The write stuff

The understated excellence of the Montblanc 221

I’ve been a fountain pen fan since Christmas 1984, the year my brother gifted me a Montblanc “student” pen that he had acquired while studying abroad.

I inked that pen and used it enthusiastically. Years passed, I relocated to Chicago, and the pen vanished. From time to time I would remember how much I had enjoyed the thing, until 2013, when from Austin I tracked down a mint-condition replacement on eBay — the Montblanc 221. 

Montblanc produced these affordable and stylish pens from 1971 to 1979. These lightweight (15-20 gram) entry-level learners featured springy nibs and a minimalist profile. The sleek, hooded nib design, now more than 50 years old, remains remarkably functional. These pens write with excellent flow, making them practical for everyday note-taking on regular paper, and they use cartridges or piston converters instead of requiring dip filling.

When using a fountain pen, there’s a very real, tactile appreciation of the nib floating on liquid ink. The semi-flexible 14K gold nibs of these slim pens glide on the page, offering just the right amount of smooth responsiveness and ‘bounce’ to make writing with one a genuine pleasure.

This unassuming model balances well in the hand and has long been a favorite of mine for daily writing. It also features an an ink-view window on its barrel for monitoring ink levels.

Available nibs come in fine, medium, oblique or broad. The oblique broad nib is particularly versatile depending on how you hold the pen while writing. The flexibility of the nib on the page allows for noticeable line variation (line width that differs when making a vertical vs. a horizontal mark).

I appreciate this pen’s simplicity compared to its ornate and oversized Montblanc “big brother” popularized in 1980s movies. That would be the larger, cigar-shaped Meisterstück 149.

It’s the recognizable, high-quality classic that’s as iconic to the world of writing as the BMW sedan is to driving. (This black-resin, gold-trimmed piston filler has stayed in production since its 1952 debut.)

Montblanc remains one of the few pen manufacturers that still makes its own nibs in-house (at its Hamburg headquarters). The company engraves its nibs with some interesting numbers:

• As pictured, manufacturers mark ‘585’ on pen nibs to indicate 14-karat gold content, signifying 585 parts of pure gold per 1000.

• Montblanc engraves ‘4810’ on its larger pen nibs, denoting the elevation in meters of Mont Blanc, which straddles the French-Italian border.

The company began as the Simplizissiumus-Füllhalter pen company in Berlin in 1906, moving to Hamburg in 1907 and adopting the Montblanc name company-wide in 1934.

Montblanc pen sales are rising, driven by a growing luxury pen market (valued at $2.3B in 2023) and strong demand in China and India, fueled by increasing incomes and trends.

The key to Montblanc’s enduring reputation lives in its meticulous attention to detail, like hand-polishing each nib and write-testing every pen. While the brand has evolved over the years, Montblanc pens consistently deliver exceptional build quality and finish.

Despite the clear advantages of digital communication, writing by hand signals creativity, clarity and distinction. Handwriting with a fountain pen stands out from the dashed-off text or email.

While new Montblanc prices are astronomical, and I wouldn’t recommend buying a Montblanc new, you can find vintage 221s on eBay starting at around $100.

Yes, the cost and extra hassle of using a fountain pen may seem absurd, where a Bic would suffice. But writing with a fountain pen, when able, offers expression and a significant alternative to the impersonality of technology.

I’ve accumulated several used pens over the years — 221 models primarily, but also others from Montblanc with nibs ranging from fine and medium to broad and oblique broad. Buying older, used models can be hit and miss. But when you hit, as I have with 221 oblique broads, a 146 broad, and a 149 double-broad, it’s pretty great. (Given the prices of ‘vintage’ (aka used) models, they represent outstanding value compared to buying anything brand new in the Montblanc lineup.)

Starting in 2020, I challenged myself to once more write journal entries longhand rather than type them. The 221 has made it easy to maintain that commitment to this day.