Montblanc Vintage 1940–1949 The second series in the 1940s: 222, 224, 232, 234½ and 236

From 1935 the second series was Montblanc’s middle line between the Meisterstück and the third series. In the 1940s it comprised the push-knob fillers 222 and 224 and the piston fillers 232 k, 234½ and 236; during the war only the 234½ and the 236 remained, with engraved cap rings. In 1948 the new streamlined shape began with the 244 and the 246.

Numbers and distinguishing marks

The numbers of the second series begin with a 2. The second digit gives the filling system — 2 for sac fillers, that is push-knob and push-button fillers with an ink sac, 3 before the war for piston fillers —, the third the size of pen and nib.

A 236 therefore carries a size 6 nib and a 234 a size 4 nib, also as a steel nib (forum post of 7 March 2005). The works do not say what the “½” in 234½ means; a forum post of 21 January 2005 considers it — as an estimate — a sales idea.

The second series is recognised by two cap rings and a full star in the cap top, whereas the third series has only an outlined star (forum post of 16 September 2005). Its typical clip is the papyrus clip, which volume I lists until 1941. According to the Diary it appeared in 1934, was used in Denmark until 1947 and often replaced broken teardrop clips on older pens.

At the beginning of the 1940s

At the beginning of the 1940s the second series comprised the push-knob fillers 222 and 224 and the piston fillers 232 k, 234½ and 236. In black the push-knob fillers existed only until 1938 (222) and 1939 (224); in the 1940s they came in colours:

• platinum striped and brown, green, blue, grey or burgundy marbled, until 1943
• the 222 also in azurite blue, until 1940
• gold-filled (222) and silver (224), until 1940

The marbled pens — and on the 224 the striped one as well — were made only for export or to dealers’ orders, as were the striped and the brown or grey marbled 236.

The 232 k (1939–1942) is the short version of the 232, with telescopic piston, long cap top and papyrus clip; the Diary dates the full-length 232 to 1936–1940. The 234½ came in black until 1942 and in gold-filled or silver with guilloche until 1940, in various lengths. Montblanc built the 236 in black from 1938 to 1940, with a steel or gold nib. The collectiblestars.com database considers a celluloid 236 with a green and black zigzag pattern a prototype.

During the war

The war cut deep into the range. Production of writing instruments was already rationed in 1940, and in June 1942 a wartime regulation came into force:

• on the home market no more coloured fountain pens, patterned ink windows or decorative rings
• the cap at most 14 mm and the barrel at most 12.5 mm in diameter
• only one pen size in at most two versions
• only five nib grades
• for export, decorative rings and two sizes still permitted

Under these rules only the 234½ and the 236 were made in the second series. In 1943–1946 both had a telescopic piston, a steel nib and engraved cap rings. Because the warehouse and the dealers still held pre-war stock, these wartime pens reached the shops only in mid-1943; they were sold until the end of 1946. The steel nibs of these years carry “MONTBLANC” and the size in the star — 2, 4½ or 6 —, some of them gold-plated; volume I dates them to 1939–1947.

Pens with ribbed rather than gold rings are wartime models according to a forum post of 23 February 2005; at that time not even the Meisterstück pens had real rings.

Other second-series pens with cut-in rings also occur. A page with photos shows a 232 with grooves instead of cap rings, a silver-coloured clip and a plain ink window, and collectors describe wartime 232s with steel nibs (Fountain Pen Network post of 19 May 2013, Fountain Pen Network post of 10 February 2019). The books list no wartime 232; when and in what numbers it was made is unresolved.

The imprint “D.R.P. 652405” on such barrels does not date a pen. This German patent of 21 June 1936 protected a process for patterning ink windows with stripes (maxpens.de), and the number was used for years (Fountain Pen Network post of 18 August 2014).

A wartime 234½ on this website has a clip with a teardrop end, which “Collectible Stars” I actually dates to 1930–1934. According to the Diary, material shortages during the war meant that even Meisterstück pens were delivered with other clips, and maxpens.de shows such a clip on a 234½ of 1946–1950 as well.

After the war

After the war the factory at first produced only for the British occupation forces. In 1947 Montblanc resumed production for its own market with the pre-war collection, as far as materials were available. Pens with decorative rings were made again from old stock from 1946 and were in the shops from 1947.

“Collectible Stars” II lists the 232 for 1946–1950 and the 234½ for 1946–1951 — black, with a white star, in the pre-war shape and also with a steel nib. The years of volume II are based on catalogues and leaflets; according to its explanations, remaining stock was sold for up to ten years longer.

According to volume I the post-war 232 had a telescopic piston and the diamond clip. This clip was created during the war, first used on pens from Denmark and in Germany from 1947 to 1949. After the war the 234½ had two ordinary cap rings and was 5 mm shorter than before the war: 14.3 instead of 14.8 cm with the cap posted.

What followed — the 234½ “Luxus” from 1952 and the 242, 244 and 246 — is described on the page second series until 1954.

The new shape from 1948

The new streamlined design began in 1948 with the second series. The 244 (1948–1949) and the 246 (1948–1950) were the first fountain pens of this shape, built like the Danish pens, which were often push-button fillers; the Meisterstück was then redesigned after their example. Volume I lists these black 244 and 246 under the production in Denmark and says they were developed in Germany in 1942.

The second digit of the number is now a 4. When production resumed Montblanc built only piston fillers, and the 4 instead of the 3 kept the sequence of numbers and marked the new shape (forum post of 3 July 2004).

Already during the war foreign agencies had begun to have their own Montblanc fountain pens built by small makers in their own countries from spare parts in stock — cap tops, nibs, clips and piston mechanisms. This is where coloured celluloid pens of the 200 and 300 series come from, especially from Switzerland and southern Europe.