Montblanc Pope Julius II LE-review

[georges zaslavsky]

Great pen Good Guy and Happy Writing. Personally I thought that the nib on this pen would be bigger but I was kinda disappointed, that is why I mainly write with 149s and not LEs. Aesthetically and quality wise, I would rate this pen higher than the Visconti. I also tried the Verne but the nib was also smaller than the 149 nib, only the Dumas and the Hemingway have a nib that equal the size of the 149 but they are too expensive for me. I personally prefer to have various vintage 149s with flex nibs than spending hundreds or thousands with a pen that I won't be able to write with properly.

[Frits B]

goodguy, I am very glad that you finally got this pen, enjoy it! It is a beautiful pen that I would love to have if not for the prohibitive price. Well, maybe it is better for the pen this way, because you know I would regrind the nib to a cursive italic immediately!

 

About the tree on the nib: It is an oak tree, which is the symbol of the noble Della Rovere family to which the Pope belonged. The tree was a part of his seal and coat of arms. The dome of the pen is also from his coat of arms. I believe it symbolises a ceremonial head-dress.

 

Ha, I never realized but rovere = Latin robur = oak. The man's name would be Oakes in English. Fitting for this old warrior.

[mstone]

...The dome of the pen is also from his coat of arms. I believe it symbolises a ceremonial head-dress.

 

The lady is correct, of course. The top of the cap is modeled on a long abandoned Papal Crown, the "Tiara of the Pontifex Maximus." The tall beehive shaped crown was designed to be taller than any contemporaneous crown of Kings, Queens, or Princes - to show the Pope's higher authority over earthy rulers.

Obligatory wikipedia reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_tiara

[goodguy]

After planing how to attack the little poor squirel Zuzik found the time to look at the new Pope.

 

Well he was shocked,absolutly shocked.

He stood looking at it from a distance surounding it and in the end he put his paws at it and with a raised tail he told me this is the best pen I have.

 

I knew he has a good taste.

 

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture003-9.jpg

[PenTieRun]

Whew! Now I can sleep tonight. Finally a pen that's almost as pretty as the kitty.

[Ghost Plane]

No review is complete without Zuzik's rating. :meow:

[goodguy]

No review is complete without Zuzik's rating. :meow:

You could say he is the Mascot of my reviews

[bphollin]

goodguy, every time you write a review of a MB it makes me wish I was through with my degree and earning the big bucks! congrats on acquiring such a fine pen.

[troglokev]

No review is complete without Zuzik's rating. :meow:

You could say he is the Mascot of my reviews

Good to see the prowl of admiration has been given. Great review, and enjoy the pen!

[goodguy]

Goodguy, it's nice to follow your MB collection grow. Your reviews are always a pleasure to read.

This time I'm sorry but I am going to say: the 149 beat the POA 4-0.

 

- ink window

- stunning nib it's twice bigger

- dual tone nib

- classic look I can use it outside my room with no problem

 

Plus, I guess the 149 it's half the price!

Anyway, thank you for the review. And, yes, of course we are waiting for the strike to get the standard pic!

 

Cheers,

Thank you for the kind words.

I must admit the 149 is still the queen of my collection and in many ways you are right in what you say about the 149 vs the Pope.I think the Pope is based on the 146 and that why it is smaller and slimmer then the 149.

There is something magical about the 149 that makes it so unique without being flashy.

 

By the way the 149 isnt half the price of the Poped.As a second hand the 149 is worth about 20% of the Pope.

Edited December 1, 2008 by goodguy

[duna]

goodguy, I am very glad that you finally got this pen, enjoy it! It is a beautiful pen that I would love to have if not for the prohibitive price. Well, maybe it is better for the pen this way, because you know I would regrind the nib to a cursive italic immediately!

 

About the tree on the nib: It is an oak tree, which is the symbol of the noble Della Rovere family to which the Pope belonged. The tree was a part of his seal and coat of arms. The dome of the pen is also from his coat of arms. I believe it symbolises a ceremonial head-dress.

 

Both correct. Della Rovere in italian means 'of the Oak' , so the tree is the symbol and the name of the family.

The cap is clearly reminiscent of a papal tiara (or triregno, in italian, meaning something like three kingdoms, the lowest for mundane authority, the middle for spiritual authority and the upper one for moral authority ) , a special type of 'multicrown' made for popes, one over the other in three 'concentrical' rings, over a central ogive. It was a special high cap used until ca. 1970 for ceremonial purposes (like papal coronations and so on) but discontinued by Paul VI and never used since. Still used in the coat of arms of the vatican city.

Probably this ancient 'hat' had some attraction in the past, beyond sumptuous aesthetic, if is true that the Sultan managed to obtain a more intricate one, made of 5 crowns, to demonstrate to be no inferior to the Pope.

[Deirdre]

No review is complete without Zuzik's rating. :meow:

Exactly! I'm glad Zuzik approves.

[goodguy]

No review is complete without Zuzik's rating. :meow:

Exactly! I'm glad Zuzik approves.

Yes all is well again now that the paw is raised with approval :meow:

 

[Brian]

A very rich looking pen and certainly not for everyone. For sure this is the kind of pen that begins to cross my imaginary barrier when a pen becomes a scepter or object of art much more than it represents the fine writing instrument that it is. I like the artistic combination of white and gold overlay that only adds to this richness.

 

Congratulations on this interesting pen.

[Daedalus1]

Thank you for a great review. This Pope Julius II is the best looking of all limited edition from MB to me.

A highly collectible item indeed. Bravo! goodguy.

[breaker]

very nice review

[goldenkrishna]

Hello goodhuy,

 

Thanks for sharing your joy on this lovely Pope.

I also love p cats they make me think of girls, i.e. they are beautiful, elegant, nice to touch & to kiss, have a mind of their own. It is just a pity that girls don't purr.

 

With love,

 

goldenkrishna

[goodguy]

Hello goodhuy,

 

Thanks for sharing your joy on this lovely Pope.

I also love p cats they make me think of girls, i.e. they are beautiful, elegant, nice to touch & to kiss, have a mind of their own. It is just a pity that girls don't purr.

 

With love,

 

goldenkrishna

Agreed and thats why I love cats and the other sex, thank god for woman the world would be a very sad place without them

[jar]

Hello goodhuy,

 

Thanks for sharing your joy on this lovely Pope.

I also love p cats they make me think of girls, i.e. they are beautiful, elegant, nice to touch & to kiss, have a mind of their own. It is just a pity that girls don't purr.

 

With love,

 

goldenkrishna

Agreed and thats why I love cats and the other sex, thank god for woman the world would be a very sad place without them

 

My cat said that there were two kinds of people and she didn't like either of them.