Montblanc Vintage 1940–1949 Twist pencils and four-colour pencils of the 1940s

Montblanc offered twist pencils from 1924 and made them almost unchanged until the 1950s. In the 1940s they included the small OO2 and OO4, pre-war models such as the 10 k, the 22 and the 53, from 1949 the Reflex pencils 20 and 21, and until 1940 the bought-in four-colour pencils 60 to 62.

How the twist mechanism works

Montblanc offered twist pencils from 1924; this is what the text of “Collectible Stars” I, the chronology of volume II, the Diary and the chronology in the model catalogue say. According to the Diary they came onto the market together with the push pencil OB, sold without lengthy explanations and were made almost unchanged until the 1950s.

The mechanism is simple: a metal pin as thick as the lead passes with its end, bent at a right angle, through a spiral into a tube slit lengthwise. When turned, it moves forwards or backwards depending on the direction. The mechanism works reliably but is not protected against overwinding, and the guide of the pin can then shear off.

Because the mechanism can hardly be removed and replacement mechanisms are no longer made, such a pencil is then mostly no longer usable. Against blockages caused by oxidation, on the other hand, soaking in oil often helps. A twist pencil is not a Pix — only the push pencils were called that (forum post of 22 November 2006); “Collectible Stars” II lists the two as separate systems.

The small OO2 and OO4

The smallest were the OO2, 8 cm long, and the OO4, 12.3 cm long, both 0.7 cm thick, according to the collectiblestars.com database of hard rubber and with the imprint “MONT BLANC” with star. “Collectible Stars” I lists them in two runs:

• without engraved star from 1927 (OO2) or 1928 (OO4) to 1947
• from 1948 with engraved star until 1963, the OO4 then slightly shorter at 12.0 cm

For both, volume II gives 1.18 mm leads. The database also knows the OO2 in 585 gold and in silver with enamelled star, some with a ring for a necklace, without a date. It also lists an OO1 of 6 cm and an OO3 of 10.5 cm in length, both 0.7 cm thick and of hard rubber.

From the pre-war years: 10 k, 53, 22 and 23

Some pencils of the 1930s reach into the war years:

• the eight-sided 10 k, 12 cm long, also with a coloured front in blue, violet, yellow, red or green (1932–1940)
• the 53 with papyrus-shaped top, clip and rings, 13.9 cm long, which Montblanc mostly sold in Denmark — in black, malachite green, azurite and lapis blue, burgundy and red ripple until 1940, in coral red until 1942
• the black 22 with flat top, engraved star and clip but without rings, from 1935 to 1950; the coloured ones only until 1938
• the 23, which volume I lists only for 1935–1938

“Collectible Stars” II records the 22 and the 23 for 1949–1950 with a broad, curved gold clip and 1.18 mm leads, the 23 twelve-sided from 1951. Whether the pencils of 1949 continue the pre-war models or were issued anew is unresolved.

The collectiblestars.com database distinguishes a black 22 of the third series in hard rubber from a black 22 of the second series in celluloid. There the coloured 22 and 23 of the third series are mostly of celluloid, the 53 of hard rubber even in red. It knows prototypes of the 22 and 23 of the second series in dark red, grey, green and turquoise, of the 22 also in red, in thermoplastic and without a date.

Reflex 20 and 21

For 1949–1950 “Collectible Stars” II names two twist pencils with the imprint “Reflex”: the 20 in the shape of the 22 and the 21 in the shape of the 23, both without engraved star. Reflex was Montblanc’s entry-level brand, under which pens were sold occasionally until the mid-1950s; in Switzerland Monte Rosa pens carried this name for a time.

Volume I already knows Reflex twist pencils 20 and 21 for 1933–1935, 12 cm long and 0.8 cm thick, the 21 eight-sided; the collectiblestars.com database describes them in hard rubber and without clip. Whether there were two runs or the books date them differently is open.

The bought-in four-colour pencils 60 to 62

Montblanc offered four-colour pencils only as bought-in goods to round off the range. Volume I points to the Pforzheim metal industry and names Fend and Bossert & Erhardt among the suppliers. According to forum posts the sliding and the visual mechanism came from Fend (forum post of 1 November 2004, forum post of 25 February 2007), and Montblanc never made such pencils itself (forum post of 24 February 2007).

For 1936–1940 volume I lists three numbers, each round or eight-sided with the suffix A, 13.4 cm long and 1.1 cm thick, with a long top:

• 60 in silver-coloured Alpacca
• 61 in silver
• 62 in rolled gold

According to the collectiblestars.com database the end of the barrel is long and cylindrical with a black-rimmed star, and no number is imprinted. The colours were selected with a simple sliding mechanism, since the semi-automatic one only came after the war. A Montblanc multicolour pencil carries the star on the cap and a Montblanc engraving on the side (forum post of 12 July 2013).

The same numbers existed earlier, in 1929–1931 with colour selection by an “arrow” and in 1932–1935 with a round top. Volume I heads the multicolour pencils with 1929–1941; only in 1955 did Montblanc take four-colour pencils into the range again, once more bought in.

Same numbers, other instruments

Several of these numbers denote other instruments at other times:

• 20, 30 and 40 also the Danish Meisterstück pens of 1935–1946 and Ballograf ballpoints
• 22 and 24 fountain pens of the 1960s
• 53 a multicolour ballpoint from 1957 and a Chromatik push pencil (1973–1975)
• 60 to 62 the four-colour pencils from 1955

The Danish production made twist pencils of its own, among them a 40 and a 46; they are listed with the Production in Denmark. The twist pencils from 1950 are described on the page Twist pencils of the 1950s, the multicolour pencils from 1955 on the page Multicolour pencils 1955–1977.