Montblanc fakes are improving

[dbs]

13 minutes ago, mke said:

And also here my request, please give us a link to a counterfeit - not clone - on Ebay. 

To be honest, there's many, many, many...on ebay, for example:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/406473269316?

 

If ebay is a wild west battle field, Aliexpress is much cleaner,  at least, they won't say this in plain English. 

 

As to Montblanc lawyer, they don't care to be honest. No matter how many $150 Le Petit Prince pens on ebay, it won't rock the sale of Montblanc of Germany. You just make them fun of it. 

 

[PithyProlix]

On 10/15/2025 at 3:14 AM, drgriz said:

When I created this thread, I did not want to do the side by side comparison, but changed my mind ever so slightly.  On the left is the Blue Hour Skeleton (OBBB), middle Blue Hour (OBB), right Fake.  Most obvious is the depth of the engraving on the nib as well as the lack of consistency and lack of hallmarks.  Great discussion.

 

 

A very experienced and honest seller of second hand Montblanc pens taught me to identify fakes, in part, from the tipping. I think the tipping difference is very obvious here, even only seeing the back of the nib. Unless you have the real McCoy available to compare with, it is, IMHO, much more difficult to use the engraving depth.

[mke]

1 hour ago, dbs said:

To be honest, there's many, many, many...on ebay, for example:

 

Thanks for the link. I never liked Ebay anyway.

I wonder how many fakes are on Yahoo Auctions where the photos in general are much worse. There are so many Montblanc sold in Japan.

[Seney724]

8 hours ago, mke said:

And also here my request, please give us a link to a counterfeit - not clone - on Ebay. 

 

 

You doubt that is a fact??

Seriously??

 

I just paid a visit to that cesspool to see if I could find one to show you.

It was not so hard to do, the very first pen, at the top of the landing page is a fake.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/127560660862

As are three of the next four!

 

Sheesh!!

[Lam1]

5 hours ago, Seney724 said:

You doubt that is a fact??

Seriously??

 

I just paid a visit to that cesspool to see if I could find one to show you.

It was not so hard to do, the very first pen, at the top of the landing page is a fake.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/127560660862

As are three of the next four!

 

Sheesh!!

 

Actually, the pen in that link is clearly marked as Junlai - it is a clone, for sure. But hardly a counterfeit MB (but yes, the seller is trying to sell it as MB).

[mke]

5 hours ago, Seney724 said:

You doubt that is a fact??

Seriously??

 

Did I say I doubt it?

No need for a far-fetched interpretation.

 

[Seney724]

18 minutes ago, Lam1 said:

 

Actually, the pen in that link is clearly marked as Junlai - it is a clone, for sure. But hardly a counterfeit MB (but yes, the seller is trying to sell it as MB).

Yeah, I guess it was the Montblanc box, papers, ink and other accessories that led me astray.

I should have selected one of the others as my example.  There sure are lot to choose from............

[dbs]

1 hour ago, Lam1 said:

 

Actually, the pen in that link is clearly marked as Junlai - it is a clone, for sure. But hardly a counterfeit MB (but yes, the seller is trying to sell it as MB).

I think you get the wrong direction. Those clones, or fakes, or whatever you called, are not made to replace genuine or trick your money. Those clones are, mainly for Chinese market. They made this because they believe they can make a better 149-like pen --- better price, better nib, to compete in the Chinese market, especially the low end part --- low income doesn't mean low education -- they are writing too.

 

For example, a better nib, this Junlai comes with a flex, or semi-flex, or soft kind of nib. But pen making is not that easy, you can judge from the current status of Junlai. Only the feeder can terrify most of the fakers in the market. 

 

 

[Seney724]

1 hour ago, dbs said:

I think you get the wrong direction. Those clones, or fakes, or whatever you called, are not made to replace genuine or trick your money. Those clones are, mainly for Chinese market. They made this because they believe they can make a better 149-like pen --- better price, better nib, to compete in the Chinese market, especially the low end part --- low income doesn't mean low education -- they are writing too.

 

For example, a better nib, this Junlai comes with a flex, or semi-flex, or soft kind of nib. But pen making is not that easy, you can judge from the current status of Junlai. Only the feeder can terrify most of the fakers in the market. 

