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The first time I saw the 149 in a review, I seriously couldn’t get the hype. It looked uninspiring being a boring round top pen with gold trim albeit with a breathtakingly beautiful gold nib. I’d always wanted to try the pen if not, just for the nib. When I got around to finally trying it, at my very first Pelikan Hub (better times, eh?) in 2017, I was hooked. Understanding why the pen was revered as an icon, I wanted to own one someday. And I got my very first 149, one from the 1970s, a few months ago, and here are my thoughts about it. Design and Construction: The pen is huge! It has rounded ends, with the iconic Montblanc star on the cap end. The cap is pretty much straight throughout with the barrel tapering then bulging slightly, and finally tapering to the end. The section is straight without any curves to it and ends in a frustum-like lip, indicating the one-piece construction. The clip widens slightly towards the end and has no bend to it. The center band contains the engraving ‘MONTBLANC – MEISTERSTUCK NO149’ and is surrounded by two thinner bands. The ring at top of the cap is part of the clip and the one at the end is part of the piston filling mechanism. The material used is their ‘precious resin’ which feels light and is quite scratch resistance in my experience. I polished the pen the day I’d received it and in over 4-5 months, I’ve not had many scratches where the cap screws onto the barrel. The pen itself is put together well and feels very well made. Filling Mechanism: The 149 has a piston filling mechanism and holds quite a bit of ink. I’ve not measured it but one fill did last a few days when it wasn’t vacation and I had to write notes from online lectures. Since mine is an old pen, I had to lubricate the piston mechanism and I used a cut, bent, and filed paper clip to disassemble both the piston mechanism and the nib unit. Writing Comfort: I am quite versed with big pens having used oversized handmade Indian pens, but the 149 took some time getting used to, mainly because of the huge nib. The straight section feels slightly weird to grip and causes fatigue after a long writing session. I much prefer the M1000 section. The pen is well balanced though. Nib and Writing Experience: The nib looks stunning, let me just get that out of the way. It’s a bi-color 14c and is paired with a solid ebonite feed. Initially, I had a few issues with ink flow I did a heat-set but that did nothing. I then realized that the feed had been set too close to the nib and this was causing some issue with the seating, lifting the nib off the feed. So, I gently pulled the nib and feed and it came off very easily, without needing a knockout block. Once I set the feed further back and did a heat set, it was flush with the nib. The previous owner had ground the nib a bit to his liking, so I had to adjust it to suit my writing. I’ve inked it with Lamy Petrol and it writes a medium line, with ample wetness. The nib also has a bit of softness to it and that was something I had to get used to since all the pens I’d used before it were hard nails. Final Thoughts: I do not regret my purchase one bit, and I would love to get more 149s in the future. That pretty much sums it up .