A Life Well-Lived - Montblancs In Action

[meiers]

 

I could be wrong--it's even likely--but it is my understanding that the ivory star on 1950s-era MBs is indeed casein. The rest of the pen is celluloid.

I know very little about the early Meisterstück line and am trying to research this topic.

 

Your Meisterstück pen is wonderful and the writing sample made my day. All of my Meisterstücks are of the current precious resin variety.

Edited August 4, 2018 by meiers

[zaddick]

The star in the 142 is also celluloid. It can amber overy time.

[johntdavis]

The star in the 142 is also celluloid. It can amber overy time.

 

I am so happy to know this. Thanks, zaddick!

 

I was actually in dull terror about getting the star wet and having it melt. One of the reasons it hasn't left the house yet. But if it's celluloid it might well get to see the outside world.

Maybe. It's small enough I'm a bit more scared of accidental drops than I'd be if it was a larger pen.

 

(That said, I'm very impressed with how weighty it is. It's a dense little thing. I'm guessing that's the telescoping brass piston--which was a bit scary to learn to use. I'm not used to having to push the piston against the section to get it to go back in the opposite direction.)

 

Any special care notes for this celluloid? Aside from not setting it on fire, I'm being careful to keep it away from anything but cold water, and avoiding sparkly inks or permanent inks.

[zaddick]

In my experience casein will absorb water or ink. It can swell up with moisture, but I have not heard of dissolving. Maybe it is possible.

 

As you noted, I avoid inks that would be hard to clean out and probably those with an extreme PH level. I personally tend to use pretty safe inks in older celluloid pens. Inks from MB, Waterman, Sheaffer, etc. And don't just let them sit in the pen unused for weeks on end.

 

There are those that store the pen where air can circulate but not with other celluloid pens. At this point your pen is pretty stable, but shrinkage can occur so you might as well use it. I personally did not take a lot of extra special care with my celluloid MB pens. I just carried them in a secure pen case and they went with me to work (in an office).

 

I think you will find the little pen to be more robust than you might think today. As long as you treat it more carefully than a throw away ball point it should keep up with you. If not, you can get it repaired as needed. Don't let it waste away in a drawer!

[meiers]

The star in the 142 is also celluloid. It can amber over time.

Thank you for the confirmation, Aaron. I always took it for granted that the star would also be made out of celluloid.

[Michael R.]

The change from casein to celluloid took place somewhere during the 1930s. E.g. 12x will still have casein stars while 13x pens show celluloid stars in most cases.

Usually casein stars have developed some sort of craquelure and show a matte surface (in case they have not been restored recently).

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[Honeybadgers]

My 1990's 149 was factory fresh when I got it, but it's gotten a few little surface scratches. I don't mind.

[johntdavis]

In my experience casein will absorb water or ink. It can swell up with moisture, but I have not heard of dissolving. Maybe it is possible.

 

As you noted, I avoid inks that would be hard to clean out and probably those with an extreme PH level. I personally tend to use pretty safe inks in older celluloid pens. Inks from MB, Waterman, Sheaffer, etc. And don't just let them sit in the pen unused for weeks on end.

 

There are those that store the pen where air can circulate but not with other celluloid pens. At this point your pen is pretty stable, but shrinkage can occur so you might as well use it. I personally did not take a lot of extra special care with my celluloid MB pens. I just carried them in a secure pen case and they went with me to work (in an office).

 

I think you will find the little pen to be more robust than you might think today. As long as you treat it more carefully than a throw away ball point it should keep up with you. If not, you can get it repaired as needed. Don't let it waste away in a drawer!

 

I was probably being a bit hyperbolic re: dissolving. I would just hate to accidentally effectively destroy a vintage pen by getting too much water on it or something.

 

I ended up putting Pelikan Tanzanite in it. I had a sample I'd never tried. It's a great ink, and I trust Pelikan to be well-behaved. I haven't written with the pen as much as I want, though, because the ink is indistinguishable from Aurora Blue-Black (at least in my eyes), and I have another pen inked with that I'm trying to empty. Oops.

 

I always keep all my pens safely in a pen case or in a secure pocket, so it sounds like I'm doing well so far.

 

I don't imagine I'll ever de-ink this one and put it away--unless I get a bigger vintage 14x. Even then, it would be hard to give up the right oblique semi flex medium in this one. It'll definitely never waste away.

