u/Adventurous-Age9279

I’ve recently taken to setting up little tableaus/rotating “exhibits” for my own enjoyment, using my fountain pens and other paraphernalia that matches them in theme/color/style/etc. This one is my Ali Limited Edition fountain pen; Ali Special Edition rollerball; and my recently-acquired Jacques Marie Mage “Kinshasa” sunglasses kit.

Just wanted to share! (I used a filter so the colors aren’t representative of real life).

Edit: the subject line should, of course, say “price” increase, not “pride.” 😂

Per an email from Dromgoole’s today, there’s another Montblanc price increase coming soon.

Not surprising, I guess; but still disappointing, especially coming on top of a pretty hefty price increase within the last year(ish). If I recall correctly, that price increase was around 10%.

Hi all,

I just got a great new pair of JMMs: the Blue Note “Herbie” sunglasses with black fade frames. I like them a lot, but am considering custom lens color options. There’s nothing “wrong” with the original lens color (light green “mineral glass”). But (1) the glasses are just a bit large on my face, which the very light green color emphasizes (and a darker color would de-emphasize) and (2) I already have another pair of JMMs with (darker) green lenses.

I am considering getting them swapped for either sapphire blue fade or dark orange fade lenses. Since I have trouble visualizing such things in the abstract, I had AI whip up some examples. (One of the very few things I’m willing to use AI for). Would love to hear your input - or, if you have other color options to suggest, I’d welcome that too! Thematically, the blue would seem to be the best and obvious choice. But the orange picks up the light gold of the arms.

Note: my one hesitancy about swapping the lenses at all is that the current lenses are “mineral glass,” which I gather from some quick research are “better” (or at least more “premium”). I mean, I’m gonna make sure I’d get the original lenses back anyway, so it’s not a huge deal; but if anyone strongly feels “never swap out mineral glass lenses!“, I’d love to hear that too.

Greetings from Lecce in Southern Italy, where I was pleasantly surprised to find a Montblanc boutique! It’s a lovely city; highly recommended. I only had a very short time there, but I stumbled across this MB Boutique on my walkabout and decided to pick up the new Starwalker Extreme fountain pen, a bottle of coral/orange Origin Collection ink, and some free MB postcards with some new designs I hadn’t yet seen. 

I’m not yet 100% certain that I’ll keep the Starwalker. I have had my eye on it for a while and I’m a fan of the Extreme design (which I have on some MB leather goods); but it’s my first Starwalker (although not my first MB fountain pen) and is a bit lighter than my normal preference. (I got the resin one; I’m sure the metal one is heftier, but it’s also about $600 USD more expensive.) And because I’ve never written with one, I have no experience with this nib. So, we shall see…

Anyway, just wanted to share!

Well.…. not really! 😂 But I did just fly past it!

Priced to sell! Montblanc Ingrid Bergman Special Edition Rollerball: $800 OBO.

I’m selling to make room for other acquisitions. Located in the USA. buyer pays shipping. I’m willing to ship elsewhere, but the buyer assumes all responsibility for tariffs, duties, etc.

I’d rate the pen itself to be in B condition. It has been inked, but I cannot detect any flaws, marks, etc., on the pen other than what seems to be some very slight discoloration near the tip (shown in pictures)

Photos and verification here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aURfgF5csAJMgsDR8

I put a rollerball cartridge in it to test: works perfectly. Comes with inner display box, inner cardboard box (both of which are in pretty good condition), and the booklet, which is mint. Does not come with the outer cardboard box.

These are pretty rare and hard to find used, but the “new old stock” ones I’ve found from googling are going for well over $2000. Mine, of course, isn’t new old stock, and it’s missing the outer cardboard box. I believe my price reflects that.

Payment via PayPal Goods & Services only. Buyer pays shipping.

All sub rules apply. If you’re interested, please first post a comment below and then message me directly after you’ve posted a comment.

Photos and verification:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/b9cRa8BeimRdXxid6

Montblanc Steel & Carbon fountain pen $550 OBO I’d rate it as in good B condition.

Priced to sell! I’m selling some pens to make room for other acquisitions. Buyer pays shipping. Located in the USA. I’m willing to ship elsewhere, but the buyer assumes all responsibility for tariffs, duties, etc.

Bought this from a fellow Pen Swap’er a few months ago. It’s lovely and in great condition. No boxes. 

Payment via PayPal Goods & Services only. Buyer pays shipping.

All sub rules apply. If you’re interested, please first post a comment below and then message me directly after you’ve posted a comment.

Priced to sell! I’m selling to make room for other acquisitions. Located in the USA. I’m willing to ship elsewhere, but the buyer assumes all responsibility for tariffs, duties, etc.

I’d rate the pen itself to be in A2 condition. It has been inked, but I cannot detect any flaws, marks, etc., on the pen.

