When you are the #1 selling maker of luxury pens, everyone will be chasing your brand, trying to emulate it. That is why the market is flooded with myriad knock-off Mont Blanc pens.
The Montblanc Starwalker was first launched in 2003 and has become the modern icon of Montblanc. The new streamlined 2019 edition, reviving the iconic Starwa. The Montblanc Starwalker is the ultimate in contemporary design. The pens are made for those who love luxury within a modern design. Comes in different writing modes to meet your needs: Montblanc Fountain, Rollerball, Ballpoint and Mechanical Pencils. Shop our Montblanc boutique online or at our shop-in-shop pen bou.
At a quick glance this looks like an authentic sterling silver Mont Blanc Classique, but MB never paints its logo on the pen like this fake has.
We’ve seen our share of them. They range in quality from obviously fake to nearly identical to the real thing. In fact, some fakes are so good, only Mont Blanc can tell the difference, which is why the company has an authentication service.
However, with a little research and careful observation, you can suss out the bulk of the fakes while saving a fortune on authentication fees.
The most common models in the Mont Blanc line up are known as Classiques and LeGrands (146 fountain pen), as well as the oversized fountain pen known as the 149. Mont Blanc makes the bulk of these pens from what they call a “precious resin,” sterling silver and plated and solid gold. The precious resin pens are trimmed in gold plate or platinum plate.
Look closely at the gold-plated clip band of the cap to see a finely machine engraved serial number.
There are 3 obvious details to search for when you look at a Mont Blanc pen made of precious resin. Since 1991, Mont Blanc has included a tiny serial number on the clip band of its pens. Only the very best fakes include a serial number, and that only started in more recent years. The vast majority of fakes leave out the serial number. It doesn’t help, that Mont Blanc actually reuses some of its serial numbers and didn’t keep the best records of who got which serial number and where the serial numbers were sent.
Another detail to look for on authentic Mont Blanc writing instruments is the word “Pix” written under the clip. It is nearly impossible to get a good photo of that with our lighting rig. However, starting around 1997, Mont Blanc began including that detail to help customers authenticate its pens. Of course, in recent years, the very best of the Mont Blanc replica makers have started including that feature. Yet, the vast majority of the fakes leave it out.
Black “precious resin” on a Mont Blanc is really a wine-red plastic when you hold it up against a really bright light source, as we did with this glass of wine.
Lastly, among the black pens, the precious resin has several special give aways to its authenticity. First, the black pens are not metal with a black paint job or lacquer. The precious resin is actually a very brittle plastic. Although it looks black, it is really a very deep wine red. If you hold it up to a very bright light source that won’t do any eye damage, you can see a deep red glow around the edge of the pen, much like this more easily seen red edge of this glass of wine. (My favorite blog homework assignment. I mean, I couldn’t let that glass go to waste.) This is generally the most difficult authentication test to perform, as you really need to catch the light just right…and not go blind in the process. Most fakes just use a normal black plastic or a metal barrel painted black.
This Mont Blanc Starwalker rollerball pen fake nearly had us convinced until we couldn’t fit an authentic MB refill in it.
Rollerball pens have an additional feature that helps you authenticate them: refills. Mont Blanc rollerball refills are specially threaded and screw into the barrel. Even some of the best fakes that we’ve seen, fail on the refill. The fakes might take a standard plug-in Schmidt-style 888 refill. The Mont Blanc Starwalker rollerball pen in the photo was one of the best fakes we had ever seen. It even came with a screw-in refill that said Mont Blanc, BUT it would not take a genuine MB rollerball refill. The guy who gave it to me after we couldn’t find a refill to fit it confessed he got it in China for only $25 and thought it was too good to be true. At least he wasn’t out a full retail price! That was about 11 years ago when we got it. Back then the crystal topper was clear, but now it also is discoloring, which the real ones won’t do.
