Montblanc Vintage 1950–1959 The second series with wing nib: 252, 254, 256, 262 and 264

From 1954 Montblanc rebuilt the second series: the 252, 254 and 256 in plastic, with a slip-on cap and a new nib, the wing nib. They were joined by the 262, the 252 V and the 264, until the fountain pens in the forms attributed to Albrecht Graf Goertz replaced the series after 1959.

The wing nib

From 1954 Montblanc fitted the wing nib to the second series: first to the 252, 254 and 256, from 1957 also to Meisterstück pens. Its front part is almost flat. As a result the slit opens only slightly even under pressure, and the ink flow does not break off although only little ink sits at the tip. The book sees this as an answer to the ballpoint, which did not blot.

The illustrated book “Meisterstücke for the art of writing” speaks of a “wing nib with velour grinding” and counts it among the innovations that did not last. After 1959 the fountain pens in the design of Albrecht Graf Goertz with their butterfly nib replaced this series (forum post of 1 November 2004); the nib of the Meisterstück pens of the 1960s is therefore not a wing nib (forum post of 2 February 2005).

Slip-on cap and plastic

All 25x have a slip-on cap; this is what the 5 in second place of the number stands for (Fountain Pen Network post of 4 October 2008). They are made of plastic, no longer of celluloid like the Meisterstück pens of these years, and carry no serial number (forum post of 15 May 2007). By 1955 production had changed completely to injection moulding.

Many caps are cracked today, because they were under constant tension and cracked once the plasticiser had escaped from the plastic (forum post of 12 November 2012); on the 256, according to a Fountain Pen Network post of 17 March 2014, the construction of the cap was the reason. Such a crack does not affect writing (forum post of 9 November 2005). Also typical is a missing black outline around the white star in the cap top; the only remedy is another cap top (post on Penexchange (thread “Montblanc 252 Schneeflockenlogo reparieren”)).

Two versions

“Collectible Stars” II distinguishes two versions:

• 1954–1956: number on the turning knob, lettering “Montblanc” on the cap, clear ink window, cap band without engraving
• 1957–1959: number and lettering engraved in the cap band, window clear at first and blue later (forum post of 9 June 2006)

The photo pages show a 252 of the late version with a clear and one with a blue window. A 252 of 1957–1959 is not a Danish wartime model, even though a book of 2005 states this (forum post of 29 April 2005).

Sizes and colours

There were three sizes — 252 small, 254 medium, 256 large (forum post of 23 January 2014) —, according to maxpens.de each about one millimetre apart in diameter. With the cap posted they measure, according to the collectiblestars.com database:

• 252: 13.6 cm, Ø 1.3 cm
• 254: 14.1 cm, Ø 1.37 cm
• 256: 14.4 cm, Ø 1.45 cm

In the late version the 252 and 254 came in grey, red and green besides black, the 256 only in black. Some pens carry company emblems on the cap, for example a 254 with the emblem of DÜWAG (forum post of 23 January 2014).

Without the star and with a white dot

The pens also existed without the white star (Fountain Pen Network post of 22 April 2016). These carry the old Montblanc mountain in the cap band instead; according to the collectiblestars.com database they were intended for the Arab markets. A collector’s report passed on names a 264 from the mid-1950s as the earliest known pen with a white dot instead of the star.

262, 252 V and 264

Besides the three sizes there were further fountain pens of the same series. “Collectible Stars” II lists the 262 (1954–1957) with a carbon-copy wing nib and in the shape of the 252 V. According to the collectiblestars.com database it is identical in construction to the 252 and carries a V on the cap ring; maxpens.de shows V-shaped cut-outs in the cap ring.

From the factory, however, the 262 had an ordinary wing nib; the illustration in the same book also shows it that way (post on Penexchange (thread “Montblanc 262”)). maxpens.de shows a pen with the nib of the 442, and carbon-copy nibs also existed on the 252 (post on Penexchange (thread “Montblanc 262”), forum post of 20 February 2012).

“Collectible Stars” II lists the 252 V for 1958–1959, also with a green cap top; the database describes it with a carbon-copy wing nib and a cap ring engraved with a V. According to forum posts the 264 (1954–1959, in the same two versions) had a screw cap and an open nib. It was intended for buyers who did not get on with the wing nib (Penexchange forum post of 5 July 2019 (thread “Montblanc - Ich suche...! Was suche ich denn eigentlich?”)); maxpens.de shows it with the push pencil 273 in a leather case.

Carbon-copy, ball-pointed and left-handed nibs

Carbon-copy nibs are very hard so that copies could be written through carbon paper (forum post of 20 November 2004). They can be recognised by several features:

• the nib grade is preceded by a D, for example DEF, DF or DO (Penexchange forum post of 2 March 2020 (thread “Federstärke ‘M -’ (M minus) beim MB 252”))
• the breather hole sits closer to the tip, and the nib has no flex (post on Penexchange (thread “60er Meisterstücke, gabs damals eine andere Mode im Schliff der Federn?”))
• in the 1950s a blue cap top indicated such a special nib (forum post of 26 July 2005); “Collectible Stars” II mentions it for the 264

There are also ball-pointed nibs with a K before the grade (KF, KM, KOB), for example KM or KOB on the 256 (post on Penexchange (thread “Montblanc 256, 1.Serie”), page with photos). The nibs of the 256 are noticeably softer than those of the smaller sizes (post on Penexchange (thread “60er Meisterstücke, gabs damals eine andere Mode im Schliff der Federn?”)). Half an arrow pointing to the left after the nib grade on the turning knob denotes a left-oblique nib for left-handers (post on Penexchange (thread “MB 264 - komisches Zeichen auf dem Drehknopf”)).