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Montblanc Hemingway - over $3000?


kamog

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Hi everyone, 

 

FPN newbie here. Does anyone know what is going on with the price of the Montblanc Hemingway? I've been following listings, and they are usually sold around the $2000-2800 range. 

 

Currently, there is a Hemingway on eBay sold by user: stylomaniak on auction with 4 days to go. 

 

The current bid price is already $3250, and I can only see this price going even higher - perhaps in the $4000 range. 

 

This feels massively overvalued to me. What is going on? Is this now the going price for a Hemingway? 

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It seems to me that one on Ebay is in particularly good condition, especially its packaging.  But I wouldn't have a precise idea of what constitutes good value for a Hemingway.

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If you search "sold" and "completed" you'll see Hemingway FP's going for less.

As you no doubt saw, FP's with boxes and papers go for  more.

Lower prices are out there, but you have to look and be a bit lucky.

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It's a bit disheartening. It always seems to be slightly out of reach. 

 

Are pen shows better for finding these Hemingways? 

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This pen has always been a winner in value, the 139 nib may be the reason.

 

I humbly note that my Proust is getting up there as well. 

 

Don't worry, there are lots of financial flop WE's that are excellent pens.

 

and don't pay attention to sites offering you a Hemingway or Carnegie for $20.

 

 

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The Proust is definitely a stunning pen! If only I have the funds, I'd get the Christie, Dumas, Proust, and the Kafka... But alas! I do not. 

 

What do you mean by the Hemingways or Carnegies being $20? I've never seen them be that low! I'd imagine it'd be a sumgai incident. 

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15 minutes ago, kamog said:

The Proust is definitely a stunning pen! If only I have the funds, I'd get the Christie, Dumas, Proust, and the Kafka... But alas! I do not. 

 

What do you mean by the Hemingways or Carnegies being $20? I've never seen them be that low! I'd imagine it'd be a sumgai incident. 

 

People put up a new post asking if a site offering MBs for peanuts are legit, should they give their credit card info to the company...  :D sometimes in bunches

 

These pens are expensive, and should only be bought on impulse or celebrating a massive investment banking bonus, or gifts from that bonus.

 

My Verne is a dud to write with, too small unposted and the cap is a boat anchor; the Proust balances perfectly when screw-on posted.

 

Handling LEs at the boutique showed me any LE is a great pen, your personal quirks will lean toward some, but many never rose dramatically above the $700-1,000 original sale price.

 

[The Schiller was impressive, but less ornate than others, in my hand and isn't an insane price in the market]

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Ha! Luckily, I'm not that naive (anymore), and understand that these pens are very valuable, and if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is. 

 

I've been saving up for a while for a Hemingway. With the prices I'm seeing today, it feels like I have to save quite a bit more. 

 

Honestly just feel like i should just get a 149 instead, and just end the collection there. Perhaps a 75th anniversary, or maybe wait a few more years for the 100th anniversary (2024-maybe?).

 

But the choice to just perhaps choose a modern LE is tempting. The Le Petit Prince series seems to be very interesting, and the aesthetic and history calls to me. 

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3 minutes ago, kamog said:

Ha! Luckily, I'm not that naive (anymore), and understand that these pens are very valuable, and if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is. 

 

I've been saving up for a while for a Hemingway. With the prices I'm seeing today, it feels like I have to save quite a bit more. 

 

Honestly just feel like i should just get a 149 instead, and just end the collection there. Perhaps a 75th anniversary, or maybe wait a few more years for the 100th anniversary (2024-maybe?).

 

But the choice to just perhaps choose a modern LE is tempting. The Le Petit Prince series seems to be very interesting, and the aesthetic and history calls to me. 

 

you can't go wrong with the 149.

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A wise move was getting to know someone with a large collection that liked to "get liquidity" on occasion and sold me pens for a reasonable price.

 

I have my grail Proust, a modest price at the time,  and would sooner buy 5 really goods pens rather than another pen that would give me a heart attack if I thought I'd lost it.

 

My 149 came well used, knowingly, from ebay and HQ fixed it for the same price of the auction and the total was still well below a new one.

 

 

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I'm the only person I know in my peer group completely enamoured with fountain pens, unfortunately. But that sounds like a great relationship. 

 

If it's not too much to ask, can you please speak more on why the Proust is your grail pen? I understand these sentiments can sometimes be very hard to express, but it would be quite interesting to hear! 

 

It's funny, I used to shun the 149 when I first started using fountain pens. Now, after multiple fountain pens with multiple manufacturers, it really feels like nothing can replace it. 

 

Was Montblanc HQ able to polish up the body also? 

