Montblanc Vintage 1940–1949 Stylos, sub-brands and special productions: 422, 432, Diplomat, Viktoria 65 and 44

Besides the three series, the 1940s saw writing instruments that belong to none of these lines: the stylos 422 and 432 and push-button fillers of the sub-brand Diplomat. After the war came the push-button fillers Viktoria 65 and Montblanc 44, made for the British army in Hamburg.

How a stylo works

A stylo does not write with a nib but with a tube. Inside a thin platinum tube lies a fine wire with a small weight; it protrudes slightly and is pushed in when writing. In this way it releases the ink, which flows on by capillary action. Instructions for use of 1930 speak of a writing rod with a movable gold point inside the platinum tube.

Montblanc already offered such pens in its first catalogue of 1909 and until about 1922. In 1930 the company took them up again, prompted by the success of the Rotring ink pencil, also made in Hamburg. In the numbering system of 1935 a 4 in first place stands for the stylos; the Diary speaks of “stylo or glass nib”.

The stylos 422 and 432

On the 432 a red dot on the cap top shows the size of the writing tube, small or large; volume I gives 1936–1939 for it. According to forum posts the stylos of the preceding series carried no number yet, and the red dot came only with the successor models (forum post of 15 November 2004, forum post of 18 November 2004, with reservation).

Two stylos reach into the 1940s. “Collectible Stars” I lists the push-knob filler 422 for 1935–1941; it has these features:

• black, of hard rubber according to the collectiblestars.com database
• flat cap top, papyrus clip and two cap rings
• 16.5 cm with the cap posted at Ø 1.35 cm
• on the barrel, according to the Diary, the imprint “ORIGINAL SIMPLO MONTBLANC D.R.P. 508058” — the number of the 1929 patent for the closure of the push-knob fillers (maxpens.de)

The piston filler 432 came in 1936 with the red dot. Volume I lists it in black for 1939–1942 and as a wartime version with engraved cap rings for 1943–1946; it is the one stylo model built under the wartime regulation of 1942. A 432 always has a clip (post on Penexchange (thread “Montblanc Füller welches Modell”)).

When Montblanc resumed production in 1946/47 the stylos were not taken back into the range. Only in 1950 did a pen without a nib follow again with the 444 rollerball, described with the third series.

The sub-brand Diplomat

Diplomat is a sub-brand under which Montblanc sold simple safety pens in the manner of the Waterman models even before the First World War. Until the mid-1920s they went to certain dealers, and according to the text of “Collectible Stars” I pens were made to order under this name again and again until about 1940. Montblanc could not register the name because other makers had already registered or used it.

According to the table of volume I, push-button fillers “Diplomat” of size b reach into the 1940s: azurite blue until 1940 with a Montblanc nib, brown and blue marbled from 1940 to 1942 with a Montblanc nib of size a. According to the Diary the Diplomat pens were the forerunners of the later Reflex pens.

The sub-brand is not to be confused with “Diplomat” as a name for large Meisterstück pens. According to the illustrated book “Meisterstücke for the art of writing”, some top models carried this name in the 1930s until it turned out that a Swiss maker had already registered it. Montblanc obtained permission to keep using it, and employees still speak of the Diplomat size today.

For the British occupation: Viktoria 65

After the war Montblanc at first worked only for the British occupation forces. According to the Diary all output then had to be delivered to the NAFI, a supply organisation of the occupation forces. The illustrated book writes that deliveries went exclusively to the British military administration and to British civilian authorities; it also records that in October 1946 the factory stated it could produce 7,500 fountain pens, 2,500 pencils and 7,000 litres of ink a month.

The British had 1,000 fountain pens made as reparations: push-button fillers of simple make with a steel nib, which Montblanc called “VICTORIA”. In its table the book writes “VIKTORIA” and lists the pen as follows:

• no. 65, 1946–1948
• 14.0 cm at Ø 1.25 cm
• made for the British army stationed in Hamburg from 1946 to 1948

According to the collectiblestars.com database the 65 is made of Bakelite.

The Montblanc 44

The push-button filler “MONTBLANC” no. 44 was also made for the British army in Hamburg; “Collectible Stars” I lists it for 1948–1949, 15.0 cm at Ø 1.35 cm. Period and remark do not quite match, since according to the same entry the army was stationed in Hamburg only until 1948.

According to maxpens.de the 44 has these features:

• made of Bakelite and the size of a 234½
• no star, “44” and the Montblanc emblem on the cap
• a steel nib
• push-button mechanism, clip and cap ring of aluminium instead of brass

According to a post on Penexchange (thread “Stöffhaas Füller”) it dates from shortly after the war, 1948–1949, and is made of Bakelite as a substitute material. It is not to be confused with the 44 of the Spanish production of the 1950s, a striped piston filler.