A mountain in your pocket... Mont Blanc!
Written: Sep 16 '04 (Updated Sep 16 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sleek, well made, smooth ink flow, very classy, well balanced.
Cons: Refills can cost more than most pens, if dropped it will kill the ink cartridge.
The Bottom Line: Well worth the price, and certain to please you for many years to come. Well balanced, and smooth to write with. Certain to be noticed by those who "know".
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| merchantman's Full Review: MONT BLANC MEISTERSTUCK ROLLERBALL PEN MEISTERSTUC... |
The Mont Blanc Meisterstuck Rollerball... A mouthfull to be sure, but in the hand it is a little slice of heaven! I came across mine some seven years ago at "Sam's Wholesale Warehouse" of all places. I was a bit taken aback by the seemingly rock bottom price of $96.00 (for a pen, yes I know that is high, but I really wanted to give myself a great "I love me" gift), and thought that perhaps the thing was a reject, or was somehow damaged. Upon inspection of the pen, I was pleased to see that there was no visable problems, so as I had promised myself a good pen someday... I found that the day had arrived at last, and I bought it.
Flash forward to september 16, 2004... Guess what is in my pocket??? If you said anything but "Mont Blanc", you are wrong, but I sure would love to know what you did say!
The pen in a nut shell... Black, shiny, gold pocket clip and the collar that holds it in the cap assembly, gold may also be found at the bottom of the pen cap as well, where you will also find the finely cast gold collar showing "Mont Blanc" and "Meisterstuck". At the top of the pen cap you see the white "Mont Blanc" crest (and this is what others see when they glance at it, as the white aginst black will draw the eye). Contained within the glossy black pen body, a rollerball ink cartridge that screws very securely into the top part of the pen.(the one that comes with it is from Germany, they make sure that you know that by printing it several times on the barrel of the cartridge, along with "Mont Blanc" in several places as well). Towards the base of the pen is another gold band, function unknown, but nice to look at.
In the hand... Heavy for the size. Odd for a thinner pen, but it makes sense when you open up the barrel. As you unscrew the two halves you notice the whole top part is made from finely machined brass, with a glossy black resin coller around the middle of the thing in the grip area. Now make no mistake, this pen is not made of plastic, it is all the "Mont Blanc" secret resin, and they do make a bit of a show about it, but I can say from my own experience that it is sturdy and very well designed. The grip also has one feature I rather liked, as you get to towards the writing tip, there is a raised ridge that helps to keep your fingers from sliding too far forward. A well thought out little deal, and I had no idea why it was there to start with, but after having lunch at "The Olive Garden" one day... you like the bread sticks too don't you???... I was signing my credit card slip and found that the only reason I did not lose my grip was that little ridge. It's the little things in life, and that one made me happy, someone was thinking about me when they made that! The only draw back to this grip heavy design that I have found is this, if you have the top off, and you drop it, the pen being grip heavy as it is will fall tip down and ruin the ink cartridge by jamming the ball back into the tip. While this is more annoying than I can express with clean language, it has the merit of sparing the pen any other damage (if you use the "Mont Blanc" refills as I do, you will find this an expensive lesson about holding onto your pen... you learn it even faster after doing twice in one week! At $6.00 for a refill I learned fast).
In the pocket... It is sleek, black, and sports the white crest of "Mont Blanc". In short it says to the passer by "I have taste, and I have money... indeed I have more money than you because I can afford to pay $100.00 for a pen!". All joking aside, it does bring a certain amount of class with it when it rides with you. I promise that you will think twice before you hand it to someone to use for a moment, and when you do you will watch them like a hawk till it comes back to your hand.
In the end... Well, I like it, find it to be well made, and and have no trouble getting the refills at any office supply place. It is a pleasure to write with and you have a wide choice of ink colors, and tip widths (I happen to like medium tip, good smooth ink flow and a good life span). If you are looking for something that you will write with all day every day then you might think about something less expensive as you will run out of ink more often than you like... but if you are like me and just jot a few notes now and again, then you will be satisfied with this pen just as I have been.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID: merchantman
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Member: Brett Newsome
Location: The Low Country of South Carolina
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 6 members
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