The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[Uncial]

I'm glad to hear that as I only have the 146 versions (the very very soft one that came with the gold leaf and the extra fine springy one that came with the butgundy degrade). I had an opportunity to buy a 149 in Vienna when they first came out. I still regret not buying it.

[como]

7 hours ago, Uncial said:

I'm glad to hear that as I only have the 146 versions (the very very soft one that came with the gold leaf and the extra fine springy one that came with the butgundy degrade). I had an opportunity to buy a 149 in Vienna when they first came out. I still regret not buying it.

Montblanc must have had a huge price increase recently. The now sold out 146C (black resin version) is listed more expensive at 995 Swiss francs than the original retail price of 149C at 955 Swiss francs. Crazy. You did well. I later wanted to buy the gold leaf version or the solitaire burgundy version with the 146C flex nib but can't find them any more. The ruthenium plated M size nib is also nice on gold leaf. Did you get both nibs?

[Uncial]

At the time I bought them they only came with those nibs. I might be wrong but I think it was a short while later after release that they offered a normal nib for the burgundy solitaire.

[wefer]

I was thinking about this for a while and my guess is that the pen enthusiasts are a miniscule group which is probably responsible for great majority of MB pen purchases. I do not think that fountain pens are as fashionable as expensive watches for the nature of their use. And I would guess that pens and in particular fountain pens are a rather miniature part of the total revenue of MB. So fore them it does not really matter what the cost for fountain pens is. They can shoot it up, keep the stock low and build the exclusive brand image even if nobody is buying, as the majority of revenue, I am guessing again, comes from leather goods and perfumes. Not the right sentiment for me as I would like to have one in collection but with the current prices I rather bought Pelikan m1000, Sailor Pro Gear and Pilot 823 for the amount of money which would not be enough for a vulgaris 149. And I really do love the calligraphy version of 149. If they wanted, they could have it stocked for all the fans out there. Even if they sold it at the original retail price it would still sell. And no matter the price they put, it would not affect their business plan of building the global leather goods brand.

[invisuu]

I think the problem is this nib is too much work for them for basically zero upcharge. Why put in effort when you can sell boring fines and mediums, most of their customers don't write anyway, and when they do, it's for a signature just so they can show the company logo off.

 

Their customers base isn't the pen enthusiast, I don't think, it's a) collectors and b) people wanting to show off luxury posessions. This forum is probably a very tiny subset of their real customer base.

[wefer]

I would agree however I am skeptical when it comes to the idea that the nib is too much work. There is some finesse to it but in the end it is a piece of metal pressed out of a metal sheet. It is industrial process which they well perfected over the years, and in case of this pen with some thinner metal and/or a bit of a different design. 

[invisuu]

I have heard that their standard nibs are basically automated from start to finish, testing included, but special nibs like the flex series, obliques, custom grinds etc. have to be manually tuned.

[wefer]

That is quite interesting. It would be great to know how they actually do it.

[como]

22 hours ago, wefer said:

I was thinking about this for a while and my guess is that the pen enthusiasts are a miniscule group which is probably responsible for great majority of MB pen purchases. I do not think that fountain pens are as fashionable as expensive watches for the nature of their use. And I would guess that pens and in particular fountain pens are a rather miniature part of the total revenue of MB. So fore them it does not really matter what the cost for fountain pens is. They can shoot it up, keep the stock low and build the exclusive brand image even if nobody is buying, as the majority of revenue, I am guessing again, comes from leather goods and perfumes. Not the right sentiment for me as I would like to have one in collection but with the current prices I rather bought Pelikan m1000, Sailor Pro Gear and Pilot 823 for the amount of money which would not be enough for a vulgaris 149. And I really do love the calligraphy version of 149. If they wanted, they could have it stocked for all the fans out there. Even if they sold it at the original retail price it would still sell. And no matter the price they put, it would not affect their business plan of building the global leather goods brand.

+1. The resin versions of MB pens are still ok, but the Solitaire etc have become crazily expensive. We are too small a bunch for MB to really care.

[como]

19 hours ago, invisuu said:

I think the problem is this nib is too much work for them for basically zero upcharge. Why put in effort when you can sell boring fines and mediums, most of their customers don't write anyway, and when they do, it's for a signature just so they can show the company logo off.

 

Their customers base isn't the pen enthusiast, I don't think, it's a) collectors and b) people wanting to show off luxury posessions. This forum is probably a very tiny subset of their real customer base.

