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They’re back!

A few weeks back I posted about my Montblanc nib replacement. I promised to follow up.

Two days ahead of the promised four-week turnaround, I received an email from the Montblanc boutique informing me that my pens were ready for collection. I went in today to collect them.

I have to say, I was very pleased by the experience, again. I was dealt with by Pedro, who I spotted had an Agatha Christie writer’s edition in his pocket. That is truly a grail pen of mine, and he let me take a look — what a beautiful pen.

We talked about the upcoming Kipling edition and the 149 Calligraphy, and he showed me the Elixir inks (which smelled much better than I expected). I have been consistently impressed with how much the staff in the boutiques know about their pens.

My pens were solidly packed and Pedro unpacked each one, presented me back the service book, and inspected the pens before handing them over to me. Each piece of service work is covered by a new warranty, so should I choose I could send them away for another free nib swap!

I forgot to bring an empty pen case for the pens, so Pedro sealed them up in envelopes for me to keep them safe.

I am ashamed to say that I ducked in to a WH Smith and bought a bottle of Parker Quink black (the only bottle they had) on the way back to the office, because I couldn’t wait to get home to try them out.

The Geometry I had fitted with a double-broad nib, and it reminded me greatly of the Pelikan IB. It’s not unusably wide, or unusably wet, and it’s nicely smooth. It definitely has stubbish tendencies.

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The Petit Prince I had fitted with an EF, and it behaves just as beautifully as my Rouge et Noir EF. A true EF line, but smooth and free-flowing. A couple of my colleagues tried it out and were very impressed — for what it’s worth!

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I’ve tried nine modern Montblanc nibs now, from EF through to BB, and every one of them has been absolutely perfect. That’s quite a track record, and one that my experiences with Bock, Pelikan, Aurora and others can’t get close to. I’m seriously impressed both by the service and the products Montblanc are putting out.

3 Comments

  1. rupertarzeian

    It’s great to hear that you are happy with your new nibs and received such excellent service. Interesting that you went for opposite extremes in your choices, so you are now covered for anything! I had to decide whether to exchange the medium nib on my Classique recently. I tried the whole range at the Monblanc shop in New Bond Street. In the end I opted to keep the medium. I have been writing it in for six weeks and it is smoother now than when I first bought it. I could not face saying goodbye to it.😁

    • Anthony

      Medium nibs are often the best choice, it’s true! But I was blessed with so many Montblanc mediums I thought I would risk experimenting. Glad you’re enjoying the Classique still ☺️

  2. Paul Godden

    I had the opportunity for a good deal on a 144 Classic and a 146 c1960/70s a few weeks back. As luck would have it, the 144 with a medium came first — and my wife loved it, which gave me the chance of surrendering the pen gracefully and going for an EF on the 146. Both have been truly excellent. I never imagined that an EF nib from any manufacturer could glide across a page quite so smoothly and effortlessly. The thing is, I have about a dozen pens inked, and I don’t really want to write with anything but the MB right now.

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