Featured Vintage Montblanc Meisterstuck Inkwell

My wallet is not on speaking terms with me at the moment, due to the trauma to which I had exposed it.

I'd been after one of these Montblanc inkwells for years, and finally bought this one at auction...


Here it is, compared in size my three Montblanc Meisterstuck fountain pens:

 

lol!

Gorgeous inkwell...

 

Shangas, that is spectacular!

 

NICE!

 

It looks great sitting on my desk (my desk is black, so it matches the gold and black look of the inkwell).

The inkwell has a matching rocker-blotter, which is my next target.

 

That’s pretty awesome! It makes a great addition to your desk, I’m sure.

I have a small collection of MontBlanc limited edition sets: pope julius ii, prince regent, agatha christie, george bernard shaw and miguel de cervantes but I keep resisting the urge to open them up! My wife asks me what is the point of buying them if you do not intend to use them or sell them? I struggle for a reasonable answer.

 

I use all my MB pens. They're hard enough to buy - I might as well.

 

Pretty fancy inkwell there, Shangas!!!!

 

Me being artsy!

For scale comparison, the pen is the MB149.

 

Hi Shangas,
Sorry I did not meet you several years ago. I had 24 Mont Blanc unopened ink bottles from 1965. A range of colors I think I still have a dark blue left. I sold them for 1.25 dollars each. They were stock items from a stationary store that closed. I am sorry that I did not buy the pens but they went back to the manufacturer.
greg

 

Like it!!

 

As I understand it, the inkwell was part of a four-piece matching set.

The set included the inkwell, a pen stand, rocker-blotter, and paper-knife.

A friend of mine has the pen-stand, and now she wants me to find her the inkwell! I'm looking for the rocker-blotter.

 

I've my mother's Meisterstuck: it's a fabulous maroon colour. Pa had a bit of luck on a deal an brought it home for her one day. It never leaves the house.

 

Wonderful, Shangas! Thanks for sharing. And your wallet will forgive you, in time.

 

Not likely! I still want to buy the blotter that goes along with it!!

Looks like this:

 

Beautiful! Why are fountain pens more valuable than the ballpoint pens?

I have a Mont Blanc ball point that was given to me as a gift when I was the director of an association many years ago. I never used it.

 

As you mention, the fountain is definitely preferred among aficionados. The writing style is generally considered superior and historically these pens have proven to be a better investment, yielding a better ROI. Additionally, most MontBlanc fountain pens have an 18k gold nib that enhances their intrinsic value.

The Pope Julius II pen that I have yet to open can run $2500-$3000. The same style pen in the more limited version (888 produced vs. 4810) will cost you close to $7500 and is made of 18k solid gold!

 

Thank you for the explanation.

 

Fountain pens are more highly regarded because it actually takes skill to use one, care for one, and make one.

A ballpoint pen is a throwaway convenience. If it runs out, you chuck it in the bin and buy another one. Or you rip out the cartridge and shove in another one.

You don't do that with a fountain pen. You fill it with fresh ink, you use it again, you clean it, you look after it. A ballpoint pen might last a few months. Fountain pens last for DECADES, even hundreds of years, if you look after them properly.

Yes, fountain pens have gold nibs, usually 14, or 18kt gold. (MB has both). But the gold nib has nothing to do with the value. The amount of gold in a pen nib is minuscule. A few dollars, at most. If you're thinking of buying a bucket of antique fountain pens, ripping out the nibs and making a fortune - then I'm going to have to disappoint you. Even if you got them for $10.00 each, you would still make a loss.

The pens have nibs made of gold because in the old days, steel nibs rusted VERY easily. Since a fountain pen was expected to last for decades, they needed a material that would also last for decades - hence gold. In fact, if you look at the packaging from the earliest fountain pens (1890s, 1900s), you'll see huge warnings printed inside the boxes:

"DO NOT REMOVE THE GOLD PEN FROM THE HOLDER".

People were used to just ripping out the nibs, throwing them out, and getting a fresh one. Fountain pens were so new that people had to be taught how to use them.

Fountain pen nibs MUST be PERFECTLY tuned to write properly. If the tines are misaligned by even a fraction of a milimeter, the pen won't write properly. If it's not polished and smoothed EXACTLY, the pen won't write properly. If the tolerances between the nib and the feed aren't perfect, the pen will not write properly.

This is why fountain pens cost more. This is why they're WORTH more.

You can have a MB fountain pen and a MB ballpoint pen. You might want to sell them.

The ballpoint pen might get $200. If you're lucky.

The FOUNTAIN pen will get at least double that, because it's more prestigious, but also, greater care and higher quality goes into its construction.

 

Very interesting. Thank you Shangus.