The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[fpupulin]

@Lam1, @Opooh, @como, and all the other dear pen pals on this forum, the flexible Montblanc 149 Calligraphy, the star of these pages, is nothing more than an excuse now to continue encouraging the use of the pen—any pen—for what it ultimately is, beyond its beauty: a writing instrument.

 

The 149 Calligraphy, without a doubt, does its job well. But deep down, I know that any scribble is better than no scribble, any pen is better than no pen at all.

 

And a camera is another excuse to take a moment for yourself, with the light on the paper, the reflections of the pen, time frozen in a snapshot. We're not here to create masterpieces, but to leave a memory of how rewarding it is to live with our pens and the discoveries they spark every day.

[fpupulin]

And just to stay on the topic of writing, here are a couple more English cursive styles that I've added to my "Alphabet Notebook":

 

 

Beautiful, these clean letters, the narrow ovals of the lowercase, the simple letter "x".

 

 

But these variations are also very interesting. The "X" now made complex, the beautiful "P," the "N" unlike any other, the "E" executed with a single stroke, which tests the excellence of the nib....

[Opooh]

@fpupulin admiring these pieces of art, I have that picture of a medieval monk copying the Bible in the scriptorium of a monastery.

[fpupulin]

Ah, dear @Opooh, I wish I had the time that the Cistercian monks dedicated to calligraphy... In reality, my "calligraphic space" is mostly limited to the evening, and the time dedicated to photographing my scribbles is in the early hours of the morning. 

 

Here is a photograph stolen at first light in my studio, with the camera held freehand (thanks to a new handle that allows it to be kept more stable).

 

[wefer]

I'm curious if you can compare it with the thickness of Pilot 743 FA 15 nib, is it same or less or more (I mean against Calligraphy 149)?

[Opooh]

@fpupulin for the pictures, is it only daylight or do you use artificial light or a real studio. When you use filters, are they real hardware filters or are they fotoshopped?

[Christopher Godfrey]

<I'm curious if you can compare it with the thickness of Pilot 743 FA 15 nib...>

 

Me, too.  I also have one of those and have long said that I think its flexibility is almost as good as any of my vintage Pelikans -- and <maybe> close to my old Omas pens...I wonder if Franco has even tried such a mundane pen as a Pilot?  (I'm smiling in anticipation of your response, Franco!)

 

@wefer: do you have the Flexible Nib Factory's ebonite feed installed in yours?

[fpupulin]

@wefer, @Christopher Godfrey, from what I've read and seen, the Pilot 743 Falcon 15 nib is an extraordinary tool for the type of calligraphy that requires a flexible tip and fine lines. I don't distinguish between ordinary and exciting pens, but only between those I like best and those I don't. Don't forget that, as I've noted on other pages of this forum, I came to calligraphy, so to speak, "by ricochet," due to my passion for writing and for fountain pens. After so many years, the order of things remains unchanged for me.

 

I equally enjoy some of my Omas and Montegrappas that have no calligraphic capabilities, but gorgeous soft and responsive nibs, mounted on dazzlingly beautiful celluloid bodies, as well as a "humble" Pelikan Ibis with a delightful medium oblique nib, which is more suited to calligraphy than everyday writing. What these pens have in common, as do some vintage and modern Duofolds, is that they're all pens I like, sometimes for different reasons. They all write well (I have a lot of patience with pens that I like and maybe they don't write well right away), and some even have features that make them suitable for calligraphy, although this is not the first quality I look for in a pen.

 

The 149 Calligraphy Flexible is a bit of a special case, because it combines my favorite pen for shape, ergonomics, and perfect functionality with a nib that's incredibly good for writing and excellent for some calligraphy styles. It's, in a way, almost the ideal pen for someone like me, who has owned and used a 149 since I was nineteen, now 45 years ago...

 

The Pilot 743 is a bit small for my taste and for my usual way of holding a pen. Furthermore—and I know this is highly subjective—in my opinion, it suffers from the "short filler cone syndrome" that many Japanese pens suffer from. I understand that, being a converter- or cartridge-filling pen, the filler cone on a Pilot has no true function, but then I would much prefer it without the little ring separating the barrel from an unnecessarily short fake filler cone. In this sense - but once again these are highly questionable personal tastes - I find a Meisterstück 146 or a Parker Duofold much more functional and/or aesthetically proportioned, to speak of pens that are roughly the same size.

 

So, while the Falcon nib may well be an excellent calligraphy nib, perhaps better than the ones I use, the odds of a Pilot 743 entering my stable are honestly quite low, without taking anything away from its well-recognized merits.

[wefer]

Chris, I wanted to order one however shipping turned out to be more expensive than the feed (40$) so I asked a friend to bring one. And he is coming back tonight, not sure if he bought it. But I definitely need it. I have two issues with the Pilot: it is more springy (stiff) than my Pelikan M1000 which has a considerable amount of flex, and second issue is that to achieve the maximum flex (to get that thickest line) I need to press it considerably and then the flow mostly stops (proper railroading). So, I wanted to know if I lose a lot by not owning 149 Calligraphy (cause I like it very much and they are gone).

