Mb 13X Variants

[Michael R.]

Never heard of a 13x pen without an ink window. But sometimes they became really, really dark over the years.

Maybe an repair job? Many possibilities....

 

Interesting pen anyways! One of the last versions with three Meisterstück cap bands just like on later 14x pens and short "k" (kurz) version. You don't see this very often.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[siamackz]

And congratulation on all your 13x

Im missing all the models

Well, things have changed since this posting - I now have a 134, and a 136 and 139 on their way 🤦‍♂️

[siamackz]

The L, G, K, etc. imprints are often debated on vintage MBs. So, I was looking through old catalogues and I thought this one was particularly telling. Notice that:

1. The 139 L is the only pen whose description says "luxus format" or luxury format.

2. Only the 124G and 104G are described as "glatt" which translates to glossy.

3. Notice that the 132K is the only pen described as "kurz format" which translates to short. Another page of the catalogue has a K322 which is once again described as "kurz format".

 

Our assumptions on this point seem to be confirmed by this catalogue:

[dascott]

Well, things have changed since this posting - I now have a 134, and a 136 and 139 on their way ‍♂️

Delighted for you Siamackz, the 139 looks amazing! What nib did you get? It is a pleasure to write with such a chunky pen.

 

p.s. I also picked up a lovely 132 and am now just missing the rare K132 :-)

[siamackz]

Delighted for you Siamackz, the 139 looks amazing! What nib did you get? It is a pleasure to write with such a chunky pen.

 

p.s. I also picked up a lovely 132 and am now just missing the rare K132 :-)

Thank you! Its a palladium nib, I think thebpennis from c.1939

 

Well done on the 132. I am going to resist the urge to buy it later because I feel practically speaking I have all the 13x sizes that one might need 🤞

Edited November 6, 2018 by siamackz

[dascott]

Thank you! Its a palladium nib, I think thebpennis from c.1939

 

Well done on the 132. I am going to resist the urge to buy it later because I feel practically speaking I have all the 13x sizes that one might need

Good luck, I thought that too but couldn't resist the temptation. It has become a lovely, comfortable, expressive daily writer and is certainly not too small. :-)

[jmnav]

I was under the impression that there were no 138 with a gold nib (only palladium/steel) but the flyer above now makes me doubt so... that's the question: there was model 130 ever produced with a "true" #8 gold nib?

[siamackz]

I was under the impression that there were no 138 with a gold nib (only palladium/steel) but the flyer above now makes me doubt so... that's the question: there was model 130 ever produced with a "true" #8 gold nib?

What makes you think the 138 is in gold in this flyer? I was looking out with great care to see if they mention the nib material but I couldnt find any info

[Michael R.]

The #8 nib would be a 245 nib and both I have are not gold.

 

The later 138 I own has a smaller #6 (225) gold nib (as used in the 136).

 

The flyer above does not mention gold nibs for the 138.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

Edited November 7, 2018 by Michael R.

[pavoni]

Well, things have changed since this posting - I now have a 134, and a 136 and 139 on their way ‍♂️

Congratulations siamackz. Fabulous achievement

 

Pavoni

[siamackz]

Congratulations siamackz. Fabulous achievement

 

Pavoni

Thank you, friend!

[niksch]

Then after a year or so, maybe less, MB was required to switch to steel nibs until after WWII.

 

Please quote your source for this information.

[niksch]

Of the 13X pens, only the 139 had the thick gold band surrounded by the two thin silver bands. This was also the case on the 129 predecessor and the 149 celluloid replacement.

 

Yes, that's been clearly documented both photographically and in the MB books by Mr Roesler.

[siamackz]

Are we sure that the caps of the 139 and earlier 1930s variants were not hard rubber. I noted that only the cap tops were hard rubber, but the caps were celluloid. This is clear on many of my pens from the 1940s. But, I just bought an L139 and I can swear that the entire cap is made of hard rubber too.

[christof]

The cap of this MB L139 that I restored a couple of years ago was surely made of HR.

 

MB_L139_restored von -C.M.Z-

 

The cap of my 138 is made od celluloid, only the cap top is HR.

 

Montblanc 138 1 von -C.M.Z-

 

...hope this helps to answer your question.

 

C.

[zaddick]

 

Please quote your source for this information.

Requires may have been too strong a term. Here is some background from FPN:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/281840-question-on-vintage-mb-steel-nibs/

 

This thread shows a 1940 139 with a steel nib: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/241417-montblanc-139/

 

Finally a quote from Tom Westrich found here in FPN: "Let me add to the discussion, what I learnt when working for the Pelikan book.

 

They as well suffered from the law issued in 1938 - the so called "Materialbewirtschaftung" forbade the use of gold for fountain pen nibs. At the beginning, only gold was prohibited. Thus, for a very short period, Palladium was chosen as a precious material. But this was forbidden as well short after."

