For Those Who Hate Montblanc....why? Just Curious...

[max dog]

 

But Sailors are second to none. If Mont Blanc have a mixed reputation among the fountain pen cognoscenti (such as FPNers), that doesn't seem to be the case for Sailor. You'd have to do some searching to find anything negative said about them. I am reminded of this video…

 

Montblanc fountain pen failed - Pelikan M800 to the rescue.flv

 

Caption: During the inauguration of Japanese minister Kensaku Morita on April 6th, 2009 the fine writing instrument failed. The former Minister Akiko Domoto spontaneously offered her Pelikan Souverän M800 to her successor and the documents could be signed without further delays...

 

And when I saw this, what flitted through my mind was: Why are they even using German pens? Japan is home to Pilot and Sailor, to say nothing of Nakaya!

It's interesting Japanese minister Kensaku Morita prefers the 149 to a Sailor KOP or 1911....and former Minister Akiko Domoto spontaneously offers up a Pelkan and not a Sailor.....It's hard not to ignore the notion that perhaps there is a very, very, very remote chance Sailor aspires to be Montblanc.....

 

Among the Japanese elite, it seems Sailor is second to none (Montblanc and Pelikan)

Edited January 19, 2018 by max dog

[Bluey]

 

But Sailors are second to none. If Mont Blanc have a mixed reputation among the fountain pen cognoscenti (such as FPNers), that doesn't seem to be the case for Sailor. You'd have to do some searching to find anything negative said about them. I am reminded of this video…

 

Montblanc fountain pen failed - Pelikan M800 to the rescue.flv

 

Caption: During the inauguration of Japanese minister Kensaku Morita on April 6th, 2009 the fine writing instrument failed. The former Minister Akiko Domoto spontaneously offered her Pelikan Souverän M800 to her successor and the documents could be signed without further delays...

 

And when I saw this, what flitted through my mind was: Why are they even using German pens? Japan is home to Pilot and Sailor, to say nothing of Nakaya!

LOL. Looks like the MB had a case of babys bottom there. One wonders if the video cut out where the Pelikan failed to write too.

I too find it amusing and also puzzling that they would stoop to using a Montblanc or a Pelikan when they have the likes of Sailor or Pilot on their doorstep. It's a bit like the Queen(ie Queen Elizabeth II) opting to travel by a luxury tuk tuk rather than a Rolls Royce.

Edited January 19, 2018 by Bluey

[max dog]

LOL. Looks like the MB had a case of babys bottom there. One wonders if the video cut out where the Pelikan failed to write too.

 

[ParkerDuofold]

But Sailors are second to none... ...You'd have to do some searching to find anything negative said about them...

Hi Tony,

 

Well... look no further.

 

I had a 1911 with the 21k nib and sold it... I didn't care for it at all.

 

Mine had a scratchy medium or broad nib, (I don't recall which, now), and despite it's "Large" designation, I thought it was still on the smallish side. To be comfortable, I had to post it, but then again, I have to post a lot of my pens because I have larger hands with long fingers.

 

But it was the nib that was the real deal-breaker. I bought it new, from a Japanese seller, (with an outstanding FB profile). I would like to think my pen was an unfortunate exception, but it still left such a bad taste in my mouth, it put me off of Sailor pens.

 

Conversely, I cannot recall ever having a bad nib experience with a Pilot... so for Japanese pens... I typically choose Pilot, followed by Platinum.

 

 

- Anthony

[pajaro]

Hi Tony,

 

Well... look no further.

 

I had a 1911 with the 21k nib and sold it... I didn't care for it at all.

 

Mine had a scratchy medium or broad nib, (I don't recall which, now), and despite it's "Large" designation, I thought it was still on the smallish side. To be comfortable, I had to post it, but then again, I have to post a lot of my pens because I have larger hands with long fingers.

 

But it was the nib that was the real deal-breaker. I bought it new, from a Japanese seller, (with an outstanding FB profile). I would like to think my pen was an unfortunate exception, but it still left such a bad taste in my mouth, it put me off of Sailor pens.

 

Conversely, I cannot recall ever having a bad nib experience with a Pilot... so for Japanese pens... I typically choose Pilot, followed by Platinum.

 

 

- Anthony

 

+1 for Sailor. M nib too sticky. A lot of the Japanese pens appear to me to be Meisterstuck look-alikes. I suppose there are only so many ways to build a pen with a cigar profile, though.

