Montblanc - Charlie Chaplin Fountain Pen

[mosh_2k7]

Hi

 

One of my all time favourite Montblanc fountain pen is the Charlie Chaplin I would like to own one, sometime in the near future Just curious how much one these would set me back! I had an opportunity to bid on one, a few years ago at a UK auction house, but it just wasnt the right time for me to purchase a pen of this value. The pen ended up selling for £15,000 excluding buyers premium (28.8% VAT included). Bring the total price to £19,320. Only a single bid was made on the pen. This is the only other Skeleton pen thats on my grail list, after the 75th Anniversary Skeleton pen!

 

I know a few member on this forum have this magnificent fountain pen I hope to add one to my collection one day as well!

[mosh_2k7]

Need some help!

 

Has anyone brought any pens from Catawiki before? Theirs a Charlie Chaplin fountain pen thats up on auction Thinking of placing a bid on it! Whats the current market value on this particular pen?

 

https://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/26483395-montblanc-charlie-chaplin-limited-edition-88-fountain-pen

[meiers]

I think its market value is whatever people are willing and able to pay for it. This writing instrument is definitely out of my reach. In any event, the Chaplin is a beautiful and cleverly designed pen. Thank you for reminding me of its existence.

Edited May 7, 2019 by meiers

[MontblancGeek]

Please, dont bid! Youre free to do as you please and I understand it can be very tempting but somehow it just feels wrong to me. For starters I think the auction site is not the most reputable one (reviews online), the seller has some very interesting pens and hes asking below market value for them. Some things I see wrong with this scenario:

 

- He will deliver the pen in person even before knowing the location of the winner and how much is that trip going to cost? Imagine half way across the world?

- Not a big fan of ´What you see is what you get´ statements.

- If so, hes not showing the actual serial of the pen, just mentioning it. Nor I see the warranty and/or white outer box.

- He says its mint and in excellent condition. Thats a pen that you do not post because it scratches easily if you do so. He also does not specify if its been used, dipped or inked.

- The Chaplin Edition is from 2007, not 1990-1999 period.

 

The last Chaplin I know that sold at a trusted auction house (PBA last July) went for 45K. I have never heard of one going below 30K (and that was back in 2012 I think). I dont know what your budget may be, but if it were me I would rather make and extra effort and get it from a trustworthy dealer. Just my 2 cents and sorry if I ranted a bit.

Edited May 10, 2019 by MontblancLover

[Amit.]

Agree with you 100%

Please, dont bid! Youre free to do as you please and I understand it can be very tempting but somehow it just feels wrong to me. For starters I think the auction site is not the most reputable one (reviews online), the seller has some very interesting pens and hes asking below market value for them. Some things I see wrong with this scenario:

- He will deliver the pen in person even before knowing the location of the winner and how much is that trip going to cost? Imagine half way across the world?
- Not a big fan of ´What you see is what you get´ statements.
- If so, hes not showing the actual serial of the pen, just mentioning it. Nor I see the warranty and/or white outer box.
- He says its mint and in excellent condition. Thats a pen that you do not post because it scratches easily if you do so. He also does not specify if its been used, dipped or inked.
- The Chaplin Edition is from 2007, not 1990-1999 period.

The last Chaplin I know that sold at a trusted auction house (PBA last July) went for 45K. I have never heard of one going below 30K (and that was back in 2012 I think). I dont know what your budget may be, but if it were me I would rather make and extra effort and get it from a trustworthy dealer. Just my 2 cents and sorry if I ranted a bit.

[mosh_2k7]

Please, dont bid! Youre free to do as you please and I understand it can be very tempting but somehow it just feels wrong to me. For starters I think the auction site is not the most reputable one (reviews online), the seller has some very interesting pens and hes asking below market value for them. Some things I see wrong with this scenario:

 

- He will deliver the pen in person even before knowing the location of the winner and how much is that trip going to cost? Imagine half way across the world?

- Not a big fan of ´What you see is what you get´ statements.

- If so, hes not showing the actual serial of the pen, just mentioning it. Nor I see the warranty and/or white outer box.

- He says its mint and in excellent condition. Thats a pen that you do not post because it scratches easily if you do so. He also does not specify if its been used, dipped or inked.

- The Chaplin Edition is from 2007, not 1990-1999 period.

 

The last Chaplin I know that sold at a trusted auction house (PBA last July) went for 45K. I have never heard of one going below 30K (and that was back in 2012 I think). I dont know what your budget may be, but if it were me I would rather make and extra effort and get it from a trustworthy dealer. Just my 2 cents and sorry if I ranted a bit.

Thanks for your advice! In the end i decided not to place a bid on the pen! The auction ended on 20,000 with the reserve not met! Im going to wait until one appears for sale by a reputable dealer

 

Ive done a bit of digging around, and found the following information:

 

11th June 2012 - $41,250 SOLD

11th June 2013 - $37,500 SOLD

26th March 2014 - $19,500 SOLD

16th June 2015 - $31,250 SOLD

14th December 2015 - $29,000 to $39,000 UNSOLD

6th December 2016 - $28,000 to $36,000 UNSOLD

12th June 2017 - $25,000 to $30,000 UNSOLD

18th October 2017 - $18,750 SOLD

4th December 2017 - $24,000 to $28,000 UNSOLD

 

The sold prices seem to vary alot. This is probably one of the nicest skeleton pens that Montblanc has ever made

 

Regards

Mohsin