Jump to content

The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread


fpupulin

Recommended Posts

 

Good advice, I just got my pens to where I want them ink flow- and smoothness-wise, so maybe I'll skip the Permanent Blue experiment for now. Thank you!

 

As far as Omegas go, here is my Planet Ocean next to an Ultra Black Legrand:

 

http://www.arcmailbox.com/img/pens/planet-ocean.jpg

 

and my Globemaster Annual Calendar next to the Geometry:

 

http://www.arcmailbox.com/img/pens/globemaster.jpg

 

I wonder: can a broad nib pen, or BB, work well for beginner calligraphy, or does or need to be a calligraphy-specific pen?

 

 

 

Beautiful, beautiful combos of pens and watches! The Planet Ocean is a terrific piece. Is yours one of the second generation, with the ceramic bezel? That matte, dark grey bezel is the percent companion for the matte black of the Ultra Black, a very stylish and one of my preferred resin Montblanc.

 

And the design of the Geometric Solitaire well reflects the fluted bezel of your Omega Globemaster. Another great duo!

 

As to the "correct" pen to begin some calligraphy exercise, I would say that it depends on which script style you want to make practice. If you like pointed pen calligraphy (i.e., Spencerian, Copperplate, etc.), then yes, you would need an extra-fine, flexible nib to do it.

 

If you prefer other kinds of script, like i.e., Uncial, Carolingian, Humanistic, or Cancelleresca, you would have a much better approach with an italic, or even a stub nib, with a square (truncate) tip, which will give you more difference between the horizontal (narrower) and vertical (broader) strokes.

 

With an italic, or a stub, nib, you can also write cursive, even though the results will not be comparable, of course, to those of a flexible, extra-fine (or even fine) nib. With an EF flexible nib, on the other hand, you definitively can't do the scripts that requires a square nib.

 

If you already have a B or BB nib, and if the tips of your nibs are squared, you can surely begin doing some pretty interesting calligraphic experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • fpupulin

    399

  • como

    123

  • invisuu

    60

  • a student

    57

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Beautiful, beautiful combos of pens and watches! The Planet Ocean is a terrific piece. Is yours one of the second generation, with the ceramic bezel? That matte, dark grey bezel is the percent companion for the matte black of the Ultra Black, a very stylish and one of my preferred resin Montblanc.

 

And the design of the Geometric Solitaire well reflects the fluted bezel of your Omega Globemaster. Another great duo!

 

As to the "correct" pen to begin some calligraphy exercise, I would say that it depends on which script style you want to make practice. If you like pointed pen calligraphy (i.e., Spencerian, Copperplate, etc.), then yes, you would need an extra-fine, flexible nib to do it.

 

If you prefer other kinds of script, like i.e., Uncial, Carolingian, Humanistic, or Cancelleresca, you would have a much better approach with an italic, or even a stub nib, with a square (truncate) tip, which will give you more difference between the horizontal (narrower) and vertical (broader) strokes.

 

With an italic, or a stub, nib, you can also write cursive, even though the results will not be comparable, of course, to those of a flexible, extra-fine (or even fine) nib. With an EF flexible nib, on the other hand, you definitively can't do the scripts that requires a square nib.

 

If you already have a B or BB nib, and if the tips of your nibs are squared, you can surely begin doing some pretty interesting calligraphic experiment.

 

 

Thank you for your kind words about my watches. The Planet Ocean is indeed the 2nd generation model, with a ceramic bezel.

 

And thanks for answering my newbie questions about calligraphy pens. I seems I really like the Spencerian examples that you have displayed on the forum, so it looks like an EF flex nib is in my future. I've always wanted a 149 anyway so this will be the perfect excuse.

 

Currently I own two B nibs and one BB nib, all from Montblanc. Do they qualify as "squared"?

 

http://www.arcmailbox.com/img/pens/nibs.jpg

Edited by lemonde
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Thank you for your kind words about my watches. The Planet Ocean is indeed the 2nd generation model, with a ceramic bezel.

 

And thanks for answering my newbie questions about calligraphy pens. I seems I really like the Spencerian examples that you have displayed on the forum, so it looks like an EF flex nib is in my future. I've always wanted a 149 anyway so this will be the perfect excuse.

 

Currently I own two B nibs and one BB nib, all from Montblanc. Do they qualify as "squared"?

 

http://www.arcmailbox.com/img/pens/nibs.jpg

 

 

fpn_1603295823__lemonde.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

fpn_1603295823__lemonde.jpg

Thank you for taking the time to make this for me. It perfectly illustrates which sort of calligraphy is available to me with B nibs, and which are not. I can't thank you enough for your effort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to the appreciation...

