Montblanc Vintage 1908–1929 Rouge et Noir and Simplo Pen: the first fountain pens from Hamburg (1908–1916)

Rouge et Noir was the first brand name of the Hamburg Simplo Filler Pen Co.: a pen of black hard rubber with a red cap top, made as a sliding barrel filler in 1908–1910 and as a safety pen in 1911–1916. Alongside it the young firm sold the Simplo Pen eyedropper filler, from 1910 the Simplo Gold safety pen and safety pens under the name Montblanc; in Italy the name Rouge et Noir lived on until about 1923.

The beginnings in Berlin and Hamburg

Montblanc’s beginnings lie in Berlin. From 1906 the engineer August Eberstein ran a small fountain pen workshop there together with the sales merchant Alfred Nehemias and with money from a few stationers. When the stationers pulled out, the two found new backers and partners in Hamburg: Claus Johannes Voß and the bank clerk Max Koch.

In March 1908 the Simplo Filler Pen Co. was entered in the Hamburg commercial register. According to the chronology of the Diary it was founded on 23 March as a limited partnership and converted into a private limited company (GmbH) on 9 September. Production took place on a rented floor of the Industriepalast in Caffamacherreihe, at first with one foreman, twelve lathe operators and ten women workers.

There are two explanations for the name Simplo. The Diary thinks it probably goes back to the German word “Simpel” (simple). According to the illustrated book Eberstein probably found the idea in a Berlin directory that listed a “Simplizissimus” fountain pen; only a year later his own business appeared there as the Simplo Filler Pen Company.

In 1909 Koch and Eberstein left the firm, Christian Lausen joined, and Nehemias died suddenly in Paris. From the start the young firm was also represented abroad: the first catalogue names W. Mudie & Sons in London and J. M. Paillard in Paris, and the Diary adds an agency in Barcelona.

Rouge et Noir: name and first design (1908–1910)

The first brand name was Rouge et Noir, a fountain pen of black hard rubber with a red cap top; according to the illustrated book the pen of the Berlin workshop had already carried this name. According to volume I the name’s reference to French culture and way of life was meant to set it apart from competing brands. The same book dates the market launch of the Rouge et Noir to 1908.

Volume I lists the first design from 1908 to 1910 as a sliding barrel filler in sizes 2, 4, 6 and 7, each also long (lg); the Diary says it was built on the sliding system. It was filled with a pipette.

The nib could be withdrawn into the barrel — not by turning, as on the later safety pen, but with a sliding sleeve. The pen thus combines the pipette filling of the eyedropper filler with the retractable nib of the safety pen. An advertisement of 1909 called it the most perfect safety fountain pen.

According to forum posts this first Rouge et Noir was an almost exact copy of the American Moore pen, so close that parts could even be exchanged; it differed only in having a red rather than a white cap top and in the imprint on the cap (forum post of 21 September 2006, forum post of 22 September 2006). This fits the entry in the chronology of the Diary that the pens of 1909 were mainly copies of other makers’ products.

The first nibs

At first the firm did not make its own gold nibs. According to the Diary it bought them from Collins in America and Perry in England; volume I names Perry in London; and a post on Penexchange (thread “Ur-Montblanc-Simplo um 1910”) also says that the first Rouge et Noir nibs came from the USA.

Volume I dates nibs marked “WARRANTED 14 KT 1 ST QUALITY” from Collins or Perry to 1908–1912 and imported nibs marked “SIMPLO PEN CO NEW YORK” with the size in a triangle or in a circle to 1909–1913.

The letterheads of 1909, 1910 and 1913 also name “New York”. At that time there was not yet any agency in the USA. According to an account that has been handed down, American writing instruments were then considered technically far ahead of European ones, and “New York” was simply added to signal quality.

Volume I dates the firm’s first gold nib production of its own to 1914; the illustrated book places it shortly before the outbreak of the war. According to the Diary the first attempts began in 1914; during the war the firm no longer depended on bought-in nibs, but the quality of its own still left much to be desired.

The first really usable nibs came only after Ernst Rösler had taken over nib production in 1919. Yet as early as 1910 the advertising promised gold nibs made in the firm’s own factory — as can be seen in volume I and in the first catalogue reproduced in the Diary.

