Jump to content

The 149 has Charisma


max dog

Recommended Posts

Of my 50+ fountain pens I've acquired over the years, I have to say the simple looking chunky 149 is the most handsome and captivating of them all.

 

It's a common cigar shaped black pen with gold trim, but it's proportions are perfect.  As much as Montblanc's "precious resin" is sometimes criticized as gimmicky and hyped, after all it is just plastic, it retains it's sheen better than any other plastic black pen, even after years of use.  It adds to the elegance of the pen as it glimmers deep black, and it feels like porcelain.  When you uncap it, that massive beautiful nib begs to be written, and draws your attention when you put the nib to paper.  

 

I saw my 149 sitting on my office desk the other day, and found it to be very attractive and elegant, like none other, which led me to take a another picture of it.  No other pen has that affect on me.  It just has charisma like no other pen.  Well the sterling silver Yard O Led Viceroy Grand Victorian is a close second.  The 149 didn't become a legendary icon among writing instruments by accident.  It is a masterpiece in design.  

 

I got my first 149 in 2016 in elegant rose gold trim, and in 2020 I got this one, with the Calligraphy flex nib.  What a dream pen!  The nib is absolute joyful magic, so responsive from hair line to 1.6 mm wide lines.  I write with it every single day.  You just get use to it's size, and it's very comfortable for long writing sessions. 

 

 

149 Calligraphy.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 26
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Waltz For Zizi

    5

  • Aysedasi

    3

  • txomsy

    3

  • amberleadavis

    2

Hello max dog,   

 

Your tribute to the 149 is a sincere one, noting its aesthetic and performance qualities. I agree completely with your views. Very nice photo. Received my first 149 as a gift in 1979 and have owned many over the years, only 9 at the moment.  It is unquestionably the most recognized fountain pen of the second half of the twentieth century.  Properly cared for, it will outlast its original owner and its next owner.   Happy 70th birthday in 2022, 149.

 

Be well.

Best wishes,

Barry

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

~ @max dog: Any post from you is invariably a joy to read...and see.

 

Thank you so much for the image and comments about the 149 above.

 

Your discerning appreciation is an inspiration to read.

 

To express my thanks, here are images of the oldest 149 on my writing desk.

 

      Tom K.

 

851707671_1959149BBB.thumb.JPG.bcd2b8721cf99dde7355886079874053.JPG

 

1959 Montblanc Meisterstück 149 BBB

 

 

1043475409_149BBB.thumb.JPG.891ee86fe4f9f11540b0293118db5a9f.JPG

 

1959 Montblanc Meisterstück 149 BBB Nib

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well said, my friend!


You may certainly have much more expensive pens, more luxury and fancier pens, but you can’t have a better pen than a Meisterstück 149 ! 


I am with Barry as to having had a companion 149 since early in my life, when I bought my first in 1979.

 

Today I own seven 149s, varying in age from late ‘60 to 2020, and even though I appreciate a lot of other pens, the 149 is still the core of my pen collection, both in terms of number and in terms of continuous use.

 

Enjoy yours, pen pal!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is just something magical about the 149 Calligraphy and my 149 O3B.

 

Been busy lately and have not found the time to use my 149s, I think I will pour a dram and start writing a diary and watch the rain fall!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

fpupulin:   What refined and sublime beauty. Your calligraphy and photographs are always a delight. Thank you very much. Enjoy your weekend. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Barry, Tom, Arcadian, Franco, Agentdaff007, thank you all so much for your kind words.  This community is always so warm.

I really love the passion Montblanc always instills into the fountain pen community/market with all they do from all their amazing nibs, to new designs.  They always advocate and celebrate the arts and human achievements, releasing their special edition pens and inks.  That's why I enjoy splurging a little sometimes treating myself or gifting others something Montblanc, which is always extremely special. 

 

Your 1959 BBB 149 looks awesome Tom!  Montblanc nibs are so unique, special and so full of character like none other.  Next to my 149 Calligraphy flex nib, my other favourite is my very first Montblanc I got in 2011, a 145 Platinum EF.  That EF nib is like no other EF nib I've tried, as it has a subtle but pronounced architect character.  The nib is factory stock, just came that way.   Down strokes are true extra fine width (approx 0.30 to 0.35 mm), but the side stroke is a little wider (0.5 to 0.7 mm), yielding nice line variation like an italic/stub, but horizontally.  If I orient the nib to maximize the finest line possible on the downstrokes, the contrast with the wider side stroke becomes pronounced and I love the effect.  If I hold the pen up at a much higher angle, the point becomes more round, I get the same fine line in all directions.  

 

Franco, I always love seeing your beautiful handwriting showing off what that 149 Calligraphy nib can do in all it's glory.  Always inspires me to go and improve my handwriting with that amazing nib.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

~ @max dog:

 

We're all so happy for you and your beloved Montblanc fountain pens.

