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Help authenticating MB Meisterstuck Briefcase


antpro26

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Hi, 

 

Is anyone please able to help me authenticate this briefcase or point me in the direction of someone who can please? 

 

I've attached some images but please let me know what else may be helpful to see. 

 

Thanks, Anthony. 

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Welcome to our little corner of the world. It looks real to me, and is one of their older products.

 

Just a friendly note. This is a FOUNTAIN PEN discussion forum. Says so in the mast head.

 

If the mods are nice, they'd let this post by but definitely post in the right area. There IS an area dedicated to non-pen related items. Realistically you're not going to get a lot of people able to authenticate briefcases and MB leather products. Does not mean that if we like the pens that we also purchase their other products. In fact some here aren't so keen on their marketing directed move toward leathers, fragrance and watches.

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I am the moderator for the Montblanc forum.  While I will allow this topic thread to remain, it's important to understand a few things about the Montblanc leather goods:  they're faked quite a lot, the high quality of many leather goods fakes makes it hard to detect them from pictures (where faked MB writing instruments are often easier to spot), and they're a little bit outside the expertise of the Montblanc forum here on the Fountain Pen Network.

 

Conversation in this forum isn't formally limited to writing instruments and accessories only, but we tend not to discuss Montblanc goods other than pens and writing accessories.

 

The only real way to get an item like this briefcase authenticated is by Montblanc staff, perhaps at a boutique.

 

 

 

 

 

-- Joel -- "I collect expensive and time-consuming hobbies."

 

INK (noun): A villainous compound of tannogallate of iron, gum-arabic and water,

chiefly used to facilitate the infection of idiocy and promote intellectual crime.

(from The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce)

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Some copies are so good that even staff in a boutique may have a problem recognizing them. The model on the picture is a few years old, so they don't have it in stock. I would focus on the quality of leather. Also, sometimes fake leather stuff smells very bad. 

That is a beautiful briefcase.  


Fill your pens, not the landfill

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Couple of things jump out at me. Firstly, Montblanc stamped leather seems shallow. The hardware also mimics the original but the castings seem rough in the grooves. The hardware in general doesn't look milled with the precision I'm accustomed to seeing with Montblanc and lastly I didn't see any stamped serial number on the leather. 

 

Montblanc typically makes their leather goods in Florence, and so they're stamped Made in Italy somewhere on the leather, inside the case. 

 

The only way to be sure is to take it to a Montblanc boutique and compare it to one they have on display. 

 

Cheers

 

W

“Non Impediti Ratione Cogitationis”

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On 1/18/2022 at 8:56 AM, Wael El-Dasher said:

Couple of things jump out at me. Firstly, Montblanc stamped leather seems shallow. The hardware also mimics the original but the castings seem rough in the grooves. The hardware in general doesn't look milled with the precision I'm accustomed to seeing with Montblanc and lastly I didn't see any stamped serial number on the leather. 

 

Montblanc typically makes their leather goods in Florence, and so they're stamped Made in Italy somewhere on the leather, inside the case. 

 

The only way to be sure is to take it to a Montblanc boutique and compare it to one they have on display. 

 

Cheers

 

W

I have two small MB items (a business cards holder and a pen pouch) made from the same type of leather (full-grain calf). They are authentic, purchased in MB Boutique. Both were made in Germany. One has a deeply stamped logo, but another has a shallow one. They don't have serial numbers on leather. I'm not sure if Montblanc uses serial numbers for their leather products at all. 


Fill your pens, not the landfill

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14 hours ago, Jordan N said:

I have two small MB items (a business cards holder and a pen pouch) made from the same type of leather (full-grain calf). They are authentic, purchased in MB Boutique. Both were made in Germany. One has a deeply stamped logo, but another has a shallow one. They don't have serial numbers on leather. I'm not sure if Montblanc uses serial numbers for their leather products at all. 