Edited January 19, 2018 by pajaro

[Bo Bo Olson]

The 21 K Sailor nib as as a I read, a reputation as mushy. Read that a number of times.***...but I don't know. Myths get circulated here still many years after destruction of myth.

 

***There's not a whole army of folks using 21 K nibs....Sailor or not. None that I can recall rushed to the defense of the 21 K nib...outside of some saying it was soft....

Edited January 19, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[ParkerDuofold]

+1 for Sailor. M nib too sticky. A lot of the Japanese pens appear to me to be Meisterstuck look-alikes...

Hi Pajaro,

 

Yup... and yeah, they do.

 

 

 

The 21 K Sailor nib as as a I read, a reputation as mushy. Read that a number of times.***...but I don't know. Myths get circulated here still many years after destruction of myth.

 

***There's not a whole army of folks using 21 K nibs....Sailor or not. None that I can recall rushed to the defense of the 21 K nib...outside of some saying it was soft....

Hi BoBo,

 

I wouldn't say my 1911 had a "mushy" nib; in fact, IIRC, I'd say it was the opposite... firm... which actually struck me a little odd for a 21k nib.

 

But as you say,... my experience with 21k nibs is limited to only 3 or 4... which isn't much.

 

 

- Anthony

[AL01]

 

But Sailors are second to none. If Mont Blanc have a mixed reputation among the fountain pen cognoscenti (such as FPNers), that doesn't seem to be the case for Sailor. You'd have to do some searching to find anything negative said about them. I am reminded of this video…

 

Montblanc fountain pen failed - Pelikan M800 to the rescue.flv

 

Caption: During the inauguration of Japanese minister Kensaku Morita on April 6th, 2009 the fine writing instrument failed. The former Minister Akiko Domoto spontaneously offered her Pelikan Souverän M800 to her successor and the documents could be signed without further delays...

 

And when I saw this, what flitted through my mind was: Why are they even using German pens? Japan is home to Pilot and Sailor, to say nothing of Nakaya!

 

You're very right.

 

Like I said, I have not used a Sailor before, so I can be entirely wrong.

 

But I think a pen should have , a) a good nib, a good design, and c) it should be made out of a comfortable material.

 

I can say with confidence, however, that Sailor has failed the second of my personal requirements.

 

But then again....

 

Montblanc probably makes more pens than Sailor.

 

And you know how mass production works...

 

Thanks!

 

- Al.

 

EDIT: I would like to add that I hope I am not gathering hate for Sailor.

 

I cannot hate a pen/ pen company if I haven't used their pens....

 

I am criticizing Sailor's design, not their nibs....

Edited January 19, 2018 by AL01

[max dog]

Conversely, I cannot recall ever having a bad nib experience with a Pilot... so for Japanese pens... I typically choose Pilot, followed by Platinum.

 

 

- Anthony

I like Pilot a lot. They have some unique original designs like the Vanishing Point, M90, Falcon, E95S to name a few and their soft nibs are great.

[marcelo]

All acoustic pianos are luxury regardless of brand when compared to a Casio or yamaha electronic piano.

I thought acoustic pianos sound - for an average good listener - completely different from electric ones...

[ParkerDuofold]

I like Pilot a lot. They have some unique original designs like the Vanishing Point, M90, Falcon, E95S to name a few and their soft nibs are great.

Thanks, MD,

 

Check and Double-Check.

 

 

- Anthony

[AL01]

I thought acoustic pianos sound - for an average good listener - completely different from electric ones...

 

Ya dang right.

 

+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1

[Inkyways]

 

I agree with that 100000000000000000000000000000000%.

 

But there is a difference between a homage and "imitation"...

 

I love Sheaffer, but the design of the 149 takes cues from the Balance, but gives it it's own unique and distinct character.

 

The 1911, not so much.

 

Maybe the nib saves Sailor.

 

Jus' maybe...

 

(ButIdunno...)

 

sheaffer-balance-oversize-black-gold-fountain-pen-c-1930-s-14kt-nib-usa-658f78bce7fd8714e406bda32ec7f575.jpg

 

montblanc_149.jpg

 

sailor-1911-full-size-black-gold-uncapped.jpg

 

Agree on all points !

[meloizias]

I have had a mixed experience with MB. I was re-introduced to the world of fountain pens with the Mont blanc meinstruck classique with the 14K gold medium knib(having previously used cheap Parker fountain pens all through schooling).

