During the past years I have been cutting down my fountain pen purchases, trying to curb my acute addiction for vintage pens, mainly Pelikans. However, once in a blue moon my buying addiction acts up and the only way I have been able to control it is through the ocasional purchase of cheap Chinese fountain pens. Thus I have bought pens that are “inspired” on traditional models such as the Hero 616, Jinhao 100 “Centennial”, Jinhao X159, Wing Sung 601 and the Kaco Edge (which is rubbish). My last purchase, a replica of the Montblanc M fountain pen, is in a whole new category altogether.
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Image taken from eBay ad.
The pen is an almost exact copy of the Montblanc M though it is advertised as a “Luxury M Magnet Series Bright Black + Silver Clip M nib Fountain Pen”. It is labeled Montblanc on both the section and the nib, and has the familiar bird splat (two in this case). Amusingly enough the included converter has the following inscription: “Use Montblanc ink only”. So this pen is evidence of a very obvious copyright infringement so I really don’t know how this pen (and other similar pens) are sold on eBay. Maybe because they don’t use the name Montblanc in the advertisement and describe it as a “replica””.
At first glance the only way to tell that this is not an original Montblanc M is the nib. As you know, the original has a curiously designed smallish nib which someone has described as having a "Lamy Aion vibe". Our clone has the more traditional looking nib similar to a Montblanc 145. This detail is important as I just saw an eBay ad for one of these replica pens selling for a real MB price. The nib has the MB logo and is inscribed: 14K Montblanc 585 (yeah, sure). The writing experience is surprisingly good. The nib is very smooth and has a certain “softness” to it. I have experienced no skipping or hard starts.
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This is a real Montblanc M nib. Courtesy of The Gentleman Stationer
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This is the replica nib that looks just like a MB145 nib. Image taken from eBay ad.
Overall the build quality is very good. As with the original, you cannot post the pen. The cap even has a magnet that attracts the section as you cap the pen. The clip is unusable unless you bend it outwards a bit, which I did, carefully trying not to bend it too much out of shape. My main gripe with this pen was the included “replica” converter. Once I filled the pen it started leaking all over the place. I replaced it for a Jinhao converter and the pen is now working fine.
So there you have it. A blatant copyright infringement that writes very well and that you can use when you go to the beach, on a hike or on other occasions when you fear losing your "real" pens. And when somebody asks you if your pen is a Montblanc you can calmly say it is not, just the latest evidence that the Chinese are truly taking over the world.
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