 

Thank you so much for adding positive encouragement to FPN's Montblanc Forum over the years.

 

      Tom K.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The MB 149 has been in production for almost 70 years and many pen lovers named them as the most used instruments.I must agree with them. Many people think the MB pens are like status show off pens but when you write with a 149 you realise how nice is to use them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not own a 149, but love my Meisterstücks too. I always have a (50's) 342-G always inked. And I do also hate when people equate pens (any) with show-off status symbols. For that sake, using a pen holder, or calamus should be rarer, more exotic and more showy. At this rate, one of this days, using a pencil will be an eccentricity.

If you are to be ephemeral, leave a good scent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
On 6/25/2022 at 11:05 AM, txomsy said:

I do not own a 149, but love my Meisterstücks too. I always have a (50's) 342-G always inked. And I do also hate when people equate pens (any) with show-off status symbols. For that sake, using a pen holder, or calamus should be rarer, more exotic and more showy. At this rate, one of this days, using a pencil will be an eccentricity.

Do you know what a status symbol is? Why would using a goose quill that you can make for free be a status symbol?

The only reason people say the 149 is a status symbol is because it is expensive. I do not hear anyone saying the Pelikan m400, 600, 800 are status symbols. Imagine writing with a Montblanc L.E. pen and think you are not doing it because it is a status symbol. It has a 146 nib, it writes like a 146. The only difference is the materials and the 5x price. You cannot tell me those are not status symbols.

 

P.S. I am not hating on MB, I own quite a few, but I also have 50 $ pens that give me the same writing quality as a 800$ MB, some  50$ pens write even better than those fancy L.E MB's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, I may be a rarity.

 

I thought that selling, and most of it, modern marketing, was largely based on subjective perceptions of added value.

 

When one sees the ad of an utilitarian car driven by a famous top model supposedly naked, I do not think they are selling the virtues of the car, but what potential buyers will subjectively perceive as a non-tangible added value of ownership. When one chooses one car over another (if one can) it is rarely because of real, tangible added values, but most often intangible perceptions.


Looking back in History, why would bell-shaped ceramics become such a huge smash hit in Neolithic Europe? Any local ceramist could do pots that would have better utility and physical properties. For a drinking vessel, a bell-beaker is certainly not optimal. And that was 4500 years ago.

 

As I understand it (and may be wrong), everyone of us delights in possessing what each of us perceives as 'beautiful' or rather, more generally, 'subjective added-value' goods (Maslow's pyramid?).

 

Now, if we admit the premise (which may well be wrong) that most (if not all) of us do like to wear what we perceive as attractive (say, fashionable clothes from well known brands), then it follows logically that each will delight in owning one or more of them.

 

Assuming we are all equal in all ways is a wrong fallacy as anyone with just one of the five canonical senses operational can easily assert. We may be all equal under the law, but that's about it. Some will delight in clothing, some in having a large collection of stamps, fridge magnets or pins, and some will delight in owning just a single mink coat (that was the holly grail in the 60's-70's for some reason), or just one expensive car, or an expensive pen. And it may easily turn out that the stamp collectors expend more in their goods than the one who just gets a single expensive good.

 

My point is that it is only natural that we want 'subjective added-value' objects. That sellers know it and exploit it to artificially increase the price of goods. And that each of us decides how to expend their money.

 

The failure in your (generic 'your') reasoning is assuming that if I am "poor" I should never own anything expensive unless I want to show off and appear as something else, but never because I delight on it. And that if I am "rich" and own something expensive it is to show off my wealth, not because I can afford it. Unless it is something you (generic 'you') do also like and are willing to pay for (say a pair of Levi's or several hundred 10$ stamps), in which case it is justified and not showing off.

 

It is symbolism that matters in the 'status symbol'. The symbol for a well known humanitarian organization may be a red cross for some, or a red half moon for others. Chosen to match subjective expectations.

 

A status symbol is just a subjective perception and as such subjectively perceived. One may own something intentionally to display status and then for that person it is a status symbol. And one may subjectively perceive a real or induced (e.g. by marketing) association between a good and status and consider it a status symbol, whether it actually is or not.

 

Actually a few ads are based on advantages of a product (say, some diapers), many  on fear (say some insurances), and the vast majority on trying to make potential buyers believe they are getting some imagined value, often as a purported status symbol (say, any that uses a famous personality endorsing a crappy but unjustifiably expensive product).


Whether you choose to believe it and fall for it or not, is up to you. But one should not objectively generalize any object as a subjective symbol.

