Comparing the Platinum President and the Montblanc 147

[jar]

I thought it might be fun to compare a couple iconic pens, one Western, one Eastern. The two I chose this time are the Platinum President and the Montblanc 147.

The Platinum President is a resin bodied pen with an 18K two tone gold nib that fills using proprietary cartridges and converters that have a wider throat than even the Parker standard. Their cartridges do not seem to hold much ink, less even than the small International standard cartridges but the Platinum converter seems to hold about 1.5ml which is right inline with Parker, Sheaffer and the International standard converters and more than many piston filled fountain pens.

The Montblanc 147 is also resin bodied but has a 14K (18k in some markets) two tone nib that fills with cartridge only. No known converter will work with the 147. Cartridges load into a carrier and the whole carrier is inserted into the body. It does use International short cartridges and hold two, giving it about 1.5-1.6ml capacity.


147 showing the carrier from the front.

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and from the rear showing the indent that keeps cartridges in place when only one is inserted but also keeps us from using a converter.

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The two pens are almost the same length and width and the Montblanc 147 just a hair heavier (likely the metal carrier). The Platinum President with a Platinum converter filled weighs 25.8g while the Montblanc with two cartridges weighs 26.5g.



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The Platinum President is fitted with their double broad "C" nib while the Montblanc 147 has a broad nib.



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I do love wet nibs but the one on the Platinum President is a real gusher, maybe too wet even for me. I will switch inks soon to see if that helps. The Montblanc nib is near perfect with all the characteristics of a nice stub nib. Both are super smooth, reliable and forgiving but the Montblanc offers a slight amount of line variation totally missing from the President.

Visually I find the Montblanc nib prettier, but that is certainly subjective. Fit and finish are perfect on both.



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The two pens post securely, are balanced, totally reliable and about equal. I may get the nib on the President stubbed but it's fine as is.

I would find it hard to chose between the two.

[RuiFromUK]

Wow Jar. They are both beautiful pens.:)

Many thanks for the double review.

[mhosea]

They are both nice, but I have a great affinity for the straight (or imperceptibly tapered, if it be so at all) 146/147 grip section, so between the two, I would choose the Montblanc. In fact, maybe I should try to pick up a 147. I have a few 146's, but I could travel easily with the "traveller", whereas the piston fillers always get left at home when flying.

[jar]

Since I got the 147 none of my modern 146s have gotten any pocket time. The 50s 146s get to go play some but not the later ones. The earlier ones have a definite concave section and of course are smaller than either the modern 146/147 or the Platinum President.


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[Armstrong]

piston fillers always get left at home when flying

Mike,
Some thoughts on fountain pen carry. I live above 6000ft and just moving around town will vary that altitude by a thousand feet. The air pressure in an aircraft is similar to the air pressure where I live in Colorado Springs. And my moving around town is similar to the environment to which a pen is exposed in a modern aircraft as it changes altitude and the air system adjusts to keep the pressure somewhat level. Of course your real danger of ink leaks is during the climb to altitude. Air planes do not pressurize to sea level pressure it is closer to the altitude at which I live.

Now we know that the tendency for a fountain pen to 'burp' ink is due to the expansion of air in the ink chamber. As the ink goes out it is of course replaced by air, otherwise air pressure would keep the ink in the ink container. The air expansion is caused by one of two things: 1. heat gain, 2. pressure change. I know I'm preaching to the choir here but bare with me. Cartridge pens have the advantage of insulating the air in the ink cartridge from heat gain, usually from the person's own body heat. This is because the ink is in a cartridge, there is then an air gap, then the body of the pen. So as the pen body heats up, less of the heat makes it to the interior of the cartridge. But, let's look at the second cause of air expansion - pressure change. An ink cartridge will only protect from burping in two instances. One the cartridge is new and unseated. This is completely safe, but makes the pen useless. The second is if the cartridge is seated and completely full. Once you use the pen then air will get in the cartridge. The cartridge system helps protect from heat gain but will not protect the air from expansion due to a gain in altitude or lower than ground level air pressure within the aircraft.

What I do with a piston filler is to 'prep' them before carry. Basically point the nib straight up, wrap the section with a paper towel, then push the air out of the body with the piston. Once the air is gone, the tendency to burp, or push ink out of the nib is also gone.

I cannot say I have flown with one since I rarely travel anymore, but I see no reason it should not work. Using this preparation method I have had zero accidents moving around in Colorado. Even in town I regularly change altitude by 500 to 1000ft. So personally, I would carry a piston pen over a cartridge pen when flying because a cartridge that is in use will not protect you from altitude change induced leaks if it has sufficient air in the cartridge. You might want to take a paper towel with you if you intend to use the pen in flight so you can remove the air if you see a need. One could test this approach by inking a piston pen, pushing out all the air, wrap the pen in a paper towel, then put the pen in a ziplock bag. (Take the air out the zip lock bag too!) Fly with it, see if it leaks. If the air is indeed removed, and the pen has a good piston seal, I doubt that it will burp or leak past the piston. One might want to make sure the piston has a good silicon grease lube before flying to insure a good piston seal though.

[mhosea]

One the cartridge is new and unseated. This is completely safe, but makes the pen useless.

Your circumstances are more demanding than mine. I have no interest in writing with the pen while I'm in the air. My reason for preferring cartridges for travel of any kind, not just air travel, is primarily about ink supply and color selection, and, to a lesser extent, about my desire not to have to pack bottles or vials of ink. I rarely use cartridges at home or around town, and yet I still maintain a pretty good selection of colors that I could bring with me, a cartridge or two of this, a cartridge or two of that: black, blue-black, sapphire blue, cerulean blue, turquoise, green, brown, red. Granted, changing colors is not as convenient away from home, and there tends to be some waste, but having the selection available appeals to me.