Montblanc Vintage 1908–1929 Stylos 1909–1929

A stylo, also called a stylograph, does not write with a nib but with a thin tube. Montblanc had such stylos in its range from the start: first the Simplo stylos no. 1 to 3, then stylos without number.

How it works

The tube holds a fine wire with a small drop weight. The wire protrudes slightly; during writing it is pushed in, the weight rises, and the ink flows onto the paper by capillary action between wire and tube. Such tube pens existed as early as the end of the 19th century, above all in the USA.

In the range from the start

The firm was founded in 1908 for fountain pens and stylos, and the title of the first catalogue of 1909 reads “Goldfedern · Füllfederhalter · Stylos” (gold nibs, fountain pens, stylos). According to this catalogue as reproduced in the Diary, all Simplo stylos were mounted with platinum-iridium; its cross-section drawing labels a needle and a tip of platinum-iridium.

The Simplo stylos no. 1 to 3

The first catalogue distinguishes three Simplo stylos: no. 1 in a long, sturdy form and no. 2 in a long, slim one, both of marbled rubber, and no. 3 in a short form of red rubber. Volume I lists them from 1909 to 1921 as eyedropper fillers without imprints and notes that other firms offered the same product:

• no. 1 black (11.3 cm, Ø 1.0 cm)
• no. 2 black (11.3 cm, Ø 0.9 cm)
• no. 3 red ripple (11.3 cm, Ø 0.9 cm)
• no. 3 black and coral red (9.2 cm, Ø 1.0 cm)

According to the identification guide of the Diary, the stylos no. 1 to 3 had a slip cap with a rounded red top and a conical writing tip; red-and-black marbled or all-red versions were also possible.

Volume I itself gives two answers on how long these early stylos were made: 1909–1921 in its table, about 1922 in its text. Which period is correct — including the differing ones given at the end of this page — has not been resolved.

A gap from 1922 to 1930?

According to the text of volume I the stylos disappeared from the range around 1922 and only returned in 1930, prompted by the success of the Rotring ink pencil (“Tintenkuli”), which was also made in Hamburg. The chronologies of volume II and of the Diary also give 1930 as the year of reintroduction.

According to the Diary the first stylos of 1930 were lever fillers, and the push-knob system followed half a year later. It lists them in black, coral red, azurite blue and malachite green, with a ribbed cap with a serrated top edge, “MONT BLANC” with the star on the cap and “ORIGINAL SIMPLO MONTBLANC” on the barrel.

The table of volume I, however, lists stylos without number without a break, all with a big star on the cap top and without cap rings and clip:

• 1922–1925 as eyedropper fillers in black and red ripple (16.0 cm, Ø 1.35 cm)
• 1926–1930 as lever fillers in black, coral red and malachite green
• 1929–1932 as push-knob fillers, also in azurite blue and red ripple

Malachite green and azurite blue, however, belong to the coloured celluloid that volume I mentions only from 1928, and Montblanc introduced the push-knob filler in 1929. Whether Montblanc offered stylos between 1922 and 1930 has therefore not been resolved; the collectiblestars.com database lists stylos without number as eyedropper and as push-knob fillers.

The stylos from 1930

The stylos from 1930 are described on the page stylos of the 1930s; the lever and push-knob fillers without number from the table of volume I appear there as well. They were followed by:

• stylos without number, then with clip and rings
• the 15 and 17.5 in 1933–1935
• from 1935 the S422, 421 and 422
• from 1936 the piston filler 432 with the red dot

The Simplo stylos no. 1 to 3 have nothing to do with these later numbers: their numbers only denote the shape. So far there are no photos of early stylos on this website.