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Montegrappa 302 Vs Sheaffer Targa 1006X


jar

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As promised, we are at the end of this series of reviews on Sterling Silver pens and I thought it might be fun to end with a comparison of two somewhat similar flat top cylindrical pens that were made about twenty years apart, the Sheaffer 1006x and the Montegrappa 302, both fitted with a medium nib.

 

The two pens are about the same length, about the same diameter and were sold in the pretty much typical of the day faux leather boxes, but there the similarities end.

 

http://www.fototime.com/65BB7F3C894EE94/standard.jpg

The Sheaffer Targa 1006x was introduced in the mid to late 1970s and is a Sterling Silver overlay with the classic Sheaffer inlaid nib, using the Sheaffer cartridge or converter and came with the old style squeeze converter. It is a squared grid pattern and has aged well.

 

http://www.fototime.com/6ED1DED0B9D8597/standard.jpg

It is a slip cap pen and like just about every Sheaffer pen I've ever owned started right up with no effort even after sitting for way too many decades unused. I dropped in an old Sheaffer cartridge, let it sit for a minute or two capped with the nib down and as soon as I touched the paper it started writing. By the end of the line it was behaving perfectly.

 

The Montegrappa on the other hand is a screw cap design with an open nib and the great Montegrappa roller ball clip that I find just plain works perfectly every time, regardless of the thickness of pocket material. The finish is a basket weave pattern that really plays with light and almost dances with joy when you let it out to play.

 

http://www.fototime.com/33C1A88F8E5F7E2/standard.jpg

The 302 series was made around the early 1990s while the Aquila family still ran the company, before the sale to Richemont Group. It uses the standard international style cartridges and converters and like the Targa, all I did was put in a cartridge, let it sit capped nib down for about two minutes and it was ready to go; it started immediately and was the typical super smooth Montegrappa nib I enjoy so much.

 

http://www.fototime.com/B97FF4FD9FAC83E/standard.jpg

So other than the patterns and one being an inlaid nib, the other an open nib, what are the differences?

 

The Sheaffer is much lighter than the Montegrappa, 28.7 gms as opposed to 36.8 gms.

 

As mentioned, the Sheaffer uses their proprietary cartridge/converter system while Montegrappa uses the international standard.

 

The Montegrappa is a hair longer when posted than the Sheaffer but both are perfectly balanced in my hand.

 

http://www.fototime.com/BCF4F405D4F661C/orig.jpg

When in use, even though both are "medium" nibs, the personalities are totally different. The Sheaffer is a wide medium and tends towards being very wet while the Montegrappa (typical it seems of the pens they made at that time) is a narrow medium that has a moderately wet flow.

 

http://www.fototime.com/049AA7149598EBE/standard.jpg

Which do I prefer?

 

The Montegrappa 302 but only by a narrow margin. Even though the two pens were made decades apart they still fill similar niches and it will come down to personal preference when choosing between them.

 

So we have come to the end of my survey of Sterling Silver pens.

 

We covered:

 

  • Montegrappa Privilege Deco Broad
  • Montegrappa 80th anniversary Broad
  • Montegrappa 302 medium
  • Yard-o-Led Viceroy Victorian Grand Broad
  • Yard-o-Led Viceroy Barleycorn Grand Broad
  • Yard-o-Led Viceroy Victorian Pocket Medium
  • Yard-o-Led Corinthian Medium
  • Waterman Gentleman Fine
  • Sheaffer Legacy Stub
  • Sheaffer Targa 1006x Medium
  • Grifos Medium
  • Ferrari da Varese Savant Medium
  • Ferrari da Varese Yesterday Medium
  • Ferrari da Varese Botticelli MOP Medium
  • Ferrari da Varese pen I call Tony

I hope you good folk have enjoyed this as much as I did.

 

edited to add requisite spelling errors

Edited by jar

 

My Website

 

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Adding a few detail pictures showing the two pens as art work.

 

http://www.fototime.com/4EB73E34C07B0F5/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/417C8E02399A414/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/C05AA58E5F46A69/standard.jpg

 

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