Montblanc 344G

[penwash]

I think I luck out and get a very good sample of this wonderful pen:

[jar]

Neat. The "G" designation meant a smooth finish on the pen IIRC.

[WmEdwards]

Was the "G" not the designation for a gold nib (upgrade) rather than steel in the school pen?

[penwash]

Was the "G" not the designation for a gold nib (upgrade) rather than steel in the school pen?

Whatever the G meant back then, the nib in this pen has won my heart

[jar]

Was the "G" not the designation for a gold nib (upgrade) rather than steel in the school pen?

Not IIRC. I have seen G models pens with both steel and gold nibs but all with the smooth solid black body. But I may well be wrong.

[penwash]

Was the "G" not the designation for a gold nib (upgrade) rather than steel in the school pen?

Not IIRC. I have seen G models pens with both steel and gold nibs but all with the smooth solid black body. But I may well be wrong.

Just curious, if it's not smooth, what is the alternative? Does the body have some chasing patterns?

[AzJon]

For the curious the "G" delegation stand for the German Glanz which can translate as shine, glossy, or clarity (among others). IIRC, this meant the pen had a gold nib (polished and shiny!) and I've heard that the 3-44G had a higher gloss polish on the barrel vs. the 3-44, but that seems unlikely.

[FredRydr]

For the curious the "G" delegation stand for the German Glanz which can translate as shine, glossy, or clarity (among others). IIRC, this meant the pen had a gold nib (polished and shiny!) and I've heard that the 3-44G had a higher gloss polish on the barrel vs. the 3-44, but that seems unlikely.

That has been my understanding, too, and I still don't see the need for the suffix. I tried to find something about this in the two Rosler books (Diary and Collectable Stars), but no luck. There has been repeated discussions about this on FPN's Montblanc subform.

[AzJon]

For the curious the "G" delegation stand for the German Glanz which can translate as shine, glossy, or clarity (among others). IIRC, this meant the pen had a gold nib (polished and shiny!) and I've heard that the 3-44G had a higher gloss polish on the barrel vs. the 3-44, but that seems unlikely.

That has been my understanding, too, and I still don't see the need for the suffix. I tried to find something about this in the two Rosler books (Diary and Collectable Stars), but no luck. There has been repeated discussions about this on FPN's Montblanc subform.

I always assumed that the G delegation was just another tier within their 3rd tier pens. Like getting an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. Same phone, but one has more bells and whistles (and larger in this case, so not a perfect analogy). MB also used to always mark the nib size on the piston knob, which also seems unnecessary.

Probably a silly question, but has anyone ever actually contacted Montblanc directly and asked?

[jar]

Probably a silly question, but has anyone ever actually contacted Montblanc directly and asked?

I was not asking about that but rather just buying some ink when the helpful sales person called the manager over since I was using a fake Montblanc. He had noticed my supposed 146 was smaller and looked like something other than precious resin and the snow cap was yellow which one should never eat.

I hold out little hope learning about a 344G from Montblanc.

[penwash]

Probably a silly question, but has anyone ever actually contacted Montblanc directly and asked?

I would if I knew who to ask over there. Asking a store clerk at my local mall probably would be quite futile

[AzJon]

Probably a silly question, but has anyone ever actually contacted Montblanc directly and asked?

I was not asking about that but rather just buying some ink when the helpful sales person called the manager over since I was using a fake Montblanc. He had noticed my supposed 146 was smaller and looked like something other than precious resin and the snow cap was yellow which one should never eat.

I hold out little hope learning about a 344G from Montblanc.

Well, alrighty then!

Perhaps not a boutique, but directly contacting MB in Hamburg. I find it amazing that a company with such a history as Montblanc wouldn't have information on former models.

[penwash]

I found this thread on FPN where the first post was sourced from Penboard.de.

It sheds some light into the version of this particular pen:

344G(1). First production run, 1950 (?) Models 344G and 344.

The star on the top is outlined white. On the cap there is engraved: MONT-^^BLANC. The cap ring, unengraved, leaves a free lip. The piston knob is short (with 344G or 344 and the tip size engraved), the ink window is amber and the body is made in celluloid. The feed is made in ebonite, with a “ski-slope” shape. The section is a smooth center-concave shaped cylinder.

So celluloid is the material of this pen unlike the other production runs in which they switched to injection molded plastic.

I actually own the first production run sample

[piscov]

I know this pen I also enjoyed testing and tunning that nib!