As explained below and as shown in the photos, however, the boxes are worn/in “fair” condition, I’d guess. 

Photos and verification here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aePuxfsa8g1GBGBu7

This fountain pen takes cartridges/converters. It has been inked but is in excellent condition; I can’t see any marks or flaws on the pen. It comes with the inner leather display box and the outer cardboard box, but the inner cardboard box is not included. As you’ll see from the pictures, the inner leather box and the outer cardboard box have seen better days. (That seems to be pretty standard for this leather box). But again, the pen itself looks pristine to me.

These don’t come up for sale often, but from what I’ve found from googling, they seem to range from around $1300 used to around $1700 new. I’m listing mine for $750 due to the missing inner cardboard box and the issues with the inner leather box and outer cardboard box.

Payment via PayPal Goods & Services only. Buyer pays shipping.

All sub rules apply. If you’re interested, please first post a comment below and then message me directly after you’ve posted a comment.

As I mentioned in a prior post, I recently got a Montblanc Sakura pen with a Medium nib: https://www.reddit.com/r/montblanc/comments/1t4ou33/montblanc_sakura_333_limited_edition/. I decided to ink it up with a cherry blossom pink ink (Kyo-Iro) that I’d never used before.  When I started writing, I noticed that the pen was writing much more faintly/with thinner lines than I expected for a Medium nib using the normal light pressure that one uses when writing with a fountain pen. (When writing that way with my other Montblanc pens that are mediums, they all write very wet thick lines). I chalked it up to the fact that it was an ink I’d never used before and that perhaps it was drier than I was accustomed to. So, I switched to a red ink that I know to be very wet: MB Year of the Horse red (which is what’s shown in the attached pictures). With normal light pressure, it still wrote much thinner/fainter lines than I would expect, so I was/I am concerned that the nib needs to be tuned (and I don’t relish the prospect of shipping a pen this expensive to Montblanc for service unless absolutely necessary: too many things can go wrong during shipping, and the pen is made of porcelain). But while continuing to test it, I happened to need to write something very quickly because I was late for a meeting. When I write quickly, I tend to default to using a somewhat heavier hand - I’m still new-ish to fountain pens, so writing with a light hand is still something I have to remind myself to do. I noticed that the lines were much wider and darker. I then set about testing it more systematically. As you’ll see from the attached pictures, when writing with a very light hand, I get something like an EF line; with a regular light hand, it looks like a Fine; when writing some moderate pressure, it’s closer to the kind of thick Medium line that I’m used to from my other Medium MB pens

I know for sure that (1) it’s not a flex pen and (2) it’s marked as a Medium on the box. So, any thoughts as to what the deal is? Do I have a defective nib? Or is it possible that the Medium nib on this pen was designed to write like a “soft Medium” or that the original owner had the nib swapped at some point to a soft Medium? (I bought it from Chatterley, so I’m going to send them an email as well). 

What’s interesting is that, even if it’s not “supposed” to write this way, I minds like the fact that I can get a lot of line variation from it. But on the other hand, if the nib is supposed to write like a regular Medium, then I wouldn’t want whatever the problem is to go unaddressed, lest it become worse down the line (I.e., after I’m no longer in whatever the warranty/return period is from Chatterley on used pens).

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and ideas!

I found this pen way in the back of a little-used desk drawer today. I don’t remember where or why I got it; it’s from way before I started collecting pens, though, so I think I must have gotten it from a work event or something.

Google says it’s a Starwalker Metal and Rubber ballpoint. Does that seem correct? And, if so, does this look like a legit one? (As an aside: the barrel does not feel like rubber to me - it feels like resin/plastic. Or, if it is rubber, it’s a very hard non-tacky rubber.)

Second, assuming it is legit: does anyone have experience with/opinions on MB ball points? I’m not a huge fan of ballpoints - all of my “real pens” are fountain pens or rollerballs. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with ballpoints and they certainly have their place; they’re just not my preference. But I’ve never used a Montblanc ballpoint, so I’d be curious to hear from those who have used them as to your thoughts on the writing experience.

In short, I wonder whether it’s worth buying a ballpoint refill (the one in there currently is dried out/empty) to try it out, or whether to just try to sell it.

Thanks for any thoughts and insights!

Folks, for your enjoyment, I present to you my newest acquisition: the Montblanc Sakura 333 fountain pen. 

I’m essentially speechless. It’s utterly, extraordinarily stunning. (And ordinarily, I’m not someone who particularly likes either pink or rose gold, let alone both together. But it works *very* well here.) Because I was short on time, the pictures don’t do it justice. But I will someday grab my real camera and take some more formal pictures

(Note: the notebook shown in the pictures didn’t come with the pen - it’s a Moleskin sakura notebook. Moleskin isn’t my favorite paper for fountain pens by any means, but it’s serviceable, and I happened to come across it shortly after ordering the pen.)

