready to write.

 

The initial yellow gold OBBB was followed by a platinum OBBB, both of which were comfortable to handle for a wide variety of writing tasks, both specialized and general.

 

Accordingly, a red gold 149 OBBB was ordered on 1 November. It arrived eight weeks later on 26 December, with a bottle of Montblanc William Shakespeare Velvet Red Ink.

 

The photographs which follow illustrate the unwrapping of the red gold OBBB, various pen details and a handwriting sample.

 

To my great surprise, the red gold 149 OBBB is the smoothest writing fountain pen I’ve ever used, producing crisp clear lines with minimal effort.

 

It’s a joy to use, thanks to Montblanc nib craftsmanship. As OBBBs are my daily writers, the red gold OBBB is an especially welcome addition.

 

Special appreciation is owed to Ghost Plane for her stalwart promotion of the broadest nibs, as well as for her cookies.

 

Additional gratitude is due to Pravda who has developed my understanding of the value of special handling and care of fine writing instruments.

 

In Montblanc’s China World Trade Center boutique in Beijing sales specialist and new father LIU Yang (刘洋), ‘Johnny’, has skillfully arranged all details of the nib exchanges for all three OBBB pens. Heartfelt thanks to him and to Montblanc China.

 

In a separate post comparison images of the red gold, yellow gold and platinum 149 OBBBs will by added with the hope that others might consider adding an OBBB to their fountain pen collections.

 

 

Unopened

Opened

Bubble-wrapped

Boxes

Authenticity

Details

Bag

Unveiled

Brand

Glisten

Oblique

Reverse

Logo

Nib

Together

Beautiful pen and photos - thank you for sharing.

[mhsvz]

 

 

Wow! After viewing all your wonderful images, I may very well purchase a 149 with OBBB nib in the near future. Masterpiece indeed.

[Tom Kellie]

[Ghost Plane]

I'm waiting for Tom to explain that his pockets on that vest are full of pens and ink bottles. *grin*

[meiers]

Tom, reading your posts is always a joyful experience.

Ghost Plane, I love your playfulness.

Edited February 26, 2017 by meiers

[Tom Kellie]

[zaddick]

Yes, and I have highlighted this option many times. The one trick is to send in a modern 149 because if you send in a vintage they will replace the barrel and feed and maybe cap. With a modern pen there is nothing to lose.

 

In fact you can buy a broken pen and send it in as long as the parts are there, or most of them. I know one restorer who takes parts off MB pens, reassembles pens from just broken parts and then sends that junk pen to MB for service, ie replacement. You wind up with a new pen, much like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

[Tom Kellie]

Yes, and I have highlighted this option many times. The one trick is to send in a modern 149 because if you send in a vintage they will replace the barrel and feed and maybe cap. With a modern pen there is nothing to lose.

 

In fact you can buy a broken pen and send it in as long as the parts are there, or most of them. I know one restorer who takes parts off MB pens, reassembles pens from just broken parts and then sends that junk pen to MB for service, ie replacement. You wind up with a new pen, much like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

 

 

~ zaddick:

 

Thank you so much for replying with such clear information.

May I please ask you one specific detail, to be very certain that I understand what you've outlined.

Does this mean that no “papers”, i.e. receipts or guarantees, are needed?

I ask this because when I exchanged the yellow gold 149 EF for an OBBB, the boutique staff asked to see the receipt and guarantee book.

They made clear that they were already well aware that it was far out of the six week free nib exchange period, as they'd sold that to me.

Perhaps it was pro forma, or mere fastidiousness...I don't know.

I'm asking you to double-confirm my understanding that as long as boutique staff ascertain that a 149 is authentic, it may be nib exchanged by paying the fee for an OBBB.

If that's indeed the case, then OBBBs are well within reach for those who find a new pen purchase problematic.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[zaddick]

Well, all my experiences with MB service are in the US. Other regions may enforce different rules so please keep that in mind.

 

In the US, if I am paying for service to replace a nib (level 3) outside the free exchange options, I do not need papers or any proof of purchase. What you cannot do is bring in pen x and ask for a nib from pen y or color z. For example, if I brought a 1980s 149 in for a swap I could not get a rose gold 90th nib nor a platinum. Or if I had a Schiller pen and for some reason wanted a Kafka nib, they will not do that. It needs to be like for like.

 

You can also bring in a pen without the nib and pay for one to be added in your desired size, as long as it could have been on the pen originally. You need a certain percent of the pen though. I am ot sure what it is, but I doubt if I brought just a barrel and a clip I could get that serviced into a usable pen. Clips break, nibs get mangled, caps get lost, but you have to have most of a pen to get it serviced. I have not tried to push it to see the limit of what works.

 

Interestingly to me, the service department needs a serial number. If your pen is earlier than the 1990s it will not really have one so they use a generic one for each model. Maybe they try to take fakes that way too?

 

I hope that helped Tom. If not, I am happy to clarify as desired.

[Tom Kellie]

Interestingly to me, the service department needs a serial number. If your pen is earlier than the 1990s it will not really have one so they use a generic one for each model. Maybe they try to take fakes that way too?

 

 

~ zaddick:

 

That's it.

You've identified what I experienced here.

It was indeed the serial number in which they were interested.

I'd forgotten that until I read your comment above. With the extremely high risk of fakes in this area, that's understandable.

From what you've kindly described in such detail, it's no clear that stumbling upon the remains of a pre-used contemporary Montblanc pen might be the beginning of enjoying a fine writing instrument.

Thank you so much, zaddick, as this information might inspire others to consider seeking purchasing nibs for otherwise unused or underused pens.

While I have OBBB nibs in mind, it applies just as well to the full range of nibs from EF up to the broader nibs.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

[Tom Kellie]

Intruder

Vanquish

Quills