MONTBLANC (PENS)

'Montblanc International GmbH' is a German manufacturer of writing instruments, watches and accessories, often identified by their famous "White Star" logo.

Contents

History

Branding

Ambassadors

Special editions and other product lines

Criticism and Controversies

Branding versus quality

Manufacturing

Value

Easily damaged

Limited Editions

"Precious Resin"

Diamond Controversy

Ban on Internet Sales

External links

History

Founded by the stationer Claus-Johannes Voss, the banker Alfred Nehemias and the engineer August Eberstein in 1906, the company began as the Simplo Filler Pen company producing up-market pens in the Schanzen district of Hamburg. Their first model was the Rouge Et Noir in 1909 followed in 1910 by the pen that was later to give the company its new name, the Mont Blanc. The first pen known as the Meisterstück or (for export) Masterpiece was produced in 1925.
The company was successful despite its founder, Eberstein, fleeing to the US to avoid prosecution for stealing company funds in 1909. In 1934 the company changed its name to Montblanc-Simplo GmbH, and introduced its first piston filler.
See here for a history overview and her for a more detailed view, including much information of early models.
The company was acquired by Dunhill in [1977], following which lower price pens were dropped and the brand was used on a wide range of luxury goods other than pens. [1]
Today Mont Blanc forms part of the Richemont group. Its sister companies include luxury brands Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chloe, and Baume et Mercier.

Branding

The trademark most clearly identified with Montblanc is the white stylised six-pointed star with rounded edges, representative of the Mont Blanc snowcap from above, the symbol being adopted in 1913. The number "4810", the mountain's height in metres, is also a commonly recurring theme.
For decades Montblanc has produced its flagship Meisterstück line of writing instruments, but in recent years has begun to establish new lines. The Bohème, Scenium and Starwalker ranges are recent additions to Montblanc product-line.

Ambassadors

Montblanc have appointed a series of "Ambassadors", who represent the brand and its values. These include ^[1]:

★ Katherine Jenkins

★ Johnny Depp

★ Julianne Moore

★ Nicolas Cage

Special editions and other product lines

Montblanc produces limited editions in addition to its normal production. Editions include the "Patron of the Art" (4810/888 pieces annually), the Writers Edition, Annual Edition, various Anniversary Editions and Donation Series as well as one-off and commemorative pieces. However it should be noted that these "Limited Editions" are often produced in very large numbers - e.g. a total of 14,000 fountain pens, 12,000 ballpoints, and 3,000 sets containing both for the Edgar Allan Poe.
The most famous Mont Blanc pens are probably the 146 and 149, which differ only in size, with the 149 being an extremely large "signature" (i.e. sized too large for prolonged use) pen. See here for the definitive Internet article on the 149.
Recently Montblanc has diversified into other luxury goods. Montblanc now sells watches, leather goods, female and male jewelry, perfume, sunglasses, and desk accessories in addition to writing instruments.

Criticism and Controversies

Branding versus quality

A common criticism among fountain pen collectors is that MB have become an entirely marketing oriented brand and that quality has suffered. In one poll among collectors, only 19% voted that MB had generally maintained quality, and a mere 6% that it had improved it. Another poll showed only 5% of collectors willing to use one as their primary modern pen, compared to around 20% each for the brands Sailor, Pelikan, and Pilot/Namiki.
A comparison of problem reports for Mont Blanc pens compared to a rival brand on one fountain pen collectors forum suggested that Mont Blancs had a problem rate around twenty times higher than their rival.
This six pointed white Mont Blanc star is commonly known among detractors of modern Mont Blancs as " the splat" or "bird splat".

Manufacturing

An aspect of Montblanc's marketing often describes it fountain pen nibs as "handmade". In fact, Montblanc nibs are almost entirely machine-produced with only a final smoothing stage being carried out by hand. Critics argue that this procedure is carried out manually only for marketing reasons; that it requires little skill (nib smoothing can literally be learned in a few minutes); that only a few minutes of hand labour are spent per nib; and that smoothing of standard nibs is anyway better performed by machine.

Value

Writing instruments from other manufacturers are often perceived as offering higher quality for a lower price. Other German manufacturers make gold nibbed piston filling pens that sell for as little as $125-$150 in the US, compared to a typical price of $600 for a plastic bodied, injection moulded Mont Blanc 146.
Frank Dubiel, author of the standard text on fountain pen construction and their restoration, estimated that a Montblanc 146 costs $25 to make although it sells for $600.
Montblanc's two-year warranty is often compared to the lifetime warranties of many other pen manufacturers (large and small).

Easily damaged

There is evidence suggesting that "precious resin" (see below) Mont Blanc pens are unusually fragile. Frank Dubiel claimed that approximately ten per cent of "precious resin" Montblancs contained small cracks at the time of purchase (see
★ here.) explaining stories of pens cracking from very minor falls - or even seemingly spontaneously (hysteresis cracking) while in storage.
Dubiel also claimed that the fragile nature of "precious resin" combined with the high stresses of the twist mechanism used in many Montblanc ballpoints meant that such pens had a likely life of only "several" years.

Limited Editions

Montblanc's "Limited Editions" are typically produced in quantities of tens of thousands, often far exceeding the production of pens by other manufacturers that are ''not'' claimed to be limited editions. (See e.g. Mont Blanc Edgar Allan Poe.)
Although selling for prices of thousands of dollars, Limited Editions are often injection moulded "precious resin" (see below) likely to cost only a few tens of dollars to produce.

"Precious Resin"

Controversy has been attached to the use of the term "precious resin" to describe the material used for most Mont Blanc's pens. While Mont Blanc refuses to disclose the nature of the material, critics say the material is a standard black plastic with glass fibres added to improve its appearance. See e.g. hereherehere here here.

Diamond Controversy

After seeing a supplier's invoice, Diamond Intelligence revealed that heat-treated black diamonds had been used rather than much more valuable natural white diamonds for $200,000 diamond covered Mont Blanc 149 pens. This altered the value of the diamonds in pen by a factor of ten. The journal claimed that Mont Blanc had used "deceptive and unfair trade practices" in its advertising and had breached US law concerning gemstones when it failed to inform costumers of the nature of the diamonds used.
Mont Blanc disputed Diamond Intelligence's legal interpretation, but changed their marketing to reveal the nature of the stones used.

Ban on Internet Sales

Authorised dealers are no longer allowed to sell from web sites and have to use telephone or postal ordering. The company claims that this is because it is aware of many fake pens being sold via web sites, but critics have suggested it might be a measure to stop the company's high prices from being undermined by Internet discounting.

External links

★ Montblanc Writing Instruments

★ Fountainpen.de Collector Site

★ Frank Dubiel on cracks in precious resin pens.

★ Frank Dubiel on likely MB146 manufacturing cost