I have been a long-time lurker on this forum but have not posted before. I believe these pens might be of interest here. I tend to cycle between different types of fountain pens, often writing with five of the same type. Among all the pen form factors, I like the 149 the best. And among the 149s, I like the demonstrator the best. It is most definitely not for the OCD among us, but I personally like seeing exactly how much ink remains.
I settled into this writing rotation and really enjoyed it. Then COVID-19 changed things in an unexpected way. For my work I built a full-blown video studio in my house, at a level surpassing most professional video studios. Part of integrating this studio into my workflow was to change my desk layout and I just don’t find myself using my fountain pens. I think I will keep one or two of them because I believe I might use one or two but there is just no way I will use five anymore. And this home studio configuration has worked great so I don’t see it changing anytime soon.
I am indifferent between the pens because they all have the same nib. They have had Richard Binder grind a Waverly XF nib for each pen. The reference Waverly XF is the Hemingway’s Waverly XF nib that Richard ground at least eight years ago. Richard has written a fair amount on the Waverly grind. I can only agree with him that this is my favorite nib to write with.
149 Demonstrators $5,000 each
I believe a fair price for each of the 149 Demonstrators is $5,250. Richard is only doing work at a few pen shows each year, and who knows when that will occur again. I think of these pens as being more rare for the nib than the demonstrator itself (and 149 demonstrators are indeed rare).
I also have a Hemingway (Binderized XF nib) for sale for $2,750 (with box and papers) and an unused MB 149 75th LE (#1009 of 1924) for sale for $2200. But there is a limit of ten pictures per post so I will have to post those separately.
All prices include shipping in the US.
If you buy a 149 demonstrator I would gladly send it to a well-known pen expert in Germany to disassemble it and clean it before sending it to you; and at that time you could pick clear sealant or pink goop.
I would also gladly have a zoom call so you could decide between the different 149 demonstrators.
Paypal, check, or wire transfer are my preferred methods of payment.
Given my use case, I can’t think of anything I would want to trade for. I have some interest in a second Schoeps CMC1 (which is not pen related) or a YoTGD pen stand.
If you would like more pictures or information, please just ask. I have bought and sold many MBs. I know a lot of people and we likely have friends in common.
Thanks for looking,
Sean
Last edited by multiechelon; September 30th, 2020 at 07:57 AM.
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to multiechelon For This Useful Post:
Thank you tadamonoron. I appreciate the inquiry. My challenge is that I write with my pens so I don’t have a bunch of pens stowed away. Depending on the specific writing project, I would have five or six pens inked. Since I only have these pens, it would be hard to make a trade work. And while I can think of other expensive things I like, in those cases it would almost surely make sense for that person to just sell that item for cash.
A true story is that I just bought back a Rolex no date that I sold to the present owner eight years ago. So my kids joke I am going to be trying to buy these pens back from everyone I sell them to.
I am thinking of sending several of the pens to a great pen craftsperson in Germany for cleaning. At that time, the clear goop could be substituted for pink goop (or vice versa). And the nibs could be changed (but I think these nibs are great).
What is interesting about all five demonstrators is they are all 100% real, but they are from different epochs. Two of them were given away by the president of MB as gifts (to the persons I bought them from). One has no markings on the barrel. The other has the slits of the ink window (even though it is clear). So no two of them are exactly the same.
Montblanc 149 Demonstrators
Bookmarks