The two-tone gold nib of the Meisterstück 149 has been decorated in different ways over time. On one older version the body of the nib is yellow gold towards the edges, while only the central area around the slit is platinum-plated. A more recent treatment takes its cue from the historical Montblanc nibs, on which a narrow silver-coloured band was laid into the yellow gold as an inlay.
The widespread suspicion that the later variant saves platinum on grounds of cost does not hold up, according to collectors. A narrow, cleanly defined band is if anything more laborious to produce than plating the whole middle of the nib. The change was therefore a matter of design and is to be understood as a nod to the early nibs.
The decorative variant plays a minor part in the value of a 149; what count are condition, year of manufacture, nib width and completeness. Anyone choosing between several versions is best guided by his own taste and, above all, by how the nib writes.