Montblanc Vintage 1960–1989 Gold and silver before 1992 — the precious-metal Meisterstück pens of the 1980s

Montblanc has used the name “Meisterstück Solitaire” only since Whitsun 1992. Precious-metal Meisterstück pens existed before, however, beginning with the gold 149 of the 1980s.

The name

The name was introduced at an event titled “New Dimensions” in Berlin attended by more than 800 retailers from all over the world (forum post of 11 August 2005, Fountain Pen Network post of 19 January 2011).

The 149 in gold

The first precious-metal Meisterstück is the 149 in 18 ct gold with pinstripe guilloche, number 1497. It was presented in 1982, reached the shops in 1983 (forum post of 11 August 2005, likewise forum post of 11 August 2005) and was offered until 1992; it was then replaced by the 1499 with a two-tone fishbone pattern (forum post of 11 August 2005). In precious metal the 149 existed only in solid gold — 18 ct as a shell over a resin body —, never in vermeil, sterling silver or rolled gold (Fountain Pen Network post of 19 January 2011, Fountain Pen Network post of 19 January 2011).

Classique and 146 in precious metal

The model catalogue lists Classique fountain pens, rollerballs, ballpoints and pencils in 18 ct gold with pinstripe guilloche and gold-plated with fine barleycorn for 1985–1992, in sterling silver with barleycorn until 1998. Pens with barleycorn guilloche existed before 1992 (Fountain Pen Network post of 19 January 2011). The older silver pens are marked “W.-Germany” or “Germany” and have no serial number on the clip yet (forum post of 3 September 2014, forum post of 6 June 2008, forum post of 7 July 2005).

According to the model catalogue the gold-plated Classique fountain pen with fine barleycorn (M 10143) has a 14 ct nib. It is thus the only fountain pen on the Solitaire sheets of the catalogue to do so; all the others have 18 ct.

Under the number M 1467 the model catalogue lists a fountain pen in 18 ct gold with pinstripe guilloche, there as “Traveller”; in “Collectible Stars” it is a piston filler, in the Solitaire overview on this website the 146 Le Grand. Its date can only be given roughly, around 1990: the model catalogue gives 1983–1992, but according to a forum post there was no 146 with a precious-metal overlay before 1992 (Fountain Pen Network post of 19 January 2011).

Overlays by jewellers

From late 1979, the year the black Meisterstück was relaunched, until 1987 jewellers all over the world also fitted their own overlays to Meisterstück pens, mostly in solid gold, rarely in silver. They are not Montblanc versions (forum post of 8 August 2005). They can usually be recognised by:

• a foreign clip
• an engraved star on the cap top
• a hole in the cap top through which the star shows