The Montblanc 149 Flexnib
The cap comes off with a quarter turn. There is ink on the gold nib; there is always ink on it. The first stroke is wet and dark.
"The nib is never clean - I have come to accept and appreciate it. You feel like it's the uniqueness of this precision instrument, revealing some humanity."
The nib will never be free of ink - it is one of the characteristics the owner has come to love.
The journal on the desk
The 149 lives mostly on a desk in Sydney, though it has travelled. It comes out first thing each morning for a goals journal: daily entries, most of them short.
Before it there were rollerballs and cheaper fountain pens. Some dried out, cracked or ended up in a drawer. The 149 is the one he reaches for.
The line
With light pressure, the line is fine enough for a customs declaration card. With more pressure, the tines spread and the line widens. It sits between an everyday nib and a dip pen.
He also writes personal letters with it. The nib works better with slow strokes than rushed ones.
Five years
The black resin remains unmarked after more than five years of daily use. There are no visible hairlines on the barrel or chips on the cap band. The pen is rarely kept in a case.
The piston still draws ink smoothly and the threads close cleanly.
The ink on the nib
The recurring trait is the film of ink on the nib. It always looks freshly dipped.
It does not affect the writing, but touching the nib leaves ink on a finger. The owner is careful about how he holds the pen and where he puts it down.
On the road
The piston needs bottled ink, which is awkward in a carry-on bag. When it has run dry on the road, a Montblanc boutique has filled it, although this pen came from a smaller authorised dealer.
The flex nib turns a daily journal into something he wants to reread.