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2 hours ago, SpecTP said:

 

you can't go wrong with the 149.

Indeed! Which 149(s?) do you have? 

 

Half of me wants to hold out for the 100th anniversary edition. If the 75th and 90th editions were any sign of what's to come, it looks like Montblanc will hit it out of the park for the 100th as well. 

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16 hours ago, kamog said:

Indeed! Which 149(s?) do you have? 

 

Half of me wants to hold out for the 100th anniversary edition. If the 75th and 90th editions were any sign of what's to come, it looks like Montblanc will hit it out of the park for the 100th as well. 

 

I have 2x 'standard' 149's, one from the 80's and one from the 90's. both have been serviced by MB so some parts don't match up to the original, but both are excellent pens. I also have a 149 calligraphy pending delivery.

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34 minutes ago, SpecTP said:

 

I have 2x 'standard' 149's, one from the 80's and one from the 90's. both have been serviced by MB so some parts don't match up to the original, but both are excellent pens. I also have a 149 calligraphy pending delivery.

Nice! That's probably one of the strong points for Montblanc for me. They'll service mostly any pen from any era (mostly!). 

 

Cheers, 

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I blew a chance to pick one up at $650 a couple of years ago at a pen show. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I purchased my Hemingway when they came out. I liked the vintage appearance of the pen. I thought then that I would purchase the subsequent writers' series pens, but none of them has impressed me. I would recommend getting a 149. They are great pens. If you are so inclined, a 149 Calligraphy is fun to use. I have heard mixed reports on whether they are a limited edition or a continuing product. In either case, I would rather have a 146, a 149, and a 149 Calligraphy than a $3000 Hemingway. Of course, I already have a Hemingway. 

"One can not waste time worrying about small minds . . . If we were normal, we'd still be using free ball point pens." —Bo Bo Olson

 

"I already own more ink than a rational person can use in a lifetime." —Waski_the_Squirrel

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to list all my pens down here.

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Like Frank C., I purchased my Hemingway new. It seemed to be a flop when it came out, because I paid $400 and the store acknowledged "these are not moving". Also like Frank C., the homage to the 139 design with the interesting color scheme appealed to me...and it still does.

 

At that time, MB readily (and promptly) ground nibs "to spec": I had an oblique medium made by the factory for my pen at no added cost. I kept the box, papers, booklet and so on but - as I knew I would never part with it - I had my name engraved by the factory (also for free) on the cap.

 

This pen served as my daily writer for at least a decade and now - because of lack of parts availability and cost - I only use it at home. Nonetheless, it's my favorite MB pen and the only modern one (aside from a 90th/149) I own.

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18 minutes ago, KAC said:

Like Frank C., I purchased my Hemingway new. It seemed to be a flop when it came out, because I paid $400 and the store acknowledged "these are not moving". Also like Frank C., the homage to the 139 design with the interesting color scheme appealed to me...and it still does.

 

At that time, MB readily (and promptly) ground nibs "to spec": I had an oblique medium made by the factory for my pen at no added cost. I kept the box, papers, booklet and so on but - as I knew I would never part with it - I had my name engraved by the factory (also for free) on the cap.

 

This pen served as my daily writer for at least a decade and now - because of lack of parts availability and cost - I only use it at home. Nonetheless, it's my favorite MB pen and the only modern one (aside from a 90th/149) I own.

I recall that they sold very slowly. I considered getting a second one at the time, but did't. My local boutique sent mine back to Hamburg for service a few years ago; I don't recall what the problem was. It is still going strong, now. 

"One can not waste time worrying about small minds . . . If we were normal, we'd still be using free ball point pens." —Bo Bo Olson

 

"I already own more ink than a rational person can use in a lifetime." —Waski_the_Squirrel

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to list all my pens down here.

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It's interesting to see how things have changed.

 

BTW, for me(a non-owner) the pen is appealing for two reasons-the 139 form factor combined with the red/orange and black aesthetics, the latter not unlike another favorite pen of mine, the Parker "Big Red" Duofold.

 

At the same time, prices are creeping up now to where it's almost less expensive to buy a 139 and enjoy the great pre-war nibs on them...

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The increase of the price of the Hemingway is something interesting. In the initial months of the marketing of the Hemingway the combination of colours was the deterrent for many people to buy them as was also the price .it was more expensive that  the 149 at the time. But if you see how many brands had produced pens with a similar combination of colours the Hemingway it seems that the orange/dark brown or black colours were slow to be liked by the general pen users but got a good demand. Also the Hemingway was one of the first pens issued as limited edition in a well thought series that linked writers with pens that is now a reference to many other brands but none as successful as the writers pens.

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