Montblanc is one of the oldest manufacturers of high quality fountain pens that has built its success on great design and high quality craftsmanship. Montblanc 149 can be considered a hallmark of Montblanc quality craftsmanship and decades of dedication to good design.
An important aspect of Montblanc’s development of the Meisterstück series and later on the 149 was to associate this line with the writing culture and as a contemporary symbol of perfection in design and hence the term Meisterstück. Interesting here is to note that exactly 40 years after introduction of 149, i.e., in 1992, Montblanc introduced the first edition of its famous writer edition, viz., Hemingway.
Introduced in 1992, Hemingway is based on the 149 mechanism and in design only slightly shorter. Furthermore, Montblanc decided to give Hemingway a coral tone, reminiscent of some of the coastal regions Hemingway resided while working on his novels. Montblanc Hemingway writer edition was followed by a number of highly successful writer’s edition fountain pens that are now among the primes as far as dedicated fountain pens collectors are concerned.
Ergonomics and elegance toped by product longevity are at the centre of manufacturing and design philosophy of Montblanc 149. These aspects of design are responsible for success of 149 as a collectable item and its immaculate reputation as a robust fountain pen for everyday use among writers.
In presenting its history, Montblanc raises the 149 in numerous occasions (see 1950s) as a pinnacle behind the success of the company. The “Meisterstück” series was introduced prior to the 149 in 1924 as a preamble of excellence. It is interesting to note that from 1935, the “Meisterstück” series began to be shipped with a life time guarantee. At the time major pen manufacturers, such as Parker and Sheaffers’ introduced some form of emblem denoting lifetime guarantee. For example, Sheaffer’s introduced the White Dot as an emblem denoting lifetime guarantee.
Parker also introduced the blue diamond as an emblem of high quality. At the time Lifetime guarantee became a form of competitive advantage among quality fountain pen manufacturers until a series of FTC (US Federal Trade Commission) rulings led to a slow phasing out of this type of guarantee all together sometime in the 1950s. Overall one of the main lessons to be drawn from the 1930s-1950s is that pen manufacturer’s lifetime guarantee line denotes better build quality as compared to their standard line.
Among its serial productions, Montblanc 146 and, of course as noted above, 149, are today considered among the best of writing instruments. Not all writers and dedicated collectors prefer buying a Montblanc 149 new from their local Montblanc Boutiques. Some dedicated collectors and even writers prefer the older Montblanc 149 which came with the famous ebonite feed arguing that if they are sure about the seller, be it a well regarded eBay top rated seller, a local pen seller or an online seller they can trust, then a vintage 149 is the best choice as it may give that extra passion to writing and in case the writing dose not turn out to be a best seller, then the money is always in the 149.
