A Life Well-Lived - Montblancs In Action

[zaddick]

As one gets older, one tends not to work as well. We pick up scars and aches. Healing extends into what seems like unreasonably long periods of time. Parts get stiff and need replacement from wear. If we have done right by ourselves and our loved ones, our solace lies in crafting a life well-lived.

 

With all the amazing and creative new pens that float about on this forum (and the associated enthusiasm and excitement), I’d like to take a little pause from staring at the parade of the future and look back to the past. I am starting this thread to encourage us all to showcase those MB pens you have which are trusty companions – those that have signs of wear and tear from acting as a pen and not a trophy or a treasured memento to be admired on a shelf. Age is not a prerequisite nor abuse, just pens and pictures that embrace the beauty of honest usage.

 

Take a good look at your pens and find those who have brought you joy through use, even if you are not the original owner or the pens picked up are older than you (and even if you may have shared it before in the past).

 

Let’s take a moment to celebrate what we have and that it was used and loved.

[zaddick]

The pen that got me thinking of this topic is an early to mid 1960s 149. I bought this pen off the Bay of Evil many years ago and was initially disappointed (as one can be with bad photos in a listing). The pen was full of old ink making the inside look like a snow globe, the nib looked like a person who broke their nose in a bar fight but could not afford to go to a doctor afterwards, and various scuffs and nibbles to give a generally dull appearance.

 

A little time and cleaning, a little patience with adjusting the nib and polishing the tarnish, and a thorough wipe down (of lord knows what was on the body), and the result was a nice user pen with a very flexible nib. A pleasurable dance partner(although the cloudy ink window is a pain), I am happy to have rescued the pen from some drawer and now it rotates in and out of use in my office.

 

Here is the nib that took the brunt of some trauma

 

An ink window that hints at possibilities, like an exitic dancer backlit onto a screen

 

No match for my dental records

 

Is it s scratch or a hairline crack? if it ain't leaking it don't matter...

Edited July 6, 2018 by zaddick

[1nkulus]

Nice pics and an admirable rescue... may you have many more enjoyable pages.

[zaddick]

[1nkulus]

If the above were, literally, true it would have to be a minuscule font.

[Tom Kellie]

What Are a Few Scratches Between Friends?

~ zaddick:

 

Thank you for launching this thread, honoring the veteran writers among Montblanc fountain pens.

The images of your 1960s 149 and the handwriting sample are testament to a pen well-used.

I like the ink color in the quote you posted. The nib produces attractive strokes in all directions.

Above is the nib of the original Montblanc fountain pen which launched my journey into Hamburg writing tools.

A late 1980s 149 M nib, it was received as a gift from a friend.

The scratches and micro-scratch clusters on it have no effect on its writing ability, which is excellent.

Seeing them, I'm comforted to know that older age need not diminish utility.

Tom K.

[Ghost Plane]

Now THIS is my kind of thread.

[Chrissy]

Now THIS is my kind of thread.

 

Mine too.

[Tom Kellie]

Scratched Cap

[Tom Kellie]

Battle Scars

[Tom Kellie]

2000 Writers Edition Schiller Bespoke Sketch Nib

[AndyLogan]

Perhaps the saddest thing of all is a pen not handled to be enjoyed. This thread gives a pen their due worth.

And yes this quote is perfect for this thread.

 

 

[JonathanHarker]

It is rather amusing and typical of the specialist collector forum* that pens with signs of wear get such special and reverential treatment!

 

Of course pens are meant to be used, and signs of wear don’t in the least part phase me personally. Indeed, they’re unavoidable in a well used pen.

 

I still enjoy seeing the photos though :-)

 

 

 

*be it pens, watches etc. Similar threads crop up on a watch forum I frequent where watches with signs of normal use get dozens of replies as if it’s an unusual thing. ‘Normal’ folks must thing us a rather odd bunch!

[RitwijMishra]

What a lovely thread, and what a heartwarming original post! Below are pictures of my greatest companion, a Montblanc 149 with an Italic 14C gold nib, a companion towards whom my photography can hardly be just.

 

This grandpa is, hard as it may be to believe, the only fountain pen I have and which I use for all my writing. I have this belief that a writer preferring to write longhand is better off owning one classy pen that meets each of their requirements, in their opinion, better than most.

 

It is a vintage instrument I bought from eBay. The condition of the pen's exteriors sang loudly of age and wear. Besides heavy tarnish on the hardware, there appeared a minimal amount of corrosion on the clip bands and on parts of the engraving. The resin parts had smudges and micro scratches all over them - no gleam nor any sign of restoration of appearance. Luckily, a handful (no pun intended) of swipes with a jeweler's cloth remedied all. These minor quibbles aside, the internals did not require a thorough initial cleaning. The threaded (plastic) piston mechanism, the nib and the ebonite feed were all smooth and in perfect working condition; the ink-view window was perfectly transparent too.

 

The story its essentials spoke of foremost was that of excellent, careful, decades-long usage.

 

Despite all those decades of evident usage, it functions flawlessly in my young hands. This rare Italic avatar of the classic 14C gold nib feels smoother on the non-absorbent paper of my Triomphe tablets than my four-months old niece's palms do when she clasps my fingers beneath them in affection. It demands no effort at all on the writer's part but to simply hold the ergonomic Teutonic Meisturstuck section, retain the required pen angle and glide without regrets over Parnassian wings.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ghost Plane]

What a beautiful nib!

[Shannon]

My first 146. I was going to describe it as a nice, juicy broad. Then I thought it sounded a little like I was describing myself!

 

[Tom Kellie]

My first 146. I was going to describe it as a nice, juicy broad. Then I thought it sounded a little like I was describing myself!

 

~ Shannon:

 

Ha Ha! When I read the above, I laughed out loud, stirring dozing Yubi.

Thanks so much for the classic well-worn pen image.

Those are the marks of active use, which are so nice to see.

Don't we all bear a few such visible hallmarks of our lives well lived?

Tom K.

[1nkulus]

Lovely macro photography, always a pleasure to see an interesting angle/shot.

 

MB nibs are delicious...

[dubhe]

My beater 149 with slightly bent clip, scuffed resin, and a groove where the previous owner posted. Great nib

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by dubhe

[tmenyc]

Great topic! I'll play...

I've noted any number of times that my 149 was my high school graduation present in 1970 from my parents, who had just returned from their first trip abroad. It was my EDC until appr 1995, when I dropped it on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan and chipped the cap. Since then, it has been my desk pen, and has not spent more than a week uninked since, well, 1970! It has also never been serviced, just flushed by me every time I switch inks.

It has an assortment of scratches, but no applied dentistry. The imprint was by wherever my parents bought the pen, which I don't think I have ever known; and yes, it's the rare imprint that has one's own last name...

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by tmenyc