Drippy Musings
17 How Do I Start Collecting Pens? posts. The seventeen-post series for new collectors: know thy obsession, vintage versus modern, why some pens cost more than others, investing, fake Montblanc serial numbers, and how to buy safely from a dealer.
This tale is, unfortunately, an all too familiar one. A friend was perusing the world’s most famous electronic auction site (rhymes with uPay) and discovered a deal too good to pass up. It was a Montblanc Classique Vermeil Solitaire ballpoint.
A couple weeks ago a person reached out asking how to identify fake Parker Sonnet pens. The first thought that crossed my mind was, “Who would want to fake a Parker Sonnet?” Don’t get me wrong. Sonnets are very nice pens. But, there are a ton of used authentic ones out there for very, very…
One of the greatest screen beauties in golden-era Hollywood was Swedish-born Greta Garbo. She expressed a bold, raw sexuality uncommon in America in the 1920s and ’30s, and she maintained a famed “mystique.” Unlike so many who sought fame, Garbo famously said, “I want to be left alone,” though she was often misquoted as “I…
When I first saw the Montblanc Rouge et Noir Metamorphosis pens, I was confused by the fact they featured a spider. I was thinking of Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” in which is main character Gregor Samsa wakes one morning to discover he is a cockroach. It took my good friend Tobias to remind me of Ovid’s…
This is an authentic Mont Blanc JFK ballpoint pen with its original boxes and papers. In an effort to pay tribute to the United States of America’s youthful, idealist president who was assassinated, the Montblanc JFK is a special edition pen. It is a handsome pen that came in several color combinations and was most…
Even for experienced professionals, it is really difficult to gauge a nib by its number. We get calls and e-mail with some regularity asking for a nib of a certain number. The trouble is, we often aren’t sure what the customer really wants. If the nib brand isn’t specified it can be a really challenging…
Is she? Or isn’t she? Can you pick out the real Montblanc Boheme in this photo? One of my favorite additions to the Montblanc line-up in the past 20 years was the Montblanc Boheme. What made it my favorite was the retractable nib, which made it look similar to the classic safety fillers of yesteryear.…
The Sheaffer Pen for Men, more commonly known as the Sheaffer PFM, was a luxury fountain pen first released in 1959. Like the Ford Edsel, it wasn’t quite as popular in its time as it should have been and was made for only several years. Years later, it has become an iconic pen for vintage…
Some days you just never know what you will find. Someone reached out to me with a collection for sale, and they told me the original owner was an avid Montblanc collector. Naturally, I was curious to see it. It didn’t take long to assess that this person had a huge collection of fakes. Sadly,…
A good friend recently asked me why some pens cost more than others. The cheeky, glib and true answer is supply and demand. But, it is more than that. Sometimes it is marketing. Sometimes its trends in the marketplace. This is a “Big Red” senior Parker Duofold made of orange Permanite. However, he was asking…
Crocuses. Our first flowers of spring. Spring is here, and, traditionally, this is a time many people start looking for a car. The Covid pandemic has limited the number of new cars on the market, and many people are turning to used cars to replace their set of wheels. Buying a used car can be…
This is one of the most convincing fake Montblanc fountain pens we have ever seen. After 14 years in the pen business, I have just encountered one the very best fake Montblanc pens I’ve ever seen. It came with a collection of vintage pens for appraisal. I had been told it was a Montblanc rollerball,…