The last five rows, in Blue Permanent ink, are written with the 149 Calligraphy. You may appreciate the ductility of the nib, which move easily from a bold engrossed to a regular Copperplate-style to a light hand, and to a mix of thicknesses.
The upper rows are written with two vintage OMAS and Herbin Perle Noire ink. The second sample is from a Gentlemen with an extraordinary EF, very flexible nib. I would say that this is my best nib for pointed calligraphy, a bold 10 out of 10, as the fine strokes are very fine and the nib is super-springy.
The Calligraphy, however, holds comparably well the comparison, and I would value it a good 8.5 out of 10. It is better, in my opinion, than the Extra Lucens, fine nib of my OMAS Milord ca. 1967 (first two rows), which is equally flexible, but releases a thicker line on the fine strokes.
fpn_1603641605__ductility_of_the_meister
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome comparisons there FPUPULIN! Really appreciate seeing side by side comparisons like these of the 149 Calligraphy to great vintage flex pens. It holds it's own with the best of the great vintage pens.

 

It's great to see someone with the flex writing talent as yourself and in depth experience with the 149C to give it a proper honest comparison with vintage flex pens and do it justice that it deserves. This is much more useful than someone doing video comparison where it is obvious there is very little real time experience with the 149 Calligraphy which is not helpful at all for anyone.

Edited by max dog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought it could be useful to compare the nib of the 149 Calligraphy with other good contemporary nibs.

 

I choose the very good, not flexible but "elastic" nibs of two OMAS, the Alma Mater Studiorum from 1982, and the fine nib of a modern, post 2005 Grand Paragon.

 

I also used the excellent fine nib of a circa 1980 Montblanc Meisterstück 146, a mono colored gold nib with some amount of elasticity.

 

As you can see on the left page, they all can do an excellent job in writing with some calligraphic properties, but they can not compare with the true flexible nib of the 149 Calligraphy (last three rows on the left page, and the entire right page), which allows a much more crisp differentiation between thin and bold strokes.

 

 

fpn_1603901126__montblanc_meisterstck_14

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Thanks to a nice booklet that I bought last November (I have the Spanish edition, but I think the same book also exists in an English version), I practiced a bit in modern calligraphy, or at least in its particular version as it come  proposed by the author of the booklet. The title in Spanish would translate like “Beautiful letters with the dip pen. Learn modern calligraphy step by step”.

 

1928820990_Letrasbonitas.thumb.jpg.0112443c308f6a92005e46b6cc7deaf9.jpg

 

The "beautiful letters" of this little work are in fact designed for and performed with pens and dip nibs, and a well thought out initial chapter is dedicated to the different types of calligraphy nibs and their behavior. An excellent and very helpful introduction! In this chapter devoted to the materials seven dip nibs are presented, and five of them more in deep as to their characteristics of hardness/softness, flexibility, and broadness of the basic strokes. Some of them (the Gillot 404, Hunt 101, and Tachikawa G) are also used to propose three different calligraphic alphabets. According to the author, the Gillot 404 "offers good line quality without being too fragile or too flexible”, while the Hunt 101 is "the most flexible of the selection and its flexibility will surprise you; the difference from other nibs is the sharp contrast of strokes”. The Tachikawa G is "the hardest of all, and offers a solid line with few contrasts”. 

 

The results, in terms of the Calligraphy nib's ability to reproduce the different stroke variations of the dip nibs, are truly remarkable. In this way, not only do I have two different types of alphabet to mix freely in my modern calligraphy tests, but also a nib that can perform stroke variations somewhat comparable to those of two different calligraphy nibs!

 

559327734_Twoalphabets.thumb.jpg.bcf228faedc2613137ac00752e74c454.jpg

 

2011063082_Everypen.thumb.jpg.aa20d00630d00dcbff273f110487d98a.jpg

 

Later I will post some more photographs of a few other things done with my Calligraphy in modern calligraphy.

 

Meisterstuck.thumb.jpg.e7e5d2efc004a64d406ce8d82cc066b3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks to me as though the 149 Calligraphy is still being offered, although I think the price has gone up by around $100 (here in USA)

 

There were questions, were there not, regarding whether it was to have been a one-off model or not...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Christopher Godfrey said:

It looks to me as though the 149 Calligraphy is still being offered, although I think the price has gone up by around $100 (here in USA)

 

There were questions, were there not, regarding whether it was to have been a one-off model or not...

 

No, it was 895 when I bought right after release, and it was the only place I could get one at that time. Now it is 915, I guess price reflects free shipping they are offering during holiday.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Christopher Godfrey said:

It looks to me as though the 149 Calligraphy is still being offered, although I think the price has gone up by around $100 (here in USA)

 

There were questions, were there not, regarding whether it was to have been a one-off model or not...

 

 

Yes MB has raised prices in my country too by $100 for regular GT & PT. I guess a similar increase would be applicable for Cal Flex too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/10/2020 at 2:11 AM, fpupulin said:

Thanks to a nice booklet that I bought last November...

