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Chatterley Montegrappa Legacy Extra Grande Celluloid Limited Edition Power Push Fountain Pen


christam

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Phew to the thread title - I know it's a long mouthful but that's what the pen is called on the Chatterley site.  I thought about adding this to the Montegrappa Extra thread but it's essentially a different model.  This is in no way a review because the pen only arrived yesterday but I thought some members would appreciate an overview and small comparison with a regular Extra 1930.

 

Mine's the Shiny Circles celluloid with 1.1mm stub nib.

 

763119330_IMG_31342.thumb.jpeg.925697fd45386c359a18f4377d83c38f.jpeg

 

It uses a power push fill system which is new to me with Montegrappa fountain pens.  There are no instructions in the info/warranty booklet but using it is easy and instinctive - it's a very smooth and easy way to fill the pen.

 

IMG_3144.thumb.jpeg.f1c35d62cf25560939b17e81dff0bfa9.jpeg

 

This pen is approx 9mm longer than the Extra 1930 and is substantially heavier.  I prefer pens with some weight so enjoy the feel of this one in the hand:  it's well balanced and subjectively the section is just a touch wider than the Extra 1930, but I don't have any callipers to measure that.  I don't ever post my pens FWIW.

 

IMG_3170.thumb.jpeg.54f3f4e0b649a6fcc099ed15338b98a9.jpeg

 

IMG_3164.thumb.jpeg.e7873cda3f8eb6210ce2e24423277165.jpeg

 

Both pens weighed fully inked:

 

IMG_3156.thumb.jpeg.15b3977bd872532c69e7afd2b424cc38.jpeg

 

IMG_3153.thumb.jpeg.40d1ee2b11e0da0e129c15a6087dfbda.jpeg

 

IMG_3158.thumb.jpeg.1f0ade1dec99bff3865f4f580634b48a.jpeg

 

IMG_3154.thumb.jpeg.ee4e8a30b3d3ec422e8d00e11a8d7ae1.jpeg

 

Delivery to the UK from Arizona was incredibly fast, just 42 hours from the time I pressed the button to the moment it arrived on my doorstep.  I'm really happy with the pen but there are a couple of issues with the nib.  It was slightly scratchy out of the box but so were my other Montegrappa 1.1 stubs and they're both pretty perfect now after some careful smoothing.  Of more concern is inconsistent ink flow, which manifested itself today and had to be resolved by pushing ink into the feed via the power fill.  I'll take another look through the loupe tomorrow and try a different ink, so hopefully I can get things sorted out without having to contact Bryant.

 

If you love Montegrappa celluloids and can cope with a heavy pen I'd recommend this collaboration very highly, but I know the weight (and possibly length) will deter some potential buyers.

 

Edit

Sorry, I misnamed the celluloid on this pen: it’s Shiny Circles, not Shiny Lines as I first typed. I know perfectly well which one mine is too!  Bryant told me the last stocks of both the Shiny Lines and the Malachite celluloids were used for these pens but those are only available to anyone who buys 4 or more of the others. For that reason they’re not shown in the drop-down menu, although they do appear in the photo of the pens in trays at the top of the page. 

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Thank you for showing this. I fell for that finish immediately on seeing it. It looks like they have already run out of it, though, and my bank account is breathing a sigh of relief. 

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The pale gray, blue, and gold together are very beautiful.  I hope you can resolve the problem with the ink flow and enjoy your pen as it deserves to be enjoyed.

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Thank you for posting your new pen for us to see. The shiny circles is a great celluloid. I’m happy that Montegrappa experimented with a new filling system however, my enthusiasm about this release was curbed the moment I noticed the longer barrel and extra second trim ring half way up vs the regular Extra. To me the flow and proportion of the design becomes somewhat compromised to my eye. The extra weight too, sounds concerning. Nonetheless, this is just my opinion and to each their own, it is still a fine pen and that you are enjoying it is all that matters. May you use it in good health!

Short cuts make delays, but inns make longer ones.
Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring, A Short Cut to Mushrooms

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16 hours ago, christam said:

Phew to the thread title - I know it's a long mouthful but that's what the pen is called on the Chatterley site.  I thought about adding this to the Montegrappa Extra thread but it's essentially a different model.  This is in no way a review because the pen only arrived yesterday but I thought some members would appreciate an overview and small comparison with a regular Extra 1930.

 

Mine's the Shiny Circles celluloid with 1.1mm stub nib.