 

I hope that helps.

[siamackz]

The cap of this MB L139 that I restored a couple of years ago was surely made of HR.

 

MB_L139_restored von -C.M.Z-

 

The cap of my 138 is made od celluloid, only the cap top is HR.

 

Montblanc 138 1 von -C.M.Z-

 

...hope this helps to answer your question.

 

C.

Such beautiful pens. Thank you for confirming!

[siamackz]

Requires may have been too strong a term. Here is some background from FPN:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/281840-question-on-vintage-mb-steel-nibs/

 

This thread shows a 1940 139 with a steel nib: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/241417-montblanc-139/

 

Finally a quote from Tom Westrich found here in FPN: "Let me add to the discussion, what I learnt when working for the Pelikan book.

 

They as well suffered from the law issued in 1938 - the so called "Materialbewirtschaftung" forbade the use of gold for fountain pen nibs. At the beginning, only gold was prohibited. Thus, for a very short period, Palladium was chosen as a precious material. But this was forbidden as well short after."

 

I hope that helps.

I wonder if this short period was 1939-42? Based on some readings I have done it seems that during the early years of the war the Germany economy was not fully focused on the war and this changed in 1942 once the new Armaments Minister came into power. Production policies thereafter changed to a singleminded focus on war time needs - factories and materials were used primarily for war time requirements. Edited November 19, 2018 by siamackz

[siamackz]

The L, G, K, etc. imprints are often debated on vintage MBs. So, I was looking through old catalogues and I thought this one was particularly telling. Notice that:

1. The 139 L is the only pen whose description says "luxus format" or luxury format.

2. Only the 124G and 104G are described as "glatt" which translates to glossy.

3. Notice that the 132K is the only pen described as "kurz format" which translates to short. Another page of the catalogue has a K322 which is once again described as "kurz format".

 

Our assumptions on this point seem to be confirmed by this catalogue:

On closer observation of the pic, it seems the 138 is described as glatt too, and does not have a G in its imprint. So...

[siamackz]

Updated...

 

1. Blindcap:

a. There is only the two-piece blind cap design where you can easily dismantle the piston by turning a second threaded component at the end of the barrel.

 

2. Ink windows:

a. long - discontinued post 1943?

b. medium (some portion still seen when capped)

c. short (ink window not visible when capped)

 

3. Nibs:

a. 14c, two tone

b. Steel

c. Palladium - In 1938 gold use was restricted to government needs in Germany so MB switched to Palladium nibs (marked with a fancy P instead of the gold markings). The nibs were specially treated to give the two tone appearance of the older gold nibs (which were yellow gold with some rhodium or other white metal plating). If you polish a palladium nib you will bring it back to a white metal. The nibs are just palladium not coated. Then after a year or so, maybe less, MB was required to switch to steel nibs until after WWII. These look similar to the other nibs but are not marked as gold or palladium.

d. Palladium plated - some138 nibs have Palladium plating?

 

4. Feed:

a. Ski slope

b. flat

 

5. Cap rings/bands:

a. Single thick raised cap band (like the 234 1/2 Luxury version). Did all 138s only have this band variant?

 

b. Single flat cap band

c. two silver bands and centre band only on 139, like the 149 silver rings

d. two gold bands and centre band like celluloid 146. Only on 132, 134, and 136?

e. two gold bands and centre band but without any engraving

f. No bands, just engraving of two lines and "Meisturstuck" in the centre - war time. Only on 132, 134, and 136?

 

6. Cap crown:

a. high tops

b. short tops

c. really short tops (1mm on export models like Italy, or for war time uniform?)

 

7. Clips:

a. fluted/papyrus clip

b. tie clip

c. waterfall/prismatic clip

d. teardrop clip (plain)

e. teardrop clip w/montblanc engraved

f. typical third/tier clip

 

8. Sizes:

132

132 K (short)

134

136

138

139

 

9. Imprints:

a. Cap crown or cap top had Meisterstück, not both?

b. After centre gold band/ring on cap had Meisterstück imprint then neither the cap crown nor cap wore an imprint anymore?

c. DRP imprint on barrel stopped post WWII?

d. "L" on some 1930s top models and variations might stand for "Luxus"=luxury?

e. "G" on blind cap after the model number means "glanz"=shine or "glatt"=smooth?

f. "K" imprint after the model number (not nib size) means short?

 

10. Material:

a. celluloid: barrels always

b. ebonite: older cap tops, blind caps, and caps too

 

References - Pics from fontainpen.de; pics from perboard.de; pics from Pavoni's FPN article "An Enthusiasts Collection-Part 2"; pics from Michael Rs blog website; and FPN posts and FPN members' responses to this post denoted by a question mark at the end of the point because I can't seem to verify the accuracy of those facts against a physical pen/pic/official document