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The Montblanc 149 90Th Anniversary Nib Material


icerock57

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This is more of a question being put to "fans".

 

My wife recently gave me a MB 149 90th Anniversary FP for my birthday; frankly, I believe it was mismarked due to the surprisingly low price for this out of production specialty pen, but no matter. The nib was an "F", which I gave a whirl, but since I preferred a larger nib and it was within the allotted timeframe, we had it returned to the MB factory for a "Medium" nib replacement after assurances were given that yes, it would be replaced with another special 90th anniversary nib.

 

It came back a couple weeks ago with a "90" nib that appears to be a medium and it writes much more smoothly than it previously did. My wife however, thinks the replacement nib is gold rather than rose-gold color she "recalls" the fine nib having. I disagree, but without a direct comparison it's difficult to see.

 

The question. Was the MB 149 90th anniversary nib only made in 18k rose-gold? Everything I've been able to find would indicate such but I haven't found a definitive statement/answer. Knowledgeable opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Dean

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The nib is yellow gold that was plated with rose gold. To my knowledge, no factory 149 with a 90th nib was released in just yellow gold - they were all plated. It is possible the hue of the rose gold may be different across the two nibs. The rose gold may look a bit like yellow when in isolation.

 

if you can post a photo I am sure I can tell you right away if there is a reason for concern.

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The 90th Anniversary nibs were all 18ct rose gold and the pens had rose gold plated accents, not yellow gold plated accents. :)

 

I never heard that the nibs started off as normal yellow gold and just had rose gold plating on top. It's not like rose gold is any more difficult to make than yellow gold. It just contain a higher copper content. They may have been made from rose gold and rose gold plated on top. That's common, as it intensifies the colour, but rose gold jewellery isn't made from yellow gold then just plated with rose gold on top. When you scrape them they aren't yellow underneath.

 

If your nib colour matches the clip and bands colour then it's fine. If your nib is yellow gold then it will show up as completely different to the clip and bands. You wouldn't need a side by side comparison of two pens to spot that difference. :)

 

I've seen pens where the clips are a different shade of yellow gold colour to the bands, and they are glaringly obvious :(

 

I once had to return a serviced 149 to Montblanc because the clip and bands came back different yellow gold colours. They replaced the whole cap.

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The nibs are yellow gold and plated. They occasionally chip and show yellow. If they were actually solid rose gold they would not chip. There was a thread about this here a few years ago and I know of another person to report the issue of chipping.

 

While I agree it is not technically more difficult to make rose gold, I think MB's preference to just have yellow gold blanks (stamped from a large coil) that are then plated as needed, either with rhodium for the trim (or whatever white metal they use) or platinum or rose gold.

If you want less blah, blah, blah and more pictures, follow me on Instagram!

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The nibs are yellow gold and plated. They occasionally chip and show yellow. If they were actually solid rose gold they would not chip. There was a thread about this here a few years ago and I know of another person to report the issue of chipping.

 

While I agree it is not technically more difficult to make rose gold, I think MB's preference to just have yellow gold blanks (stamped from a large coil) that are then plated as needed, either with rhodium for the trim (or whatever white metal they use) or platinum or rose gold.

 

If that's what Montblanc did and still do with platinised or rose gold nibs, then it's disappointingly cheap of them. :(

 

You can rub off plating with a silver polishing cloth. -_-

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Are there any nib manufacturers who use non-yellow gold alloys for their nib blanks when making white or rose gold-colored nibs?

-- Joel -- "I collect expensive and time-consuming hobbies."

 

INK (noun): A villainous compound of tannogallate of iron, gum-arabic and water,

chiefly used to facilitate the infection of idiocy and promote intellectual crime.

(from The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce)

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If that's what Montblanc did and still do with platinised or rose gold nibs, then it's disappointingly cheap of them. :(

 

You can rub off plating with a silver polishing cloth. -_-

No argument from me on either of those points!

 

There are also images of the rose gold flaking off the 75th anniversary LE pens. The SE pens had the same nib design but in yellow gold.

 

I hope people are not using polish cloths on their nibs unless that are straight yellow gold. The nibs can take some polishing but each time is a little less plating left.

If you want less blah, blah, blah and more pictures, follow me on Instagram!

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I hope people are not using polish cloths on their nibs unless that are straight yellow gold. T

 

Or metal glo.

Hard times don't last, but hard people do.

 

Thank a Veteran.

 

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Normal red gold 149's seem to be more resistant to being flaked off. I personally have one and I could not find any reports of such elsewhere on the net- most of the reports relate to early limited edition models. Perhaps they have finally improved/perfected their plating skills?

 

Nibsmith has said on a number of occasions that Aurora 88 rose gold is solid rose gold, not plated. I would assume he would know as he grinds for living. If they were plated they would show up once 'ground'. In terms of writing feel I could not detect any difference between the real rose gold and rose gold plated yellow gold nibs.

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Are there any nib manufacturers who use non-yellow gold alloys for their nib blanks when making white or rose gold-colored nibs?

 

I'm not sure, so in the grand scheme of things Montblanc might be no different to other manufacturers. Apart from the fact that they usually charge more than any of the other manufacturers for their pens. :huh:

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