[invisuu]

I've had Pilot Custom 823 with FA nib installed for years as my favorite pen (an upgrade over the 743), but the moment I touched the 149 calligraphy I basically never picked up the 823 again. Excellent pen, excellent nib, I even got an excellent feed that did not require ebonite feed, but it's not even remotely comparable. The line variation is perhaps 1/3 of the Montblanc.

 

And let me reiterate, I absolutely LOVE the #15 FA nib.

[fpupulin]

On 10/24/2025 at 3:27 PM, Opooh said:

@fpupulin for the pictures, is it only daylight or do you use artificial light or a real studio. When you use filters, are they real hardware filters or are they fotoshopped?

Dear @Opooh, my magister is always natural light, rather oblique and, if I can presume of myself, a bit Caravaggesca. This means that I usually like taking photographs under a dim rather than a strong light. Depending on the time of day available for my photographs, natural light is sometimes insufficient, so I try to imitate its effects with three studio flashes of varying power—600W, 400W, and 200W—and a number of modifiers.

Since I always work with the camera mounted on a tripod, I have the time I need to arrange lights and reflections to my liking. In any case, as you may have noticed, since my photos often contain a sheet of paper, I try to ensure that its color doesn't "hurt" the eye with excessive brightness.

 

I don't use filters, either physical or digital. The only freedom I allow myself in post-production is to lighten the shadows on the pens and nibs, so that their volume and patterns can be better appreciated in dim light.

 

In fact, with the camera on a tripod and sufficient light, a window covered with a clear curtain and a reflector are all I need for most of the photos I take. I mean that completely seriously.

 

Of course, there are shots that require a more “complicated” set and a scheme of illumination more elaborated.

 

[fpupulin]

I really can't say how much fun I'm having with this pen...

 

[Opooh]

On 10/27/2025 at 2:14 AM, fpupulin said:

 

 

Just stunning , one would say it is a 3D picture. The Akkerman inkwell is the star in this picture

[fpupulin]

22 hours ago, Opooh said:

Just stunning , one would say it is a 3D picture. The Akkerman inkwell is the star in this picture

 

It is a very special bottle, which. I like a lot. The one in the pic is the "senior size", while normal Akkerman bottle are smaller, but equally lovable. The SBRE Brown is my ink of election for several of my Omas pen in Arco brown celluloid. When you write with that ink, you get the impression that the pen is literally melting on the paper...

 

Here I gratuitously post another shot of the same set, with an Omas Extra Arco Brown.

 

 

[fpupulin]

After so much English cursive, which has vaguely obsessed me lately (and my Alphabet Notebook hasn't budged from it yet, with a dozen variations), I felt like jotting down a line in American cursive, the typical Spencerian type.

 

I'll show you the line in question below, confessing that I enjoyed the greater freedom and speed of Spencerian compared to Copperplate.

 

 

And I'll take this opportunity to tell you that, since the black pad of my bookplate stamp is now worn enough to stamp as if it were gray, I thought it would be a good idea to order a pair of pads in new colors, made in China by a master of these things. Among the many colors, I chose "Ochre" and "Grass Green," trusting the cover (the lid of the box).

 

As you can probably see in the photo, the ochre is actually almost a light orange, and the grass green has nothing to do with the sober green of the box, but is a bright, vibrant green, which I'd say isn't quite my cup of tea.

 

The same thing, staying on the subject of greens, happens to me with Montblanc Irish Green ink. Every now and then I get an irresistible craving for it, for its vividness and saturation, but after a page, I "turn" the page, wash the pen, and start again with a less saturated color.

 

Returning to the stamp, I picked up my faded black ink pad, and I think I'll stick with that. It's also a richer color, which adheres better to the rubber stamp and transfers to the paper with greater clarity.

[fpupulin]

Back to the "Notebook of the Alphabets":

 

 

[Opooh]

@fpupulin I see the perfect pencil is also one of your favorites.

[invisuu]

... and a Hasselblad ... the man has great taste ... 

[fpupulin]

@Opooh, indeed, the "Perfect Pencil" by Graf von Faber Castel is one of my favorite tools, always at hand, and for several good reasons. First, as its name suggests, it has everything you need in one place: the pencil, the sharpener, the eraser, and the pencil extender when the pencil gets too short. Second, the Perfect Pencil comes in a beautiful and spacious wooden box that lives permanently on my desk, holding all the pencils I use, in addition to the Perfect one. Finally, simply by changing the color of the pencil (not the lead, but the wooden barrel), from black to cognac, to green, to fuchsia, to orange, the Perfect Pencil looks different every time, to match the mood of the day.

[fpupulin]

@invisuu, my desk is often cluttered with objects that represent my lifelong passions. Photography (with Hasselblad as my special brand of choice), writing (here too, I have some decidedly favorite brands), watchmaking, a passion passed down from my grandmother and father (I devote myself less to it, for reasons of budget...), and, less visible but no less important to me, my microscopes. I own nine, which I use constantly for work and occasionally for fun, photographing a few, good-looking nibs.