Monteverde Pens

[ggoodroe]

Greetings from sunny Florida!

I have used several Monteverde rollerball pens in the past. Having just developed an interest in fountain pens, I was wondering if anyone has had any experience either negative or positive with Monteverde...

Comments appreciated.

[Lady Onogaro]

I have two Monteverde pens--an Intima and a "Mountains" version. I have found that they are not always good writers out of the box, and the black finish on the Intima pen is flaking off (Monteverde replaced the section, and now it is flaking off of the replacement).

I won't buy another one, but others may feel more positively towards the brand.

[naimitsu]

I'm with Lady Onogaro.
I started out with an Impressa and it was a decent enough writer that I then went out and purchased the Napa. The Napa from the start was a POS. Had nothing but issues with the nib. It had to be cleaned, realigned, and polished to get it to work. It came with the badonkadonk of baby's bottoms. It took three of us trying different things to get it work write. Then the body cracked at the view window... and I didn't abuse it.

Once I got it back and it started working OK again, it would hard-start all the time. Turns out there's a hole behind the clip that allows air in while capped, so the nib always dried out... within hours. I've had other, better pens that remained inked, capped, and untouched for weeks on end that started without an issue when I did use it.

IMO, a good starter FP for the price are the Pilot Metropolitans. They're cheap and if you get a Penmanship or Plumix, you can turn swap nibs and end up with either a needlepoint or stub respectively.

Another good starter, though at a higher price point are the TWSBIs. I have not had any issues with them.

[sgtstretch]

Lady Onogaro shares my thoughts. If they work, they are decent, but quality control is quite low at Yafa, the manufacturer of Monteverde. The finish on the section of my Intima is also flaking off.

[ian1964]

I bought a Jewelria last year from Massdrop on a whim. I love it. Use it everyday for work. I had never really heard of the make before then but will definitely keep my eyes open for another such bargain.

[KBeezie]

Ever since my Invincia Deluxe Nighthawk started brassing before even the 30 days was up from a brand new purchase I decided I didn't want to bother with another Monteverde or Yafa product for that matter (Especially since they just kind of brushed it off like it was normal, and because it was the discontinued nighthawk they said they couldn't do anything, even though they could have just given me a glossy black section from their other carbon fiber one).

1 Month Mark:



And after a year of only taking it out once every 2 to 3 months to try a different ink (and usually not using it for more than a week before de-inking and putting away):




I ended up pairing it with a bexley nib that had suddenly lost most of it's plating (IndyPenDance blamed it on my use of Iroshizuku Kon-Peki), which gave the overall pen a 'worn' look and sold it to someone who liked that look. (I didn't really like the look cuz I originally bought a "Stealth" pen, Goulet did refund me for the pen but did not ask for the pen back since it was the most significant rate of brassing they have seen, and they couldn't replace it being discontinued and all, which was far more than what Yafa did).

[Hawk]

I have two pens. The first one is all black, the Invincia Stealth. As expected, the coating is coming off of the nib and the sharp edges of the body. I have used this pen at work and my job is not sitting behind a desk. It writes good and has had starting problems if it sits for a few weeks when using Quink. The other is the Prima. It behaves similar to the Stealth in writing. The finish and quality is good. I have seen other pens where the plating wasn't great. Overall, based on my pens, I would buy Monteverde again but look for areas that could present problems.

[TSherbs]

My Prima is one of my best pens (1.1 nib). Beautiful cappuccino swirl with pearlescent depth, and a reliable writer.

[sweetnightingale]

I think with Monteverde pens, it can be hit or miss. When they work right, they're pretty good, but when there are issues, they are significant ones.

I have a few Monteverdes and so far, so good on mine. Many of mine are Primas and they work nicely. I'm not having any issues with the nibs or writing with them. However, I've seen what has been described above by several people. My husband (Hawk) has a Stealth and itS showing some wear. Some of the coating on the nib flaked off, so it has a "spotted" look. Our daughter has several Monteverdes and they are also flaking. One of them is even warped. I'd say Yafa needs to work much, much more on their QC.

If you're looking for a pen in that price range, go for a TWSBI. Those are nice pens and are great writers out of the package. The Pilot Metropolitan is an excellent starter pen. However with it being metal, it will show dings and scratches more than other pens.

Hope this helps.

[sweetnightingale]

My Prima is one of my best pens (1.1 nib). Beautiful cappuccino swirl with pearlescent depth, and a reliable writer.

I'd have to say the Prima is one of the best Monteverde pens. I have several and really enjoy mine.

[bulbboy]

I have a Prima, Napa, and an Invincia. All start slow but I still like them. I need to work on them to get them flowing better.
Pretty pens though

[distracted_mom]

I have an Invincia, a Prima and an Artista. The Prima is my favorite. I haven't had trouble with them, save some hard starts, but a little dab of water and they are off and running.

[Sandy Fry]

Bought an Invincia for my GF ( now ex GF ) because she thought it was pretty. Pretty it was. A good writer it was not.

David

[naimitsu]

I have a Prima, Napa, and an Invincia. All start slow but I still like them. I need to work on them to get them flowing better.
Pretty pens though

Try putting a strip of clear tape under the clip close to where it goes into the pen. That helped slow down the nib drying out.

And try swapping feeds around on your pens. I've noticed that some feeds work better with certain nibs. They look exactly the same, but some just flow better with one type of nib rather than another.

As stated by almost everyone else, they have a major QC problem :/

[ggoodroe]

I agree, that's allot of brassing...but I have to say I like the look of the brown one on the bottom...it looks vintage ;-)

[Dronak]

I have one Monteverde pen, an Impressa. Mine has a black coated nib, and in less than a year of semi-regular but not heavy use, a large portion of the coating on the left tine has flaked off the nib. There also seems to be something similar happening on the section, but there it looks more like a clear coating is starting to flake off or develop bubbles. The pen writes well enough for me most of the time, but I kind of like my Pilot Plumix better (it's the other stub/italic nib pen I have). I recently contacted Monteverde about the nib coating problem, and was told they'd replace it under warranty. I'm not sure if I'll get just a nib, a whole section, or what, but I'll figure out what to do once the replacement arrives. I have enough pens that I might want to store this one away (to avoid further damage) and use other ones instead. So overall based on this one pen, which may not be representative of the brand as a whole, I guess I'd say Monteverde is OK but I think there are better brands out there. I hope this is of some help.