 

 

The point you make is a correct and important one.  Thank you.

BUT, wouldn't you agree that in this instance, this pen (which was made for the purpose you have cited) is not being used for said purpose but instead it is being used to trick an innocent, unknowing buyer into making a purchase and, in doing so, take their money for something which it is not?

[Lam1]

5 hours ago, Seney724 said:

Yeah, I guess it was the Montblanc box, papers, ink and other accessories that led me astray.

I should have selected one of the others as my example.  There sure are lot to choose from............

 

Yes, that was an easy mistake to make, and I guess the unscrupulous seller counted on that. 

But there are truly fake ones out there, with the white star and so on. 

And it is, indeed, becoming more and more difficult to identify the fake ones.

 

[Lam1]

6 hours ago, dbs said:

I think you get the wrong direction. Those clones, or fakes, or whatever you called, are not made to replace genuine or trick your money. Those clones are, mainly for Chinese market. They made this because they believe they can make a better 149-like pen --- better price, better nib, to compete in the Chinese market, especially the low end part --- low income doesn't mean low education -- they are writing too.

For example, a better nib, this Junlai comes with a flex, or semi-flex, or soft kind of nib. But pen making is not that easy, you can judge from the current status of Junlai. Only the feeder can terrify most of the fakers in the market. 

 

 

 

I'm not sure why I would be going in the wrong direction. My post that you quoted made no judgement of any kind. I only stated the facts [i.e., the pen was clearly marked as Junlai and (the maker of the pen) was not trying to pass it for a MB].

 

As for the Junlai nib being better... maybe. But in my book, a pen that is intentionally a clone of another one will never be at the same level. They could do their own thing and then I would judge them on an equal basis (like some Asvines).

Still, they can be fun. I do have a Junlai 630 (but with flat ends) in my wish list and recently bought a Majohn P140 Demonstrator (which is clearly inspired by the 149, but cannot be called even a clone). 
The quality of the Majohn is very, very good for the money! Is it better than my MB 149s? I don't think so. Will this mean that I will not buy MB anymore? Hardly.

But the Majohn seems to be an excellent pen (it still needs to pass the test of time). 

 

[CS58]

 

20 hrs ago Leonardo_Writing said:

Some more info about the fake 149s...

 

Thank you--it's a great learning video. It's not fully without errors. At 7:00 the very likeable collector says the Fake is in error, due to use of a brass piston assembly--showing us also the vintage example--which obviously uses the old-style resin assembly, not the current brass unit.
I liked seeing a "red-test" and weighing is a good idea too. His vintage 149 will weigh less due to the lack of the current-era heavy brass piston (and they faked a current pen).

I also saw his Fake steel nib has awful plating misalignment--just as bad as mine.

10:36 It's great he shows the disassembled Fake--reproduced parts like the double-slotted nib end, brass piston assembly shape and feed appear accurately cloned.

My Fake weighs 31.5 gm--verses my 2019 149 Calligraphy Flex at 32.55 gm--both using modern brass pistons.

6:30 I think the fakers cloned the 149 version with the 'silver coloured' clip & rings (Platinum PVD coating on the real pen)--that version also comes with a nib that's 'reverse plated'--I think the fakers gave up on that one though:

 

...   

[CS58]

23 hours ago, Lam1 said:

 
The quality of the Majohn is very, very good for the money! Is it better than my MB 149s? I don't think so. Will this mean that I will not buy MB anymore? Hardly.

But the Majohn seems to be an excellent pen (it still needs to pass the test of time). 

 

 

I agree... Quality of Majohn's P140 Acrylic Demonstrator (the only Majohn I own) is very high, especially for a $70 Au pen--it looks excellent and writes beautifully--though only F and M tipped plated Steel is readily available.

Nibs ARE the difference between Majohn and Montblanc. Montblanc uses dedicated trained experienced specialists to inspect every 18K Gold nib, then sculpt and tune tipping in accordance with defined specifications and quality levels. That's what got me buying Montblanc's expensive black plastic 149 🙂   

[Beechwood]

4 hours ago, CS58 said:

 

I agree... Quality of Majohn's P140 Acrylic Demonstrator (the only Majohn I own) is very high, especially for a $70 Au pen--it looks excellent and writes beautifully--though only F and M tipped plated Steel is readily available.