 

763119330_IMG_31342.thumb.jpeg.925697fd45386c359a18f4377d83c38f.jpeg

 

It uses a power push fill system which is new to me with Montegrappa fountain pens.  There are no instructions in the info/warranty booklet but using it is easy and instinctive - it's a very smooth and easy way to fill the pen.

 

IMG_3144.thumb.jpeg.f1c35d62cf25560939b17e81dff0bfa9.jpeg

 

This pen is approx 9mm longer than the Extra 1930 and is substantially heavier.  I prefer pens with some weight so enjoy the feel of this one in the hand:  it's well balanced and subjectively the section is just a touch wider than the Extra 1930, but I don't have any callipers to measure that.  I don't ever post my pens FWIW.

 

IMG_3170.thumb.jpeg.54f3f4e0b649a6fcc099ed15338b98a9.jpeg

 

IMG_3164.thumb.jpeg.e7873cda3f8eb6210ce2e24423277165.jpeg

 

Both pens weighed fully inked:

 

IMG_3156.thumb.jpeg.15b3977bd872532c69e7afd2b424cc38.jpeg

 

IMG_3153.thumb.jpeg.40d1ee2b11e0da0e129c15a6087dfbda.jpeg

 

IMG_3158.thumb.jpeg.1f0ade1dec99bff3865f4f580634b48a.jpeg

 

IMG_3154.thumb.jpeg.ee4e8a30b3d3ec422e8d00e11a8d7ae1.jpeg

 

Delivery to the UK from Arizona was incredibly fast, just 42 hours from the time I pressed the button to the moment it arrived on my doorstep.  I'm really happy with the pen but there are a couple of issues with the nib.  It was slightly scratchy out of the box but so were my other Montegrappa 1.1 stubs and they're both pretty perfect now after some careful smoothing.  Of more concern is inconsistent ink flow, which manifested itself today and had to be resolved by pushing ink into the feed via the power fill.  I'll take another look through the loupe tomorrow and try a different ink, so hopefully I can get things sorted out without having to contact Bryant.

 

If you love Montegrappa celluloids and can cope with a heavy pen I'd recommend this collaboration very highly, but I know the weight (and possibly length) will deter some potential buyers.

 

Edit

Sorry, I misnamed the celluloid on this pen: it’s Shiny Circles, not Shiny Lines as I first typed. I know perfectly well which one mine is too!  Bryant told me the last stocks of both the Shiny Lines and the Malachite celluloids were used for these pens but those are only available to anyone who buys 4 or more of the others. For that reason they’re not shown in the drop-down menu, although they do appear in the photo of the pens in trays at the top of the page. 

 

Very nice celluloid, a novel filling mechanism and an ornate touch with the stone set in the cap band. May you enjoy it in good health

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15 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Thank you for showing this. I fell for that finish immediately on seeing it. It looks like they have already run out of it, though, and my bank account is breathing a sigh of relief. 

 

With apologies to your bank account, I initially typed the wrong name for the celluloid on my pen.  I just checked, and there's still stock of mine available 😈

 

2 hours ago, Ceelo said:

.... my enthusiasm about this release was curbed the moment I noticed the longer barrel and extra second trim ring half way up vs the regular Extra. To me the flow and proportion of the design becomes somewhat compromised to my eye. The extra weight too, sounds concerning.

 

Yes, I know what you mean and that's one reason I chose the Shiny Circles celluloid (although I really wanted it anyway), because the pattern helps disguise the extra trim ring a little.  For a longer writing session the "regular" Extra would always be my first choice but I find the weight of this one perfectly manageable and indeed wrote about 3 sides of A4 yesterday with no hand fatigue.  Thanks for the kind comments, too.

 

@tubular and @newstudent:  thank you for your kind comments.

 

Now I'm off to see whether I can resolve the ink flow issue .........

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2 hours ago, christam said:

With apologies to your bank account, I initially typed the wrong name for the celluloid on my pen.  I just checked, and there's still stock of mine available 😈

I saw the Shiny Circles but the color sure looks different on their site vs. your photos, which is why i thought it was a different finish. Wondering if it is really silver/grey or grayish (but mostly) blue?

 

Fortunately for my bank account, I can also fall back on the weight as a reason not to buy one. 

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2 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

I saw the Shiny Circles but the color sure looks different on their site vs. your photos, which is why i thought it was a different finish. Wondering if it is really silver/grey or grayish (but mostly) blue?

 

Fortunately for my bank account, I can also fall back on the weight as a reason not to buy one. 