 

Meisterstuck.thumb.jpg.e7e5d2efc004a64d406ce8d82cc066b3.jpg

fpupulin: I am very intrigued by this playful and stylish modern style of calligraphy. I will try to get a copy to investigate 🙂. Thank you for the book introduction, and sharing your beautiful calligraphy as always!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does a pen that draws itself represent the beginning of a slight self-awareness?

 

890405891_Nonesisteunmodofacile.thumb.jpg.fb20c3a876685b959c2c1a9268f9e4c6.jpg

 

I don't know if it will still be possible to continue stocking this pen at the parent company, but many shops, both online and in mortar and brick, are out of stock from the 149 Calligraphy. There are sellers in Europe who have significantly increased the selling price of the pen.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

At home, as children, it was tradition that on the first day of the year some things were done as a wish to be able to do them all year round. We studied or worked at least a few minutes, and did the things we love the most. Since I can remember, I have always written a few lines to be able to put on the leaf the date of January 1st, I often drew some scribbles, when I was older I wrote a few lines of an article or a book and I took at least one photograph.

 

Also this year I did my part. I did it by calligraphying a thought on the feeling of the first day of a new year, what for me has been and continues to be an experience of rebirth and facing a world still intact.

 

In my thought I wanted to say that loading a pen is, in practice, filling it with ink, but conceptually it is also filling it with still unwritten words ...

 

The words of the pen may have colors, nut most of the things I write in honest handwriting are black words. In fact, my black pens with pointed calligraphy nibs are all loaded with black ink. The two vintage "calligraphics" that I own in pearl gray celluloid are never loaded with colored inks, for fear of indelibly staining them. But for the concept of this new year writing, "black words" was no good, because it sounded pessimistic and gloomy. "Blue words" was better, a blue of sky and hope, like indigo.

 

So, I emptied my 149 Calligraphy of the Black Permanent ink, washed it well, and loaded it with Blue, to give the writing an aesthetic sense. Blue Permanent, pretending it's indigo.

 

Then I chose a large sheet, so that there was room for some squiggles. Beautiful and difficult paper, perfect for thin strokes, obstinate for thicker ones, where it forces the nibs to railroad frequently: the Ingres by Hahnemühle absorbs, it dries up the nib. On the upper right corner, the rooster symbol of the German paper mill can be seen in filigree. I would need the white Ingres, which behave better with blue inks, but I don't have any more: the cream one does its duty anyway. I drew the guiding lines: since there is enough space on the sheet, I drew them at the right distance.

 

 

The Hasselblad Super Wide C/M is a constant presence on my desk, and since I like its lines very much, I let it stick its nose into the photograph. Moreover, perhaps not everyone knows that the Montblanc Meisterstück 149 and the Hasselblad Super Wide were born very close each other, the first in 1952 and the second in 1954: two objects that have just been modified in over sixty years and still make their work perfectly!

 

What a great pen, my friends!

 

 

532126369_IndigoBlueWordsFP.thumb.jpg.88762fa1f068cf448150a156da8a9b41.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolutely beautiful Franco!

This Christmas made good use of my Calligraphy pens to create home made Christmas cards with a little inspiration aid from Pinterest.  Had the 149 Calligraphy filled with MB Irish Green, and Corn Poppy Red in the Pelikan M200 italic for contrast and lots of flexy flourish and italic line variation on some fancy Christmassy paper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today I had the opportunity to try this pen. When I unscrewed the cap and looked at that nib, I was certain I would buy it... but there was one other contender which I also tried today. After spending some time writing, I bought the other pen. That was a hard choice to make, the main factors being size (the 149 is at my upper limit of comfort), line width (the 149 wrote a wider line than I’d expected with zero pressure), appearance (the other pen... well, you either get it or you don’t 😁), price and mojo.

 

Demand for the 149 Calligraphy seems to be going through the roof right now and potential customers seem to be facing Conid-like waiting periods. I was really fortunate to have a chance to try it personally. It’s going to be a long time before I see another one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@fpupulinI much enjoyed reading about your New Year’s tradition since childhood, the setup details of your calligraphy section, and your thoughts. Your notes bring back memories for me. As a child, I often behaved extra well on New Year’s Eve, doing extra homework, helping with cleaning etc, as a gesture to my parents for the guilt I felt misbehaving and not achieving in the past year, and a hope to myself that I could be better. It was not a tradition but a pattern that was hardly long-lasting into the new year :-)))

 

May 2021 bring you much peace and joy, pen and otherwise! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, max dog said:

Absolutely beautiful Franco!

This Christmas made good use of my Calligraphy pens to create home made Christmas cards with a little inspiration aid from Pinterest.  Had the 149 Calligraphy filled with MB Irish Green, and Corn Poppy Red in the Pelikan M200 italic for contrast and lots of flexy flourish and italic line variation on some fancy Christmassy paper.

 

I have great curiosity for your Christmas cards in Irish Green and Poppy Red inks, and for the cooperation between the flex and the italic nibs. Should you have one remaining, it would be great if you could post a photo!

 

Have a nice year, my friend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

Announcements


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...