Nibs ARE the difference between Majohn and Montblanc. Montblanc uses dedicated trained experienced specialists to inspect every 18K Gold nib, then sculpt and tune tipping in accordance with defined specifications and quality levels. That's what got me buying Montblanc's expensive black plastic 149 🙂   

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head, it is about choice.

 

You have the choice to spend $1000 on a real 149 or something that looks very similar to a 149  for $100, as the opening post exemplifies, the quality is improving. 

 

 

[VacNut]

On 10/14/2025 at 3:37 PM, Gabhain said:

I was in my local MB boutique recently and a man came in to see if the store would be interested in reselling his limited edition pens. All but one was fake. I don't know why but the fake ones all had metal sections when their real counterparts didn't always. I got to handle a fake Jimi Hendrix and it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be.  

 

If the chinese factories are capable of making pretty decent knock offs like that, they could easily have good original designs. 

I am not an industrial manufacturing expert or familiar with where MB manufacturers their parts, but it would be very simple for an unscrupulous mfr to run off several hundred more parts for use by other people. A barrel is a barrel… an informed person could visit several mfrs and assemble pens from the parts. I  guessing the nib would be difficult.

 

Some golf ball manufactures have a similar problem.

[Opooh]

21 hours ago, CS58 said:

 

I agree... Quality of Majohn's P140 Acrylic Demonstrator (the only Majohn I own) is very high, especially for a $70 Au pen--it looks excellent and writes beautifully--though only F and M tipped plated Steel is readily available.

Nibs ARE the difference between Majohn and Montblanc. Montblanc uses dedicated trained experienced specialists to inspect every 18K Gold nib, then sculpt and tune tipping in accordance with defined specifications and quality levels. That's what got me buying Montblanc's expensive black plastic 149 🙂   

Probably the Chinese will do the same thing what they did with cars, they buy the European or US knowhow to make superb nibs. Or they get some nibmeisters from here working for them at top wages, meanwhile learning these skills to cheap chinese labourer or the start up a nibstudio in Europe. Probably Lombard area where they own most  of the exclusive leathershops but not with Italian but Chinese personel. Coronacrisis started in this area.

[havocthecat]

I've been interested in picking up a Montblanc, probably 149, possibly a vintage, but I don't know which sellers on Ebay might be legit. Is there a guide anywhere for that?

 

I might just have to hit up a pen show, perhaps.

[Opooh]

5 hours ago, havocthecat said:

I've been interested in picking up a Montblanc, probably 149, possibly a vintage, but I don't know which sellers on Ebay might be legit. Is there a guide anywhere for that?

 

I might just have to hit up a pen show, perhaps.

berlin-collectibles is a good seller on Ebay, has a lot of vintage Montblancs, but there are some modern too.

[mke]

7 hours ago, havocthecat said:

Montblanc, probably 149, possibly a vintage

 

Lutz Fiebig - Ekonsumer; Tom Westerich - Penboard; Max Schrage - Maxpens; Marco Tagliani

I assume you can ask them to notify you if they get an 149 for sale.

Check on https://www.penboard.de/shop/hlist/MB/MBVI/1

 

Or if you can take a bit a risk, look at Yahoo Auctions, it is full of 149s, at the moment 62 auctions and 132 fixed price offers. 

https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/search/search?auccat=&tab_ex=commerce&ei=utf-8&aq=-1&oq=&sc_i=&fr=auc_top&p=Montblanc+149&x=0&y=0

MB 146 - 80 auctions and 91 fixed price offers

https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/search/search?auccat=&tab_ex=commerce&ei=utf-8&aq=-1&oq=&sc_i=&fr=auc_top&p=Montblanc+146&x=0&y=0

[havocthecat]

On 3/10/2026 at 12:29 AM, Opooh said:

berlin-collectibles is a good seller on Ebay, has a lot of vintage Montblancs, but there are some modern too.

Thanks, you never know who on Ebay is actually, uh, trustworthy. Without a referral.