 

It's definitely silver/grey.  It never occurred to me that my photos might show the colour differently because on my MacBook's screen the celluloid still looks very similar to the Chatterley photos, just a bit darker - which to my eyes it is.  The limitations of phone photos and lack of editing on my part perhaps.

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3 hours ago, christam said:

 

It's definitely silver/grey.  It never occurred to me that my photos might show the colour differently because on my MacBook's screen the celluloid still looks very similar to the Chatterley photos, just a bit darker - which to my eyes it is.  The limitations of phone photos and lack of editing on my part perhaps.

Okay, thanks. Then I'm not so enamored of it if it's grey. Whew, dodged another bullet.

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That's a beautiful pen. Thanks for posting this. I hope that you get your nib sorted out, soon.

"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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9 hours ago, Frank C said:

That's a beautiful pen. Thanks for posting this. I hope that you get your nib sorted out, soon.

 

Thank you, particularly as I know from several threads that you've got some (many) beautiful pens.

 

Sadly, I think the ink flow issue is something I'm going to have to raise with Bryant.  It seems to be related to the fill system, which doesn't appear to be pushing ink into the feed without manual help.  I store my pens horizontally and yesterday this one started writing even though I'd put it away the night before after it ran "dry", so it would seem the ink can get to the feed:  it just doesn't happen while writing.  I'm going to do some more writing with it this afternoon to see if anything's changed but I'm not too hopeful.

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Update

Typing "not too hopeful" in the last post must have prompted the Good Luck Fairy to sit on my shoulder this afternoon.  My eyesight isn't great so I wasn't sure I could rely on what I thought I could see through the loupe, namely that the nib tines seemed to be touching at the tip.  Nonetheless I've been doing some careful flossing with a brass shim during the past couple of days (I didn't dare try the press-on-a-hard-surface method in case it caused irreversible splaying), and it finally seems to have had a beneficial effect.  Ta-da and beating of drums ...... this afternoon I wrote 3 sides of A4 without the nib running dry.  Previous best was one side of A4.

 

I might even be able to go back to using other pens now!  

 

This is my 5th Montegrappa with the number 8 nib and the only one to have exhibited such a problem but it's good to know the  fill system is almost certainly working as it should, despite my earlier doubts.

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On 7/20/2021 at 7:02 AM, christam said:

 

Thank you, particularly as I know from several threads that you've got some (many) beautiful pens.

 

Sadly, I think the ink flow issue is something I'm going to have to raise with Bryant.  It seems to be related to the fill system, which doesn't appear to be pushing ink into the feed without manual help.  I store my pens horizontally and yesterday this one started writing even though I'd put it away the night before after it ran "dry", so it would seem the ink can get to the feed:  it just doesn't happen while writing.  I'm going to do some more writing with it this afternoon to see if anything's changed but I'm not too hopeful.

I understand that Montegrappa's after-sales service is exceptional. It might be easier to sort this out in Italy rather than the USA. There is a link to this department on their website. 

"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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  • 1 year later...

Gorgeous pen!

 

Love the Shiny Circles celluloid and design.

 

I have a bunch of the Extra Otto's with #8 nibs and love them. Great writers.

 

Been tempted to get one of this series....although there are so many beautiful celluloids, it's hard to decide which one to get...

 

Mark

FP Addict & Pretty Nice Guy

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, ArchiMark said:

Gorgeous pen!

 

Love the Shiny Circles celluloid and design.

 

I have a bunch of the Extra Otto's with #8 nibs and love them. Great writers.

 

Been tempted to get one of this series....although there are so many beautiful celluloids, it's hard to decide which one to get...

 

Mark

 

Thanks for the kind words.  As you say, the pen is gorgeous but I've rather sadly decided to sell it the next time I do a round of listings on eBay.  It hasn't been used since just after last Christmas because my arthritic hands suddenly found the weight and length of the pen too much to cope with comfortably.

 

Luckily, the Extra 1930 also shown in the photos is still perfectly manageable, not to mention a joy to use!

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On 7/25/2022 at 1:41 PM, christam said:

 

Thanks for the kind words.  As you say, the pen is gorgeous but I've rather sadly decided to sell it the next time I do a round of listings on eBay.  It hasn't been used since just after last Christmas because my arthritic hands suddenly found the weight and length of the pen too much to cope with comfortably.

 

Luckily, the Extra 1930 also shown in the photos is still perfectly manageable, not to mention a joy to use!

 

Sorry to hear about your hand situation!

 

Glad to hear that the Extra 1930 still works for you. They are great pens!

 

FP Addict & Pretty Nice Guy

 

 

 

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