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Montblanc discontinuing the 149 Calligraphy??

Centurion

By Centurion
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Centurion Rare

Centurion

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I talked to a sales rep at the Madison Ave New York Montblanc Store and she said the 149 Calligraphy is being discontinued by Montblanc and that's why they're hard to find? I'm thinking she wanted to make a sale with one of the 149s she had in stock in the store. Why would Montblanc discontinue making a pen after spending time and money developing it?? Then again, why is it so difficult to find one for purchase?

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A Smug Dill Museum Piece

A Smug Dill

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Posted
7 hours ago, Centurion said:

Why would Montblanc discontinue making a pen after spending time and money developing it??

 

Why don't you ask Montblanc's head office for (i) confirmation that the 149 Calligraphy is in fact being discontinued; and, if so, (ii) its business rationale? All without presuming that your wanting to buy one is reason enough for a company to keep making and selling the, or any, particular product.

 

My favourite flavours of ice-cream, potato chips, etc. often get discontinued even though those brands continue to be in the respective businesses (and sometimes grow even bigger). I don't it the question of why my, or someone else's, preferred flavours get removed from the product line-up if they were already made.

 

Then there's Sailor, which used to have plenty more Naginata specialty nib variants than the eight it makes and sells today, even though there are still hobbyists who want to buy Sailor pens fitted with King Eagle or Cross Concord Emperor nibs, or Saibi-Togi nibs. I'm sure it's a sound business decision to rationalise product lines, culling products that may have an ardent fan base who just don't buy enough units between them.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Centurion Rare

Centurion

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I did a 'chat' on Montblanc.com and it seems the saleswoman at a Montblanc boutique didn't completely deceive me. I had a feeling the saleswoman wasn't completely honest and was only interested in making a sale. Anyway, the 149 Calligraphy is discontinued as the saleswoman said, BUT that's because a new version is coming out soon, according to the Montblanc.com Chat rep.

 

Now I wonder what inspired a new version as all the posts rave about the current Calligraphy nib?

 

 

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arcfide Collectors Item

arcfide

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49 minutes ago, Centurion said:

Now I wonder what inspired a new version as all the posts rave about the current Calligraphy nib?

 

My understanding is that the nibs will not be the same, and that the new calligraphy will be a different style of calligraphy nib, not a flex nib like the first round. The flex nib, to my understanding, was always a "Special Edition" and subject to a relatively short life, though it wasn't numbered/limited in that sense. 

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como Collectors Item

como

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24 minutes ago, arcfide said:

 

My understanding is that the nibs will not be the same, and that the new calligraphy will be a different style of calligraphy nib, not a flex nib like the first round. The flex nib, to my understanding, was always a "Special Edition" and subject to a relatively short life, though it wasn't numbered/limited in that sense. 

@arcfide Thank you for your insight. That sounds very interesting. I really look forward to seeing what MB will come up with in the series. If they keep the base pen (146 and/or 149) and keep the price reasonable (for me the Calligraphy was priced favourably for being a 149 pen with a superb nib), I believe that they will find many fans in the pen community.

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fpupulin Collectors Item

fpupulin

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When in September 2019 Montblanc launched the 149 Calligraphy, with the first of the announced series being the flexible nib, it was presented as a Special Edition planned to run for one year, to be followed by another Special Edition 149 with the "curved" nib. Things of life, and Covid, conjured to extend the life of the 149 Calligraphy "flexible" Special Edition, which has been continuously offered - even though in limited runs - until today. In fact, as Karmachanic noted, it is still on the Montblanc site.

 

Nevertheless, it was originally intended as a Special Edition, and at a premium price – albeit modest - with respect to a regular 149, so it is logic to expect that its production would be limited in time, even if not in number.

 

I hoped that, given the success of the Calligraphy flexible nib, Montblanc would eventually decide to offer it as one of the standard grades for the regular 149, and I maintain my hopes. I consider the Calligraphy flexible nib probably the best contemporary flexible nib on the market, and I would be happy to know that I would be able to buy in the future another 149, in the finish I want, with the same nib. We will see. Meantime, we have to be prepared to the fact the the Special Edition run will sooner or later stop, and likely sooner the later... 

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JungleJim Mint

JungleJim

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10 hours ago, arcfide said:

 

My understanding is that the nibs will not be the same, and that the new calligraphy will be a different style of calligraphy nib, not a flex nib like the first round. The flex nib, to my understanding, was always a "Special Edition" and subject to a relatively short life, though it wasn't numbered/limited in that sense. 

 

I wonder if it will be a public release of the flexible italic nib that Montblanc developed for the Fritz Schimpf Stationary store back in 2020. Montblanc spent a lot of time, effort, and money to develop the nib design, and I would think enough time has passed to release it in 2022.

 

 

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Centurion Rare

Centurion

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21 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

Signs and indications.  It's still on the MB site.

I couldn’t find the 149 Calligraphy on Montblanc.com, were you able to?  I did find the Goldleaf 146 Calligraphy though. 

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a student Rare

a student

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18 hours ago, Centurion said:

I did a 'chat' on Montblanc.com and it seems the saleswoman at a Montblanc boutique didn't completely deceive me. I had a feeling the saleswoman wasn't completely honest and was only interested in making a sale. Anyway, the 149 Calligraphy is discontinued as the saleswoman said, BUT that's because a new version is coming out soon, according to the Montblanc.com Chat rep.

Most interesting. Any hint from the chat person as to how "soon" this might be? Seems unlikely before X'mas.

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Karmachanic Donor Pen

Karmachanic

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1 hour ago, como said:

This pen is available only in certain regions.

 

In dependence upon Boutique stock I believe

Add lightness and simplicate.

 

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como Collectors Item

como

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5 minutes ago, Karmachanic said:

 

In dependence upon Boutique stock I believe

Yes. One can check online at MB website exactly which boutique locations have it. They don’t have inventory info on ADs, so that will have to be checked individually. A while ago it was very difficult to buy one but now it seems much more available again.

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como Collectors Item

como

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11 hours ago, fpupulin said:

...

I hoped that, given the success of the Calligraphy flexible nib, Montblanc would eventually decide to offer it as one of the standard grades for the regular 149, and I maintain my hopes... 

That would be wonderful indeed. If not, they would make me super happy if they could make a faithful 139 with this nib. 😍

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a student Rare

a student

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7 hours ago, JungleJim said:

 

I wonder if it will be a public release of the flexible italic nib that Montblanc developed for the Fritz Schimpf Stationary store back in 2020. Montblanc spent a lot of time, effort, and money to develop the nib design, and I would think enough time has passed to release it in 2022.

I wonder if that particular nib qualifies as a "curved nib" though?

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como Collectors Item

como

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19 minutes ago, a student said:

I wonder if that particular nib qualifies as a "curved nib" though?

I think they were going to launch a Fude nib but it didn’t happen.

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