I do have a question for y’all. I am grappling with whether to ink and use this pen or instead leave it un-inked and just have on display. I went through this when I first starting collecting fountain pens. I ultimately decided that, because my whole interest is specifically in “functional art” (with pens as well as other items that I collect), it would be weird for me personally to have a functional art object but never use it. Example: some people buy limited edition bike frames to hang on their walls as display objects. I don’t do that: I use them (carefully: I don’t go riding on rough trails with them, but I do regularly ride them under appropriate conditions). To each their own, of course.

But here’s the thing: although I got a relatively good deal on this pen compared to what it normally sells for, it still was rather expensive. I have one other limited edition pen (the Montblanc Einstein) that‘s of roughly the same value that I do have inked, use regularly, and occasionally carry with me; but unlike this one, while it’s also a limited edition, it’s far less limited (4810 versus 333). In addition, the Einstein is made of metal, not porcelain. And as you’ll see from one of the attached images from the booklet, it comes with a stern warning basically saying “Hey, dummy: this thing is a limited edition made of porcelain! There ain’t no replacement parts; and if you break something, we might not even be able to repair it. Proceed with due care.” So, given both of those facts, this pen isn’t ever leaving my house. And here’s the thing: most of my long-form writing occurs *outside* of my home. That is: I tend think and write best, and therefore most frequently, at cafes; less frequently, at my office at work. Since most of my writing is long-form work-related writing, this means that if I inked it, I would only use it rarely since it’s not leaving my house. That said: (1) I do do some writing at home - mostly short sessions of journaling and some creative writing for my own enjoyment; and (2) inking this pen only to use it rarely does strike me at first blush as silly and contradictory, but using it only rarely also makes it less likely that I’d damage it, so it would have some benefit, I guess.

I’d be curious as to your thoughts. What would you do given the parameters and constraints above

I went to Yoseka Stationery in Brooklyn for the first time today! It was great; I highly recommend it. The space is smaller than I would‘ve thought from pictures online. As a point of comparison, it’s about the same size as The Paper Mouse in Boston (Newton), but laid out differently. But, like The Paper Mouse, it has a well-curated selection of pens, paper, and ink. (A whole lotta inks! Which is mostly what I was there for.) So I didn’t feel it was lacking for anything that I might be looking for. And I know for sure that they have a lot more in backstock than there’s room to have on display, because I heard at least half a dozen customers ask for certain things, and the clerks said “we don’t have X out on display, but I’m pretty sure we have it downstairs.” And they did, every time! (In my case, there was literally only one ink I was looking for that they didn’t have; but the clerk kindly offer to make me a generous (free) sample bottle from the one remaining open bottle they had on display.)  The employees were all very helpful and very friendly. All in all, a great experience! I only bought a few things because I only needed a few things, but I’ll definitely be buying from them again, either next time I’m in the city or online. 

The only “notes” I have are:

1. I didn’t see a wheelchair/accessible entrance. (Because I don’t have a disability myself, I didn’t look particularly hard for one; they very well may have one that just wasn’t obvious.)
2. I got there 10 minutes before they opened and there were already two people in line ahead of me waiting to go in. And 10 minutes after opening, it started to get busy and a wee bit crowded. If, like me, you’re averse to crowds, I definitely wouldn’t go on the weekend or holidays, when I can only imagine it would be even more crowded. (I was there on a Wednesday afternoon and it was hoppin’!)

Oh, and the inks shown in the picture, from left to right are:

Ink Institute Jadeite; Nagasawa Kobe #10 Mikage Gray; Nagasawa Kobe #51 Konocho Midnight; Ink Institute ShadowSnow; and a sample bottle of Nagasawa Kobe #16 Nada Brown.

(And a cool tote bag)

I’m on a 10 day work trip in Philly and NYC so I’m hitting up various fountain pen and paper stores along the way. I’m currently on the NYC leg and picked up some inks I hadn’t come across before or haven’t had a chance to try yet at the West Village location of Goods for the study. (They also had a decent selection of Iroshizuku inks, but I’m all stocked up on Iro at the moment.) I’ll be going to Yoseka later in the week. I won’t be going to Fountain Pen Hospital because I affirmatively do not need any new pens. 😊)

Starting at top left, the inks are:

Diamine Forever Skyline

Sailor Satellite Crayon Project Amani Oshima

Sailor Shikori Yonaga

Nonble Calico Ink set (which might not end up being colors I’ll use all that often; but I love calico cats and it was relatively cheap; honestly, I’d have bought it for the box regardless of which colors it had!)

IWI Great Heat

I’m looking forward to trying them. I have a pen with me that’s filled currently with an ink I don’t love (pen is shown in last picture; but the writing shown was with other pens); any suggestions on which of these new inks I should fill it with?