Montblanc Vintage 1930–1939 The second series in the 1930s: 0, 220 to 236 and the 17.5 piston filler

The second series was the line below the Meisterstück. In the 1930s it comprised the small streamlined pen 0, 220 and 221, the push-knob fillers 222 and 224 and, from 1934, the piston fillers 17.5, 235, 234, 232 k, 234½ and 236. Its marks are two cap rings, a full star in the cap top and the papyrus clip.

Predecessors, numbers and marks

Montblanc already had a second line below the Meisterstück before 1935. The Diary calls the numbers 11.25 to 19.75 the second quality — numbers that, as with the Meisterstück, give the shop price in Reichsmark; a 15½ cost 15.50 RM. Volume I presents their push-knob and push-button fillers of 1930–1934 as the “second series”; they are described on the page safety pens and numbers 11.25 to 19.75.

In 1935 Montblanc changed to three-digit numbers:

• the first digit names the line — 1 Meisterstück, 2 second series, 3 third series, 4 stylos
• the second the filling system — 0 safety pen, 2 pens with an ink sac, i.e. push-knob and push-button fillers, 3 before the war piston fillers
• the third the size from 1 to 9

A 224 is therefore a pen with an ink sac in size 4, a 236 a piston filler in size 6 with a size 6 nib (forum post of 7 March 2005). The marks of the second series are two cap rings, a full star in the cap top and the papyrus clip. Volume I calls it the typical clip of the second series and dates it to 1932–1941; according to the Diary it was often used to replace broken teardrop clips on older pens.

The small streamlined pen: 0, 220 and 221

The smallest pen of the range was a streamlined pen 12.5 cm long and 1.05 cm in diameter:

• in 1933–1934 as No. 0 in black, malachite green and azurite blue
• in 1934–1935 as the 220, also in burgundy and, until 1936, in silver or 585 gold with various guilloches
• in 1935–1936 as the 221

Volume I lists a silver 221 with a flat top and varying clips and guilloches already for 1935–1936, and a black 221 with a flat cap top and 1.2 cm in diameter once more for 1937–1938. As the filling system volume I gives the push-knob filler for the 220 and 221.

The push-knob fillers 222 and 224

The push-knob fillers 222 (14.9 cm, Ø 1.25 cm) and 224 (15.8 cm, Ø 1.35 cm) have two cap rings and the papyrus clip. Volume I lists them in these versions:

• in black the 222 from 1935 to 1938 and the 224 until 1939
• in azurite blue the 222 until 1940 and the 224 until 1936
• in malachite green and burgundy both until 1937
• platinum striped (black and silver) and brown, green, blue, grey or burgundy marbled, both until 1943 — for export only or made to dealers’ orders, the 224 also with a steel nib
• in 1936–1940 a gold-filled 222 and a silver 224 with various clips and guilloches

The barrel of a 224 on this website bears the imprint “D.R.P. 508058”. According to maxpens.de, this German patent of 5 September 1929 protected the closure of the push-knob filler, whose knob is permanently connected to the cap at the end of the barrel and cannot get lost. That is the difference from the push-button filler, where a blind cap has to be unscrewed first.

The piston fillers

In 1934 Montblanc built its first piston filler. In the second line these piston fillers with a long cap top appeared first:

• in 1934–1935 the 17.5 with a size 5 nib, in black, azurite blue, malachite green and burgundy
• in 1935 the 235 in the same shape (until 1936, nib 5) and in 1936 the somewhat shorter 234 (until 1937, nib 4), both with a full star
• in 1936–1937 the 234 V, a desk pen 20 cm long

Then came the telescopic piston, which telescopes twice when filling and so takes up more ink; according to maxpens.de it was protected by German patent 746437 of 23 February 1936. It came with the 232 k, the 234½ and the 236:

• 232 k gold-filled in 1936–1937 and black in 1939–1942, with a long cap top and papyrus clip
• 234½ in black from 1936 to 1942, gold-filled and silver with a geometric pattern or barleycorn guilloche until 1940, in azurite blue and malachite green until 1939 and platinum striped for export only until 1938, also with a steel nib and in various lengths
• 236 in black in 1938–1940, with a steel or gold nib, and in the export colours platinum striped, brown or grey marbled in 1935–1943

The Diary dates the full-length 232 to 1936–1940.

Colours and similar pens

In colour the second series came in azurite blue (blue with white or blue flecks), malachite green and burgundy. According to volume I the marbled and striped export colours went only abroad or to dealers who ordered them, and some celluloid colours for abroad are not recorded anywhere. Thus no book lists a grey marbled 234½ such as the one shown on a page of this website; further pens in this colour can be seen at penboard.

Pens of other lines look similar. The dealer brand Klawun had a piston filler “b” in the shape of the 234 and 235 in 1934–1935 (dealer brands and sub-brands). The third-series piston filler 334 (1935–1936) also has a long cap top, but only an outlined star and a nib with a triangle (III. Sorte and third series).

Into the 1940s

The push-knob fillers in export colours and the piston fillers 232 k, 234½ and 236 continued into the 1940s. After the wartime regulation of 1942 Montblanc built the 234½ and the 236 with engraved instead of metal cap rings; this is described on the page second series of the 1940s. Photos of pens of the 1930s are on the pages for the 222 in malachite green, the black 224, the grey marbled 234½ and the 235.