Some of their leather items were made in Germany I'm told, but almost all the pen pouches ( I have 15) leather notes (I have 5), wallets (I have 3) are stamped Made In Italy with deep logos. Perhaps the serial numbers stamped on the items I have could be because they're limited editions I suppose. But I'll look at their briefcases next time I'm at their boutique. 

 

They do have a workshop is Florence since the days of the cigar case shaped pen pouches from the 90's, maybe even earlier, I don't know as my interest in MB started in 1990. The only leather item that I have with no country stamp is the old leather glove pen pouches. They only say Montblanc. 

 

Cheers

 

W

“Non Impediti Ratione Cogitationis”

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1 hour ago, Wael El-Dasher said:

Some of their leather items were made in Germany I'm told, but almost all the pen pouches ( I have 15) leather notes (I have 5), wallets (I have 3) are stamped Made In Italy with deep logos. Perhaps the serial numbers stamped on the items I have could be because they're limited editions I suppose. But I'll look at their briefcases next time I'm at their boutique. 

 

They do have a workshop is Florence since the days of the cigar case shaped pen pouches from the 90's, maybe even earlier, I don't know as my interest in MB started in 1990. The only leather item that I have with no country stamp is the old leather glove pen pouches. They only say Montblanc. 

 

Cheers

 

W

 

Take a look: https://www.montblanc.com/en-ca/pen-cases_cod19971654706770209.html That one was made in Italy. I have the sam one, but the lether could be a little bit different (glove), and it's made in Germany.  Purchased maybe 5 yrs ago.  Business card holder is as https://www.montblanc.com/en-ca/card-holders_cod34480784411793147.html and made in Germany. It's possible your items have serial numbers as they are limited editions. 

 

I know MB used to have few leather workshops, one of them is in Spain.

 

Cheers!


Fill your pens, not the landfill

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2 hours ago, Jordan N said:

 

Take a look: https://www.montblanc.com/en-ca/pen-cases_cod19971654706770209.html That one was made in Italy. I have the sam one, but the lether could be a little bit different (glove), and it's made in Germany.  Purchased maybe 5 yrs ago.  Business card holder is as https://www.montblanc.com/en-ca/card-holders_cod34480784411793147.html and made in Germany. It's possible your items have serial numbers as they are limited editions. 

 

I know MB used to have few leather workshops, one of them is in Spain.

 

Cheers!

This is really turning into an interesting thread. The Meisterstuck business card holder in the link you posted above is the same one I’m using right now and mine is stamped Made in Italy


I have 2 others at home and I’ll check them but I recall they’re also made in Italy. 🤷🏻‍♂️. Who knows…

 

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8C353A3B-F4CB-4ADC-80B4-DFDF5CF26CE0.jpeg

“Non Impediti Ratione Cogitationis”

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Yes, it is interesting. I attached pics of the items I mentioned, but they don't show how shallow is the stamp on a pen case compared to the one on the business case holder.

 

I'm not sure if Montblanc is genuinely interested in fighting counterfeiting. The person who's buying "too good to be true" will never buy an authentic product. However, those fake products raise brand awareness and motivate some people to buy genuine products. Some people appreciate originals, and they are ready to pay for them. Fine things are buying experience for some people - not just pure possession.  

IMG_5837.jpg

IMG_5836.jpg


Fill your pens, not the landfill

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For anyone interested I actually returned this after I convinced myself it was a fake, albeit a very good one. I have now bought one which is definitely genuine, and the quality far exceeds the one in the picture. I have side by side comparisons of both for anyone interested. 

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I had a feeling it was fake but really didn't want to jump the gun and say that. Unfortunately I didn't have time to stop by the MB boutique last couple of weekends to check for you. The groves in your photos had a very rough casting look and I'm pretty certain that MB mills their components. If they do cast anything then it's machined and cleaned up. So its never really the surface finish that tells the whole story, it's always the crevices and grooves that show if care was taken or not. Fakes typically follow the 80/20 rule in my experience. Part of the reason consumers pay premium for MB is that last 20%. 

 

Cheers

 

W

“Non Impediti Ratione Cogitationis”

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