My pen collection has now greatly expanded to include pens from cheap Parker to expensive limited edition visconti (which are purely a showpiece and will very unlikely have ink in it ... from my hand anyway).

The meinstruck classique for me is the hands down best fountain pen i have written with. It's smoothness, perfect ink flow and comfortable in hand. I never have any problems with scratching, hard starting or skipping and it is a pleasure to write with which is why I have gravitated back to using it as one of my every day use rotation pens. My only minor grumble is the lacquer engraving has to be re-done every few weeks as it gold / yellow colouring rubs of with the heavy day to day use...but that is minor.

However on a totally flip side I brought myself a meinstruck le grand blue hour as a present to myself. And not being a cheap pen and off the back of my pleasure with the classique I had high expectations for it...however after sending it back to mont blanc 3 times on warranty then being given a brand new replacement and 2 further repairs/tweaks by Mr Sorowski... I finally managed to get some semblance of use out of it...almost a year later. However the writing characteristics of it, for a pen of that price and "prestige" are not great. It has a tendency of hard starting even with wet inks albeit it is manageable now although not perfect... but im too scared of having the knib tinkered with anywhere further. On further review with other pens in my collection, I came to the thought that this could potentially be to the metallic composition of the knib though. I have found that the 14K knibs write better / have better ink flow than the 18K knibs, I'm assuming this could be due to the surface tension properties between the ink and the different gold allows, however this is merely my basic observation.

Edited April 20, 2018 by meloizias

[max dog]

However on a totally flip side I brought myself a meinstruck le grand blue hour as a present to myself. And not being a cheap pen and off the back of my pleasure with the classique I had high expectations for it...however after sending it back to mont blanc 3 times on warranty then being given a brand new replacement and 2 further repairs/tweaks by Mr Sorowski... I finally managed to get some semblance of use out of it...almost a year later. However the writing characteristics of it, for a pen of that price and "prestige" are not great. It has a tendency of hard starting even with wet inks albeit it is manageable now although not perfect... but im too scared of having the knib tinkered with anywhere further. On further review with other pens in my collection, I came to the thought that this could potentially be to the metallic composition of the knib though. I have found that the 14K knibs write better / have better ink flow than the 18K knibs, I'm assuming this could be due to the surface tension properties between the ink and the different gold allows, however this is merely my basic observation.

Fountain pens can really suck sometimes when you have a problematic one that is difficult to resolve short of a good nibmeister's attention. It's not a Montblanc thing, but rather one of the drawbacks of fountain pens in general as nibs are by nature very delicate and can be very tempermental sometimes if you have the misfortune of getting one that is not perfect. If you browse through the FPN, these kind of frustrations with problematic pens can happen with any brand.

Edited April 20, 2018 by max dog

[meloizias]

Agreed, its also part of the fun of having a fountain pen... being able to tweak it to your requirement. However the blue hour went back to the factory multiple times and then they gave me a totally new pen off the shelf following my frustration. Even then it took literally almost a year... I fear it has put me off MBs... though I did buy the mrs a Marilyn Monroe edition fine FP and it works beautifully as well...she uses it every day.

[max dog]

That must have been pretty frustrating. I had a 146 Bordeaux that went to MB repair for an overhaul because it leaked a few years ago. It came back repaired and they also went and replaced the feeder and other internals as part of their overhaul service. Unfortunately the nib was not as smooth as before (went out of tune when they replaced the feed), and it went back a number of times. And it was frustrating indeed. It's too bad the major fountain pen brands don't employ highly trained nibmeisters in the repair centers full time who can properly repair/tune nibs. The fountain pen niche market just is not big enough yet for the pen companies to make economic sense to do that which is a shame.

Edited April 20, 2018 by max dog

[pajaro]

The meinstruck classique for me is the hands down best fountain pen i have written with. It's smoothness, perfect ink flow and comfortable in hand. I never have any problems with scratching, hard starting or skipping and it is a pleasure to write with which is why I have gravitated back to using it as one of my every day use rotation pens. My only minor grumble is the lacquer engraving has to be re-done every few weeks as it gold / yellow colouring rubs of with the heavy day to day use...but that is minor.

 

 

 

I agree with this, if this includes the 144. I have them in extra fine, fine, medium and stub. The only pen that I have liked as much is the Parker 51. The 144 is very easy to handle, and it is a simple pen of quality. Little to go wrong and easy to enjoy.

[mabuckit]

I used to not like Montblanc but then I held one at a pen show. Holding them in person really changed my mind on them, now I want one. They just feel good.