Montblanc Vintage 1930–1939 Safety pens of the 1930s: 12.5 to 19.75, A, B, C, 201–204 and 302–306

The safety pen is Montblanc’s oldest filling system; it was made from 1908 to 1939. This page describes the main-line pens that reach into the 1930s: the older sizes with metal overlays until 1932, the numbers 12.5 to 19.75, the sizes A, B and C of the III. Sorte and the three-digit numbers 201–204 and 302–306.

How it works

The safety pen is filled upright with a pipette, like an eyedropper filler. To write, one unscrews the cap and turns the knob at the end of the barrel: a spiral pushes the nib out of the barrel, which is sealed from the inside in the process.

After writing, the pen is held upright again, the nib is turned back and the cap screwed on. The pen is then closed like a bottle and can be carried in any position, while the nib always rests in ink and is ready to write at once.

A small silver pin in the centre of the cap engages with the feed. It protects the nib when the cap is screwed on carelessly and prevents the nib from being turned out while the cap is on. According to a forum post of 18 November 2004, such pins were not exclusive to Montblanc pens. In 2000 Montblanc took up the idea of the retractable nib again, in altered form, in the Bohème range.

Sizes and numbers until 1934

Until 1930 the safety pens carried simple size numbers from 00 (“Baby”) to 12, which also appeared on the nib; short versions were called k, long ones lg. In 1930 the common sizes were given new numbers, and according to volume I the shape of the old one was kept in each case:

• the 1 became the 12.5
• the 1 k the 12.5k
• the 2 the 15
• the 2 k the 15K
• the 4 the 17.5
• the 6 the 19.75

The Diary shows nibs with the size in the star for these pens. It also assigns the numbers 11.25 to 19.75 to the second line below the Meisterstück, which was renumbered as the second series in 1935.

According to volume I the 12.5 and the 15 ran from 1930 to 1934, the 12.5k in 1932–1933, the 17.5 in 1932–1934 and the 19.75 only in 1930–1931. All numbers also came in an octagonal version: the Diary dates the first octagonal safety pen to 1924, and volume I lists octagonal pens until 1937. Until 1932 the black pens were also possible in red ripple or coral red.

Metal overlays (until 1932)

Until 1932 Montblanc also supplied safety pens with metal overlays:

• silver
• 585 gold
• gold-filled (rolled gold)
• white enamel with roses
• Tula silver: the engravings are filled with niello, a compound of copper, lead and sulphur that fuses with the silver in the fire and, after polishing, stands out black against the bright metal; the name comes from the Russian town of Tula.
• Toledo work, named after the Spanish city: gold wire applied to a blackened steel sleeve in the manner of damascening

The patterns range from barleycorn guilloche, waves, lozenges and meanders to paisley, hammered finish and sunrays, a spider’s web with a spider and an Egyptian pattern with birds. Often the cap top is covered as well, with an enamelled star. According to volume I, the rolled-gold overlays of a 1926 Italian catalogue were made by craftsmen in Italy, in agreement with the agency that imported the pens.

Photos of such pens are on the pages Baby in Tula silver, No. 1 with spider’s web and No. 2 with Italian rolled-gold overlay; the older pens are on the page Montblanc 1908–1929.

A, B and C of the III. Sorte (1932–1934)

In 1932 the simpler III. Sorte (“third grade”) was added, and with it came the safety pen in the three sizes A, B and C. According to a sales sheet of 1932 they were available in black only, with or without a clip, whereas the push-button fillers of the III. Sorte were also offered in colours. Volume I lists these safety pens for 1932–1934, without cap rings and with an engraved star.

The book lists them twice with the same dimensions, among the safety pens and under the III. Sorte; the table therefore shows them in both descriptions. The cap with “III MONT BLANC III” and the nibs with “WARRANTED” and the size letter in a triangle are described on the page III. Sorte and third series; a page with photos shows such a pen in size B.

The three-digit numbers from 1935

With the three-digit numbers of 1935 the safety pen received a 0 in second place; the first digit names the line, the last the size. This produced the counterparts to the second and third series:

• 201, 202 and 204 with two cap rings and papyrus or diamond clip, also with a clip ring — round 1935–1938, the 204 until 1937; octagonal without cap rings 1935–1936, the 202 until 1937
• 302, 304 and 306 with one cap ring and an engraved star (1935–1937)

The collectiblestars.com database assigns 201–204 to the second series and the 302 and 304 to the third. According to the Diary, 201, 202 and 204 replaced the 12.5, 15 and 17.5 with a new cap shape. A page with photos shows a 302. With these numbers the safety pen came to an end: volume I and the Diary give 1939 as the last year.

Alongside: lever, push-button and push-knob fillers

The table on this page also contains groups that are not safety pens. Montblanc made lever fillers from 1922 as a sideline, and their levers often changed shape; volume I lists the numbers 1, 2 and 4 round and 2 and 4 octagonal until 1930 (No. 1 as a lever filler).

From 1930 to 1934 the numbers 11.25 to 19.75 also came with an ink sac:

• black push-button fillers 12.5, 15 and 17.5 with a round cap top and no cap rings, plus the 11.25 only in 1932–1933
• in 1932–1934 push-knob fillers 15, 17.5 and 19.75 with a new cap shape and a smaller star, in black, azurite blue, malachite green, burgundy and lapis (blue and gold marbled), plus gold-filled, silver and 585 gold

Volume I places them, as “second series, push-knob and push-button fillers 1930–1934”, before the pens of the second series. Only in 1930–1932 were there also black push-button fillers numbered 2, 4 and 6, with one cap ring and a teardrop clip, made and sold in Germany according to volume I. According to the Diary, fountain pens for export often carried the numbers 2, 4 and 6 until shortly after the war.