Simplo Pen and Simplo Gold

Alongside the Rouge et Noir the firm sold the Simplo Pen from 1908 to 1910, an eyedropper filler with a red cap top in sizes 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8, with the imprint “THE SIMPLO PEN” on the barrel. According to the Diary it had a smooth slip cap with a rounded top and a “SIMPLO PEN CO NEW YORK” nib. The first catalogue advised carrying it nib upwards.

The Simplo Gold, with a cap top of 14-carat gold and the barrel imprint “SIMPLO GOLD”, was a safety pen. A caption in the Diary describes it as one (no. 4, 1910–1914), and an advertisement of about 1913 praises it as the best safety pen. The Diary lists the numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 for 1910 to 1912. Volume I and the Diary count Simplo Gold among the sub-brands; volume I lists no versions.

The Rouge et Noir as a safety pen (1911–1916)

From 1911 the firm built the Rouge et Noir as a safety pen with a twist mechanism. Volume I lists it until 1916 in sizes 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7, sizes 2 to 7 also long, plus the no. 8 until 1914 — always black with a red cap top. According to the Diary the cap had a ring at its end and the imprint “ROUGE ET NOIR”, the nib “SIMPLO PEN CO” and the size number.

A size 4 pen taken apart by maxpens.de shows the parts, and the nib is stamped “Simplo pen Co”, “4” and “New York”:

• cap and barrel
• the nib on its feed
• a spiral sleeve
• the seal carrier with a cork seal
• the turning knob

A leaflet of 1911 advertised “Rouge et noir — the safe system”. The catalogue of 1912 gave the sizes names, and the Montblanc catalogue of the same year used the same names:

• I “small format”
• II “ladies’ pen”
• IV “everyday pen”
• VI “gentlemen’s pen” with a large nib and plenty of ink
• VII for heavy handwriting
• VIII “the luxury pen for signatures”

According to the catalogue these pens were 11 to 13.2 cm long when capped. Alongside the Rouge et Noir the firm sold safety pens under the name Montblanc with a white cap top from 1910, and these became the pen with the star in 1914 (early safety pens).

Rotkäppchen and Rouge et Noir for Italy

During the First World War “French” goods could no longer be sold in Germany, according to volume I. The firm was now called Simplo Füllfeder GmbH, and the Rouge et Noir became the “Rotkäppchen” (Little Red Riding Hood) — according to the illustrated book a nickname the pen had already carried within the firm. Volume I dates the imprint “ROTKÄPPCHEN” to 1915–1916 and shows a box of 1915 inscribed “DER ‚ROTKÄPPCHEN‘ — Patentiert — SICHERHEITS FÜLLFEDERHALTER” (the “Rotkäppchen” — patented — safety fountain pen).

Later the pens were given a red star; the very first Rouge et Noir had no star at all (post on Penexchange (thread “Der Ursprung des Rouge et Noir”)). According to volume I the name lived on after the war only in Italy, until about 1923. For Italy, Montblanc fitted its safety pens with a red star and the imprint “ROUGE ET NOIR”; otherwise they were the same as the Montblanc pens. There are also pens with a white star and “Rouge et Noir” on the barrel.

At a trade fair in Milan in 1920 both names appeared on the signs of the stand, and a box label of 1922 names Montblanc and “THE ‚ROUGE-ET-NOIR‘ FOUNTAIN PEN” side by side. Safety pens with a red star are shown on the pages Rouge et Noir no. 6 and no. 00 long and no. 1 with an Italian rolled-gold overlay; their versions are listed with the early safety pens and the safety pens with overlays.

New editions from 2000

Montblanc later took the name up again. In 2000 fountain pens were sold for a few months under the name Rouge et Noir; according to volume I they were continued as Bohème because of trademark difficulties, and according to the same book the retractable nib of the safety pen lives on in the Bohème (Rouge et Noir of 2000). After that came:

• in 2006, for the company’s centenary, the Rouge et Noir Replica, a true safety pen in 100 pieces (Rouge et Noir Replica)
• also in 2006 the Historicals Anniversary Edition, a cartridge pen in which the section and part of the barrel are pushed back (forum post of 2 December 2007; Anniversary Editions); forum posts name the pen shown on the page on the Rouge et Noir no. 2 as its model (forum post of 16 September 2006, forum post of 7 April 2008)
• in 2016 the Heritage Rouge et Noir with a snake clip and piston filling, and in 2026 the Heritage Collection Simplo Gold in solid gold with a retractable nib, filled with a glass pipette (Heritage; Artisan novelties 2026/2027)

These new designs are not to be confused with the pens of 1908–1923.