I believe the G stands out for gold nib. In germany Gold is spelled Gold and shynny is Glanzig, so the G can derivate from any of the words although it makes more sence to me that it derivates from Gold.
You can find the G in many pens from the WWII and Pst WWII period. Back in those days the use of gold was restricted in the industry as it all should go to Germany's war effort. Gold was used to pay war supplies and materials from other countries like steel, oil, diferent metals to produce weapons.
I do not recall haveing ever seen any pre WWII war pen with such an engraving, so I assume the G was used to tell the buyer he was getting a more deluxe version of such pen

I have found G marked on 1st tier to 3rd pens like. Bellow there is a non exaustive list of pens where I've seen it :
MB 14X ( 2,4, 6 and 9 sizes) series from 1951 to 1955
MB 24X series All sizes and also the 2 diferent design, the stremlined and rounded toped pens and also the early flat top)
MB 234 1/2, MB 236
MB 342, 344, 334 1/2

All of these pens had Steel nibs version available.

Sometimes we find G marked pens with non gold nibs, but from my experience this is a lot rarer than finding G marked pens with Gold nibs. I believe this is probably due to after market repairs were the original gold nib was replaced by a steel one. Back in the day pens were utilitary products and probably if a repair was needed this would be done looking more on the function rather than trying to keep the pen original.

As to asking Montblanc about any information, unfortunatelly the pen community has a lot more knowledge regarding pre 1970 pens than current Montblanc services. Maybe with the new museaum being finally open to public they will start gathering knowlegde and sharing it. In any Montblanc Boutique you get the a fantastique service and some boutique emplyees have great knowledge about the more recent pens, but when you want to know about pre 1960 pens they just do not know them. This is quite undestandable; they have very good training for current models and no training for older ones as they are in the bussiness of selling new products

Will, please keep sharing those fantastique drawings with us!! This is the kind of use all great nibs should have!

[Pterodactylus]

It is very unlikely that G stands for Glanz.

Imo G stands for Gold and I´ve never heard something different anywhere.
The gold nib pens were tagged with G.

If a G marked pen has no Gold nib in it for me that would mean that the original nib was replaced some time (valid for at least Montblanc pens)

[penwash]

It is very unlikely that G stands for Glanz.

I asked someone at the Ft. Worth (Texas) Montblanc's Repair Center of what the G in 344G stood for. They said 'Glanz'.

I guess that's as authoritative as it comes.

[AzJon]

It is very unlikely that G stands for Glanz.

Imo G stands for Gold and I´ve never heard something different anywhere.
The gold nib pens were tagged with G.

If a G marked pen has no Gold nib in it for me that would mean that the original nib was replaced some time (valid for at least Montblanc pens)

When they use Edelharz as the descriptor for their resin, I would not be surprised that the "G" stood for Glanzig or Glanz. On that note, I've now seen multiple forums with multiple contributors heavily into MB collecting all more or less agree that the "G" stood for Glanzig or Glanz so that you "never heard something different anywhere", this thread included, means you are either not looking very hard or are assuming that people are wrong across multiple platforms.

Edit to add: "G" representing Goldfeder is a likely possibility, but it doesn't make sense to see a "G" delegation on something like a 244 where it wasn't offered with a steel nib at all. There would be no need to stamp it "G" when the 2xx line was assumed to be the second tier pen that would have gold nibs vs. the 3xx lines that could come with either.

[Pterodactylus]

Glanzig ist not even a German word .... so they must have be real experts , you can say glänzend if you want.

And if you would speak German (I‘m a native German speaker) you would also doubt that a German pen company would give theirpens a tagging „Glanz“ or „Glänzend“, (which means shiny).
These attributes could be found for different products like cleansing agents or rinsing agents, but for sure not on luxury pens.

An explanation lˋve heard and believe is that after WW2 when it was allowed to use gold as nib material again, the G for Gold was used to Tag the ones with Gold nibs as premium ones.
Which make sense as it gives you an additional selling position.

[Pterodactylus]

Glanzig ist not even a German word .... so they must have been real experts , you can say glänzend if you want.

And if you would speak German (I‘m a native German speaker) you would also doubt that a German pen company would give theirpens a tagging „Glanz“ or „Glänzend“, (which means shiny).
These attributes could be found for different products like cleansing agents or rinsing agents, but for sure not on luxury pens.

An explanation lˋve heard and believe is that after WW2 when it was allowed to use gold as nib material again, the G for Gold was used to Tag the ones with Gold nibs as premium ones.
Which make sense as it gives you an additional selling position.

Only because something is written in the net even several times does not mean it is true, especially in non German speaking sources commenting/guessing about German companies.

[penwash]

Only because something is written in the net even several times does not mean it is true, especially in non German speaking sources commenting/guessing about German companies.

Did you not read my comment above? Someone working for Montblanc, at a Montblanc Repair Center told me G is for 'Glanz'. Who is guessing here?