 

As to robustness, one of the things I am still impressed with every time I pick it up is just how heavy it is. I know there's a brass telescoping piston in there, but it's heavier than my maxi-size Visconti Homosapiens, and competes with a full size sterling silver Cross Townsend. (It actually feels heavier than the Townsend, but I think that's due to smaller size.)

 

The change from casein to celluloid took place somewhere during the 1930s. E.g. 12x will still have casein stars while 13x pens show celluloid stars in most cases.

 

Usually casein stars have developed some sort of craquelure and show a matte surface (in case they have not been restored recently).

 

Cheers

 

Michael

 

 

Thanks for the info. I was not aware of this. Are there any other major differences between the 12x and 13x lines? I've had my eye on the mid-size 13x pens. I thought the 12x were the same pens, just with a different level of bling. It sounds like that is not correct.

 

Also, I've just learned a new word. Craquelure definitely sounds better than "a bit busted up."

[meiers]

Or cracked.

 

Thanks to Michael I learned a new word and acquired some fountain pen knowledge. (I value all your posts.)

Edited August 5, 2018 by meiers

[Michael R.]

Many thanks for your nice words :-)

The 12x series were predecessors to the 13x pens. While similar looking the 12x series were all push-knob fillers (without an ink window); 13x pens are piston fillers. Slight changes in design and material took place over the years as well.

 

Both are Meisterstück line pens so "bling" is the same (except you consider an ink window more bling ;-) ).

Not sure if craquelure is the correct word to use in this context. Usually this is a technique used for ceramics but also happens during aging on old paintings and pottery.

Montblanc's casein stars develop a similar cracked surface over the years. But on the casein stars its on the surface only. Usually it can be polished away pretty easily. Not "cracked" through the complete material.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[meiers]

I had no idea. So the cracks appear only on the surface. Thanks.

[Shannon]

Staying in an AriBnb that was built in 1897. Can't resist the opportunity to take a picture or two. Introducing my beat-up, broken, busted down (and current favorite) 146:

 

Edited August 12, 2018 by Shannon

[zaddick]

Don't start putting your pens on a pedestal or you'll be afraid to use them.

[KaB]

 

My 144, bought in '97 with my first pay raise.

Emptied more than 10 bottles of MB. Got serviced once (in '01), getting a new feed and grip section.

But the pen still shows its mileage. The gold between grip and nib is almost gone. There's a nasty crack in the cap (and a big one too) that doesn't really show in the pic.

[Ghost Plane]

Old faithful.

[zaddick]

I picked up this late 1950s celluloid 149 at the San Francisco pen show. A dealer from Italy was visiting and among some wonderful 1940s vintage Italian celluloid pens and a fair few modern OMAS pens was a stunning little collection of vintage MB. There was a 139, a green striated 146, a grey or platinum striped 244, and a few other pens including the 149. Since she was taking only cash i had to face some hard decisions. As the 139 was too expensive and I collect 149s I went with the 149. The pen loos like it was made for export (as itis heat stamped "Montblanc made in Germany" on the cap (I don't think they would do this for a pen destined to stay int he domestic market). Lord knows where it traveled before making its way to the dealer in Italy. She flew it out to San Francisco and I took it home.

 

I bought the pen because it had several transitional/end of era elements for a celluloid 149 and because it was not mint condition I can use it in the office and out and about. It still presents well and has a very expressive nib. Only a few dings and scrapes that could likely be buffed out. The worst cosmetic issues are the loss of black liquid celluloid coating inside one side of the barrel and the missing ink window lines. Actually there is still one single line hanging tough. There is about a 1/3 line next to it. It reminds me of an old man with only the one good tooth for chewing. :^)

 

Here are some photos of the pen and its various glories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since it was serviced I have pressed it into use unrestored. 60 or so years of use have not slowed this pen down yet!

[BillH]

That is a very sweet find. Thanks for all the pictures.

[CS388]

Great pen, zaddick. Nice work!

 

I think you're right re export. Otherwise, why would Germans say Made in Germany in English?

What's the story behind the green striated (?) cap jewel (derby) threads?

Beautiful nib.

 

Congratulations.

[zaddick]

The story I have heard is they had excess celluloid from production of green striated pens so they used it inside of some 149 pens, probably as a cost saving measure. I speculate it was at the end of the production run of celluloid pens. Since it was used in areas not normally seen it was probab5bot seen as an issue.

 

It is also possible these pens were repaired but given that I have seen a fair few with the green striated threaded cap posts, I guess they were part of a production run.

 

If anyone has authoritative info I am happy to learn more.