When I first started collecting fountain pens a little more than a year ago I knew very little about Mont Blanc and thought they were overpriced. I had no appreciation for them whatsoever. I never saw myself owning one as I was mostly intriqued by vintage pens, and still am today. After 9-10  month of collecting I was first introduced to the 146 by J English Smith, and then again shortly thereafter by rroossinck. After using them something just clicked and I realized what I had been missing. After learning about Mont Blanc’s history and the quality craftsmanship that went into these pens I now had much more appreciation for them. I was able to trade several pens to my buddy for his 146 and ever since that moment my next goal was to get my hands on a 149. The 149 went on my list of Grail Pens and quickly rose to the top.

After being disappointed with not being able to find one I could afford on a couple message boards I turned to eBay and watched every Mont Blanc auction for about three weeks. I bid on several but lost, until finally I won one. Wow, my first Grail Pen! I was so excited! Now came the wait. The seller shipped it UPS so I could track it the whole way. I don’t know if that was a good thing or not. The day it was expected to arrive we got a massive blizzard. DELAYED! So, being the hopeful idiot that I am I figured it would arrive the next day. I mean, that’s what the new ‘expected delivery date’ on UPS’s website said. Well, around 6pm the following day, with no new pen in hand, I called UPS to inquire about the situation. The lady told me it would definitely be delivered  tonight and that they stay out until 8-9pm. Ok, fine. A little more patience. I’m sure the delivery guy is about to knock on my door any minute. 9:30 comes and still no pen. I call again. They tell me because of all the snow some packages have been delayed. My pen was actually on a truck that was making deliveries, it just didn’t make it to my door. I requested it stay at the shipping center so I can go pick it up first thing in the morning. I try to sleep, but the sun can’t rise soon enough.

The shipping center opened at 8am. I was there at 8:15. They can’t find my package. “I’m sorry sir, I think it’s gone out on the truck.” Really? Wasn’t my call last night supposed to prevent that? She says she’ll call me when she figures out where my package is. A couple hours later she calls, “Sir, your package is here waiting for you. You can pick it up any time.” I blaze down there turning a 30 minute drive into a 15 minute Formula 1 race with my Jeep in 4-wheel drive and a foot of snow on the ground. My wife was more than a little terrified.

I finally get my package and run out to the Jeep. My wife said I looked like a little kid on Christmas morning when I pulled the pen from the box. To be honest, I felt like a little kid. I was so excited and happy and relieved to finally have it in my hands. My 149 is incredible. The 18k gold nib puts down a fantastically smooth fine line with awesome flow. This particular pen has the ‘W. Germany’ stamp on the clip ring, which I tried to show in the photo above. I’m hoping to add both sizes of the Boheme to my collection as well as some vintage 149s with flex and a platinum trimmed 146. I feel like I’ve been sucked into the vortex now. I have a mistress and she wears the white star.

I recently had the pleasure of grinding a stub on a Bexley Submariner for a customer and he liked it so much he decided to send me 7 more of his pens to have worked on. Six of them needed to be ground into stubs, CI’s and italics, and the other just needed some adjustment to fix its’ inconsistent and dry flow. The pens pictured above starting with the green Sheaffer Balance II and moving clockwise are: Autumn Sheaffer Balance II, Bexley 56 Tibaldi, maroon Pelikan M250, black Pelikan M200, blue Pelikan M805, and a black Bexley Simplicity. The following photo shows the nibs before they were ground. Finally, there’s a photo of a writing sample. I have to say they all turned out great and it was a pleasure working on them. If you need a grind on one of your favorite pens let me know. I’d be more than happy to do it. My turn around time is 2-4 days.

The interior is lined in a beautiful blue-ish/purple velvet material that hides a tension clip which holds the pen in an almost sensual, yet protective manner. Inside the box is a soft cloth to wipe down the pen, I guess. There is also a single pen wrap included but I don’t know why. It’s almost a sick joke to include this wrap for the intent of carrying around such an expensive pen. If I even thought of transporting this pen I wouldn’t do it in anything less than a mobile Fortress of Solitude.

The body of the pen is made from a beautiful celluloid that has green and blue pearlescent flakes. When I first saw it, it kind of reminded me of Sheaffer’s Ebonized Pearl in their Balance pens. The barrel has been ribbed which is going to be a love it or hate it affair. I don’t like the look of it and I didn’t think I’d like it while writing with it but when this pen is in your hand you don’t even notice the ribbing. All you can focus on is the writing. I would still probably prefer a smooth barrel though. Notice the bar on top of the nib thats acts as a kind of over-feed. When you really get to writing you’ll be glad it’s there.

The photo above shows the nib and feed fully loaded with ink. See how extra ink is held between the nib and the over-feed? That keeps the ink flowing nice and juicy even as you race across the paper. The cross-slit nib is a beautiful piece of work! These pictures do not do it justice, not even close! (Does that say more about my photography or the nib?) The pen feels very good in the hand. In my normal writing position, which is slightly upright, only the first set of tines were making contact with the paper. In this position it writes like a round bold nib. To get the full effect of the nib you need to lay the pen down quite a bit, at least compared to what I’m used it. This is actually very easy and comfortable due the length of the barrel. You can clearly see the difference between writing with the entire nib in contact with paper compared to just the first set of tines as shown in the fifth written line. My signature is good example of what happens when you write too quickly and adjust the writing angle mid-stroke.

Writing with this pen was a great experience and I would like to thank both James and Ryan for letting me handle it.

I had an extra converter lying around so I thought I’d see if it would fit. Sure enough it did, but just barely as you can see in the next picture.

The pen is constructed entirely out of metal, which makes it pretty heavy and combined with its shaped turns it into a near perfect killer projectile. It’s almost as heavy as my Levenger Plumpster, which is great as I prefer heavier pens. The only thing I would change to improve this pen is to move the rubber o-rings from the barrel to the section to provide more grip on the metal surface, a great suggestion from the author of Brassing Adds Character.

The Alibi is just a bit longer than a Peilikan M200 but much fatter. The Parker 51 looks like a string bean compared to this chunky son of a gun.

Always fun to peer into the insides of a pen. Note the thickness of the barrel.

Here are some before and after shots of the nib:

Finally, here is a writing sample for you enjoyment.  The first line was written using the medium nib that came with the pen.  The second line is the completed stub.  Both were written using Levenger Smokey.  The third line is the completed nib in Noodler’s La Couleur Royale.