The 1497 is the solid gold version of the 149: a Meisterstück piston filler in 750 gold with line guilloché, and thus the largest variant in the range made in solid gold. Its final shop price was exactly 4,950 DM, just under 5,000 DM. The figure of around 10,000 DM sometimes quoted for this model does not refer to the line guilloché version.
The reason for the change was of the firm's own making. With the introduction of the Solitaire writing instruments in vermeil in 1992, a finish came into the range with virtually identical guilloché work at an incomparably lower price. To set the solid gold pens apart from it, Montblanc switched to a two-tone version with a matt white and yellow gold surface in a herringbone pattern. This cost almost twice as much and so reached the price region of 10,000 DM.
A dependable market price can be derived only from what pens actually sell for, not from asking prices. For a 1497 in as-new condition, collectors reported in 2007 that around 2,500 euros was the upper limit of what experienced buyers were prepared to pay; the lower limit is in every case the bullion value of the gold alone.