+1. I know for a fact that this nib has been a giant pain in the rear for MB. Many bought and flexed the life out of the nib and sent it back for repair (mostly under warranty), so the service burden has been too much. Same happened to Scribo flex nibs. Luca Baglione even said so in one of the pen YouTube views.

[kazoolaw]

Which provides some validation to the reason often given for the lack of flex nibs in the market:  people don't know how to use them without damaging them.

[invisuu]

1 hour ago, kazoolaw said:

Which provides some validation to the reason often given for the lack of flex nibs in the market:  people don't know how to use them without damaging them.

There's a review on youtube of a person buying the 149 calligraphy flex and complaining he has to press on the pen to achieve line variation and that he expected it would do it without pressure...so he bought a stub nib instead that does this for him. So he was thoroughly unimpressed with Montblanc. Comment section applauded him for being brave enough to voice his issues with Montblanc.

 

So...yeah. 

[kazoolaw]

38 minutes ago, invisuu said:

complaining he has to press on the pen to achieve line variation and that he expected it would do it without pressure...so he bought a stub nib instead that does this for him

>Yikes<

[fpupulin]

9 hours ago, como said:

+1. The resin versions of MB pens are still ok, but the Solitaire etc have become crazily expensive. We are too small a bunch for MB to really care.

 

I agree with you @como. Time ago, @max dog shown his new Meisterstück Calligraphy Solitaire Burgundy Lacquer with a flexible nib, and I thought he had done the right move, already being the happy owner of a 146 Calligraphy. 

So I went hunting for a pen like this, only to discover that the price of the flexible Solitaire was over €2,500. Way too expensive... 

[wefer]

I do understand that that may be the case, but I wonder is that superficially only or is it really a quantifiable hardship for them? Just think about the numbers, how many people actually send their nibs for tweaking and manual adjustment by a nibmeister, per year; 1000, 500, 100? For a limited edition like this pen, the number is probably way smaller? And considering the price of their normal pens and all the limited editions and the premium paid for them (just for comparison I paid 470 euros for Pelikan M1000, new from a shop) that premium should cover for a lot. I don't think there is money involved. They just don't care. Ink pens and pens in general are a hassle for them and they keep them only because the brand was originally founded as a pen factory. 

 

Yesterday I visited their boutique here in Malaysia and treated myself with a bottle of royal blue. I asked for a flex pen to send myself a postcard and I did get one however it did not have the decorated all-gold of the edition we are mentioning in this thread. It was the usual bicolor nib which was flexing, I think it was 146. Does anyone know which model is this?

[fpupulin]

[Uncial]

On 2/24/2026 at 9:30 AM, wefer said:

I would guess that pens and in particular fountain pens are a rather miniature part of the total revenue

No need to guess. Google will tell you and you can actually look up their sales. They sell 149 fountain pens more than any other product they make - by a very long way.

[fpupulin]

Even when I have nothing to write, even when the paper really doesn't call me, and ultimately I write nothing good or useful, nor anything completely bad or meaningless... I truly love this pen!

 

I could say I love the nib, but it's not that simple. A dear friend once told me I should transplant my beloved Calligraphy nib onto the body of my beloved Hemingway. But no. What I love exactly is this 149, this plump, black torpedo, and the way it ends in a virtuoso tip, a violin string taut for action.

 

[Inked]

On 3/2/2026 at 11:49 AM, fpupulin said:

What I love exactly is this 149, this plump, black torpedo, and the way it ends in a virtuoso tip, a violin string taut for action.

 

Very well said!

 

Inked

[invisuu]

Just some doodling on a slow Friday morning...the words mean nothing, I was just playing with the pen.

 

I am not sure it makes any sense, but I really feel like the nib is getting better after years and years of use. It has better flow, it doesn't railroad anymore with dry inks, and I feel like it spreads faster and snaps back faster. I'm not sure how that would be possible, but I am certain I had issues with ink flow in the past with drier inks, but here it is with Waterman Mysterious Blue, which I wouldn't consider too terribly wet ink, writing like a champ and huge line variation, going from EF to 4/5B, snapping back immediately without any issues whatsoever.

 

I dedicated Aurora black to this pen, because it's a very wet ink that could easily keep up, as I initially had some trouble with dry inks, but now I swapped inks after years of Aurora black and voila!

 

It also feels like it spreads more and more easily as well. Previously I'd say this pen could go from EF/F (depending on wetness of the ink) to maybe 2B/3B, but now it for sure goes from EF to 4 or even 5B, even at slight pressure!

 

Could anyone else give their thoughts? Or am I just getting better at mastering the nib?