My NOS (new/old stock) 149... PICS HERE! Modem killer

[Porsche]

Hi guys

below are pics of my newly arrived 149. Apologies for the average pics, but I'm late at the office and only have an old camera, good camera at home.

Quick history... story told to me is the seller is a elderly (late 60's) retired pen salesman. Apparently this was a "travel sample" that had never been used, nor even "inked"! He carried it around as a sample in the 1970's.

As you can see, case, papers, (blank) warranty card all intact.

I don't even have any ink for it yet, so any suggestions on that front would be welcome. I have no idea if it writes (ha ha). Piston appears to go up/down smoothly. Windows also appears to be clear - I have tried to light it so you can see.

Should I do anything before I use? Flush with warm water? Again, apologies for dumb questions, but I am totally new at this and a little dumb.

PS. I was terrified I had made a rash decision, but after looking at nib and pen carefully through a loop, it all appears genuine. Any other feedback you have would be welcome. Please don't tell me I've been had and it's a cheap knock-off It was relatively cheap, so not the end of the world if I bin-it

[2careless]

Big congrats on scoring this beauty John!
Is the piston thread black plastic?
That should fit the 1970 era 149.
Suggest u fill it with water and try writing to see if it writes or not.
Also check if it leaks.
Get some Montblanc blue black ink. The colour variation rocks!

[Porsche]

Thanks Kai

yes, black plastic. Water? Thanks, I'll try that, and YES, blue/black sounds like the good stuff!

[Porsche]

Just tried water... It must have had ink in it at some stage... I flushed it a couple of times and the water and bowl went a very dark red/black color!

Any help on how many turns of the cap to fully up and fully down? I feel some resistance after only 3-4 turns? I'm scared I will over do it and snap something!

[2careless]

Well, one lesson I learnt is that unless the pen was purchased from a MB dealer directly, whenever the seller said it's "new", it always ended up with ink residue inside.

For most MB piston fillers, you have approx one full 360 deg turn of slack (relatively non-resistance) on the piston cap and then slight resistance will start as the piston starts pushing down. You can verify this on an empty pen with full nib in water - you won't see air bubble coming out of the nib during the first turn.

After this, continue to unscrew the cap and turn it until you can see the piston head poking down through the ink window, and on the way you will see air bubbles coming out. Once you see the piston, you can continue to unscrew it until the piston head fully covers the whole length of the window and you can stop - make a mental note on how many turns you have done during this process. On most modern 149 it takes 2.5 full 360 deg turns to get the piston fully down.

Then do the reverse and you can see the piston head going backwards and drawing water in. Just count the same number of turns and you should have ink inside.

If you find the piston too hard to turn during the water drawing bit, don't push it. Submerge the nib, up to section lip level , in water and wait a couple of hours and redo flushing out and drawing in process. There maybe old ink inside that needs time to dissolve. Sometimes it takes overnight soaking for stubborn ink to dissolve.

Never submerge the whole pen into water, especially the piston cap side as there may be metal parts on the piston side of the pen that can rust.

[R1@160@alltimes]

John, I love Mb 149!!!

That is a hefty instrument.

[Michael M.]

Congrats, I have a 144 and a 146, but not a 149.

[Lol-x]

Congrats John that's a great pick up

Enjoy

[swatty]

Looks great John , enjoy

[calibre1]

Congratulations!!

Lucky you! How did you got in touch with the pen salesman? Was it via FPN?

Cheers!

[Bisquitlips]

John,

That is a wonderful 149. Ink it and write!

[Porsche]

Thanks guys... glad I didn't make a big booboo on that one!

Kai: Thanks for the detailed description. I'll carefully follow your instructions over the weekend and report back here

Gus: Thanks, funny you say it's a "hefty instrument"... it feels super light in weight compared to what I normally use! All will be revealed soon, I'll post a quick "review" and comparison on the weekend

Calibre1: Nothing exciting or exotic about locating it... I found it on... Ebay It was being sold on consignment for the original owner via a antiques/estate shop. They had a couple of other of his pens. They seem to only normally sell furniture and antiques, so this was a bit left-of-centre for them...

Thanks to all the other compliments.. now I need to go practice my penmanship to do this beauty justice!!!

PS. Also, in my excitment to post, I forgot to upload the "reveal" pics which seem to be mandatory on TRF. The big tease and all that. A bit of an anti-climax now, but here they are anyway, seeing as it's the first pics from my iPhone4, curious to see how they look.

[D O C]

What a fantastic find you got there friend. Beautiful! It doesn't appear to have any surface scratches you see with even lightly used pens. Looks mint to me. Also I can see the "GERMANY" printed onto the clip ring. You typically seen in pre-1991 MB pens ONLY the "GERMANY" on the clip ring and not the SN#.

You did well buddy. Enjoy it!

PS Btw what seller did you get it from. Maybe they have others?

[Andad]

Looks great John.

[DCgator]

She's a beauty!

[Bisquitlips]

I also love the fact that you appear to have the complete package!!

Woot!!

[Lion]

John, what a beautiful pen you have there and the 149 is the iconic MontBlanc fountain pen. I know you will enjoy writing with the pen and if you are like some of us.....a new addiction will have started with the use of that fine writing implement!!!

[Zed Homme]

That's a sharp looking pen, enjoy!

[vitix]

very nice... i have a 146 vintage