Solitaire 1469 And Desk Set

[fpupulin]

Several years ago, on the web pages of an auction site I can not remember the name of, I saw for the first time the images of a desk set from the Solitaire series by Montblanc. The set included a pen holder, an inkwell and a blotter, made of lead crystal and silver, plus of course a Solitaire pen, in that case a Meisterstück 146 in the Pinstripe finish. The set was photographed with a clear, transparent light, almost without shadows, and the warm color of silver made a beautiful contrast with the crystal's cold transparency. I found it, just plain, beautiful.

 

I must admit that, among the various models that Montblanc has proposed over the years, the design of the Meisterstück desk set in lead crystal, both in its black resin version with golden finishes, as in the silver version, is my favorite. I find it of a very elegant simplicity, of an essential sobriety rendered less austere by the reflections of the transparent crystal and by the thin golden lines that add further warm lights. The inkwell and the pen holder, but still more the blotter to dry the ink, are real jewels, designed to add a touch of class to any desk.

 

At the time of my first meeting, I did not believe that soon I would go hunting for my own silver set.

 

Now, the most difficult part of hunting was to understand where to start. The Solitaire desk set must have been produced during the nineties of the last century, and the possibility of finding all the elements new, or at least used with love, was quite remote. I finished to realize that, of all the components of the set, the easiest to achieve was just the pen and the most difficult, the pen holder, because the “tulip" is specifically dedicated to the pen model. In the resin desk set, tulips were made for the 149, 146, and 144 pens. In the Solitaire series, only for the 146 and the 144. So I had to start from the pen holder!

 

Five years ago, or down there, the beginning was not the best. I bought what, on the paper, was offered as a new pen holder, in its original packaging. Upon arrival, the packaging was still in good condition, but the “tulip" of the pen holder had broken off, detaching itself from the pivoting base, and had been very badly adjusted with glue visible on each side, and moreover hung up crooked! I thought that, if things would turn out as they have started, my hunt was going to be (bleep).

Fortunately, Montblanc's repair service came to my aid. For a price that I consider really modest, in Hamburg they replaced the broken part with a flaming new cap, and the “tulip" of my pen holder returned to shine in all its original beauty. I found it extraordinary that at the headquarters of Montblanc they kept spare parts of a product that was no longer sold for at least ten years, and maybe more.

The original seller, aware of his misdeed, offered as "reparation" to send me for free a silver inkwell of the same set. Suddenly, things started to walk quite well …

I had to wait another couple of years for a Solitaire blotter to appear in Ebay for a price, let's say, reasonable. In the following months two more appeared, at better prices every time, but my misdeed was already done… I recovered a little the next year, when the price of a new Solitaire inkwell, in the original packaging, convinced me that it was better to have a pair: I say this only for reasons of symmetry, he he he.

In the meantime, my wife sent to make a console, a copy of a simple and elegant Empire-style piece of furniture, complete with little paw feet in a different colored wood, and a cream-colored, just mottled marble shelf. The "house" for my set was ready.

 

At this point, only the pen was missing. I wanted a 146 (to fit in the pen holder) and I wanted it in the Pinstripe design, which I find more masculine, if this could mean something in a silver pen... The Solitaires 146 Pinstripe are not rare stuff, but they are rather pricey.

But you know, the beauty of hunting is to stay there crouched for the time necessary for the best prey to appear. Without haste, I searched and looked for and waited. Finally, last year's summer, the right pen (NOS) at the right price made its appearance on an Italian online sales page.

From that moment on, the finally complete set waited for me in Italy until the recent Christmas holidays, when I picked it up to take it home with me here in Costa Rica. And here it is …

 

 

 

 

You will have to agree that the symmetry was important...

Thanks for reading.

[Tom Kellie]

~ fpupuplin:

 

Thank you for sharing these photographs with us.

The lily and red ink in the final image are striking.

The lovely handwriting samples are on what appears to be high quality paper.

Nice!

Tom K.

[Mr.Rene]

[zaddick]

A lovely set worth the hunt. I hope you can enjoy it for many years to come.

[Kalessin]

Fantastic story, and excellent pictures. Thank you!

[Soot]

Great story on hunting the whole set down! And great pictures! Thanks for sharing with us!

Edited March 5, 2018 by Soot

[Chrissy]

What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it with us. I'm pleased it all came together in the end.

[CS388]

Well done on collecting the whole set. It certainly took some effort on your behalf, but your patience has paid off - it looks great (and wonderfully photographed, as always).

 

Congratulations. Hope you enjoy it in good health.

[jmccarty3]

Congratulations on putting this beautiful set together!

[thygreyt]

Wow... just wow

[16m3mx]

That is an awesome desk set! Congratulations and thanks for sharing with us.

 

Luis A.

[dannyboy]

Your patience and diligence have paid off with stunning results! Congratulations! I always enjoy your posts--the stories and writing as well as the superb photographs. Your entries in this site are an inspiration to us all--thank you!

[Kalessin]

These are beautiful!

 

My desk at home would be far too humble for the solitaire set... even for the black resin plastic set...

[CAG_1787]

Absolutely stunning! Congratulations on your good fortune in finding all the parts, and applause for your patience in waiting for them. I hope you get to enjoy it for many, many years to come.

[Pen Nut]

Brilliant post and photos ! I am also a solitaire fan and have 'messed about' with various desk pen sets but never had the complete package as you are now the lucky owner of.

 

Still have this but seldom use it.

 

My pictures are awful !

 

Enjoy you pens in good health for years to come.

Edited March 5, 2018 by Pen Nut

[farazqamar]

I fully agree with you on the symmetry. What an absolutely gorgeous set and your photographs are what my wife would call very artistically done. Thank you for sharing this amazing story of your hunt.

[Bruce Bailey]

What a beautiful desk set! My interest is in fact the information that tulips were produced in the resin desk sets for 149, 146 and 144 pens.

I have an Alexander Dumas (writers edition) fountain pen which I love to use.

However the process of unscrewing the cap and replacing it each time means that it not really useful to make quick notes.

The solution would be a Desk Set Pen Holder. I have a vintage 1960s desk set that works well for the quick note taking scenario.

Has anyone any idea if I could obtain a tulip that would screw into the old base and accomodate my 149 size Dumas pen.

[agentdaffy007]

Hi,

 

I have the same deskset but in black resin. I sent my MB 149 pen stand to Montblanc Canada and they ordered 2 months ago a new tulip that does not have any threads so I could just put my MB 149 Calligraphy in it.

 

As for the MB Dumas which is the same size as my MB Hemingway I presume, would not fit completely inside the tulip since it is a bit too stubby. I would see the ink window of my MB Hemingway and that annoys me too much.

 

But if I was you, I would order a penwell from goodmadebetter.com

Beautiful pen stand. Top quality. I have 3 of them in gloss black.

[stric75]

All this (the story, photography and the set) are very lovely indeed.