If you are to be ephemeral, leave a good scent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple extra examples:

 

Many amateur photographers will expend (many) thousands of dollars on a DSLR and lenses. Some will even tape or hid with a black marker the brand name to avoid their goods being identified (and ward off thieves). I haven't heard any one say such 10K$ equipment is a status symbol. You can also make pictures with a smartphone. Yet they perceive some extra value in their material. Some may claim that added value is worthless (for them), and some will consider it a boost to their artistic aspirations (whether they succeed or not is a different point).

 

I am sure we all know common people who spent a respectable amount on their wedding rings or other presents. And in many cases, repeatedly. Much more than what an LE MB costs. sometimes to be used only on rare occasions, if at all. And I see no valid reason to claim they are status symbols. It is other subjective "benefits" that are being paid for here, possibly a different kind of symbol.

 

Price-wise a Pelikan may be approximately on par with an MB. Only, Pelikan also makes cheaper pens and does not produce LE 'jewelry'. For some, the 'jewelry' portion of LEs may be good enough justification for the buy, for others it won't. Pelikan aimed for the middle-low range, MB for the middle-high. Both intersect, so what?

 

In any case that's related to subjective perceptions and values. Stating anything is (strong "is") a "status symbol" ignores a myriad other motivations for justifying ownership or expending money and reduces everything to a simplistic "black or white" approach that in no way matches reality and dehumanizes fellow human beings with different values.

 

Symbols are subjective. May be conventional. Often, induced for vested interests. And always, artificial.

If you are to be ephemeral, leave a good scent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are clearly confused. For an object to be a status symbol it needs recognition from others not from you, so just subjective beauty is not enough, it needs objective (or pseudo-objective) recognition. OTHERS need to classify it as a status symbol, not yourself. for example I have a parker vector, a 10$ pen that I care for a lot, and is extremely valuable for me, but that does not make it a status symbol. I might walk one day on the beach and find a rock that I might think is mighty beautiful but that does not make it a status symbol. Others need to view it as Precious. Most people equate price with precious, it's that simple.

If those L.E. Montblancs that sell for 3K and upwards would cost 500$ no one would call them status symbols. You yourself agree that MB set themselves as a Luxury brand. To be viewed in a certain way by the majority of people is an Objective (or pseudo-objective) trait, not subjective.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding the camera thing, why would you think having a 10k camera be a status symbol? People are constantly using 50K red cameras to make youtube videos. No one is thinking they are status symbols.

A pen is a different/simple thing. I have 2$ jinhaos that write just as good as a 3k MB.

You cannot have a 1000$ camera record as a 50k one.

 

I constantly share my pens with people who are oblivious to them and almost all of them couldn't care less about the pen, no matter how pretty I think it is, but that is until I share the price with them, then their whole demeanor changes. Price is everything (for pens).

There is a reason why in the business/corporate world most people use MB. It conveys they are successful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a very interesting topic and one I have thought about from time to time. I think there are two aspects to it: how you perceive yourself (or, rather, how you act when you're by yourself) and when you act when in company. I am "semi-retired", i.e. I no longer work full-time, but am on a few boards, so still go to meetings every so often. I always use a fountain pen; I have over 100 Montblancs and also Sailor, Omas and other fountain pens.

At home, I obviously use whatever pen I want to. I rotate quite a few and regularly use the more expensive ones, like the MB Patron of Arts. At meetings, I tailor the pen to the meeting. I'm on a charity board and would use pens that don't look that expensive, e.g. a 146. This is a great pen, but it's not "in your face". At corporate meetings, I might use a 149 or a Sailor King of Pen. One of my favourite pens is a MB Pavarotti Patron of Arts (888 Edition). I would never bring that to a meeting, even a corporate one. I think that's because it would look incongruous and "showing off". I have no desire to do that. Maybe it's because I don't think I need a pen to "prove" my status. This is actually quite a complex topic. Thank you for raising it. Regards, Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Waltz For Zizi said:

Do you know what a status symbol is? Why would using a goose quill that you can make for free be a status symbol?

The only reason people say the 149 is a status symbol is because it is expensive. I do not hear anyone saying the Pelikan m400, 600, 800 are status symbols. Imagine writing with a Montblanc L.E. pen and think you are not doing it because it is a status symbol. It has a 146 nib, it writes like a 146. The only difference is the materials and the 5x price. You cannot tell me those are not status symbols.

 

P.S. I am not hating on MB, I own quite a few, but I also have 50 $ pens that give me the same writing quality as a 800$ MB, some  50$ pens write even better than those fancy L.E MB's.

 

A goose quill is a high status symbol indeed, showing that one has the leisure hours to learn how to properly select and cut a quill, and the knowlege of how to write with one after it's been prepared, and is in a position in life to have the time and place to write with such an instrument. 

 

When quills were in common use, I would say that being able to use one was a sign of refinement and education.

 

 

 

-- 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)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

Announcements


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...