Although boxes are easily found on eBay and other places, as a rule of thumb, if you see a pen being sold in its original box, then you are more likely to be dealing with the real thing. So many of the fakes don’t come with any boxes. Also be sure to check with the dealer. The well known pen vendors out there can be trusted to stock the authentic secondhand pens. However, you really might want to check the pen closely if you’re buying from someone at a flea market who knows nothing about pens or from a seller on an auction site that has lots of bad reviews or no reviews.
For pre-1990s Mont Blanc pens, there are myriad other ways to date and authenticate them. However, we shall save that for a future post.
Serial Number
Sep 25, 2014 Re: Help me identify a Montblanc model no. I don't have the pen with me here in my office, but I found an old picture on my photobucket. Sorry it's not better quality. Hopefully, the picture is good enough to see the pattern on the barrel which is much more subtle. From memory, the serial number is much more precise on the.
- Mont blanc is one of the most counterfeited brands.Montblanc's Starwalker carved out of time honored craftsmanship and great artistry, suffers because of the duplication and forgery. It's admirers as well encounter numerous ill experiences with the imitation of this plush writing instruments.
- Montblanc Starwalker: original or not.? - posted in Montblanc: Good morning,one of my friend have buy on Ebay a Starwalker resin ballpoint, but this pen have some strange caratheristics, and I can't to say if it is original or not.Someone can to help me.???Than you can see in the picture the pen have the screw on the rear part of the pen, and I have one original and that have the screw on.
Are you checking up serial numbers for a Cheap Montblanc Pen you are thinking about buying? Our advice is to be extremely careful! Our team looked at 100’s of online shops that claimed to be selling cheap original pens which were in fact fake. Read on to find out more…
We looked at a whole bunch of options and found that the best way to avoid counterfeit pens and make sure you are covered if anything goes wrong was to buy from an official stockist. We reviewed all the top sites and one came out on top, click the following to see:
Anyone who loves quality in a pen can tell you that they either have the cheapest Montblanc pen, or want one of the more expensive models but cannot afford one at this time. The name stands for quality and that comes with a price tag! Everyone knows that a these pens are the most expensive and can be easily a grand or more. That is why people who love the quality of them are often looking for deals.
The problem is, if you are lucky enough to find a good deal, you have to make sure it is not a deal that is too good to be true. Otherwise, you may find yourself a victim of the Montblanc pens scam. To help you, there are a few things you can look for to ensure that you don’t let a fake pen fool you.
Contents
- 4 Serial Number: How To Check
- 6 Other Clues
Check The Size
One of the first things many lovers of this product will notice when they purchase a replica is the size of it, especially if they have had previous pens to go on. Just because you purchase a cheaper 585 or the 149, it does not mean that you will get the size or weight of the pen that you were hoping for. This is what too many people are discovering when they purchase Montblanc pens for sale on eBay and end up with a phony. Also many bogus websites offering really cheap pens but they are in fact counterfeit.
Cheap Pen: How To Tell If Its Real
Think about the facts. If you were able to become dealer, would you truly sell an authentic pen that was worth nearly a grand for closer to $100? Most likely, “No.” You would want to sell it for as much as you possibly could, even if you were hoping to increase sales by becoming a pens discount dealer. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that anytime you find one under $100, you are not going to get the quality pen you are expecting. Just like this girl found out when her suitor bought her a pen as a gift:
Matlab 2014a license.dat crack. All pens under 100 and most Montblanc pens under $200 are not going to be legitimate pens from. If you do see one, even one that says it is in perfect working order, you may want to send the seller a message and ask, “why so cheap?” You may then also want to inquire as to whether they are truly one of the few authorized dealers. Even if the dealer purchases a lot of pens wholesale, it will still cost them more than they could make from selling these the pens cheap.
Quantity Vs Quality
There are a lot of people who claim to be a discount pen dealer. You can find them on most auction sites. Even some on Amazon are not always real, though if you look at the price range of them, it is more likely you will avoid purchasing a replica. One easy thing you can look for beyond the price is how many the Montblanc fountain pens discount dealer claims to have available. Even if they are selling them for a good bit more than other sellers and claim to be simply selling discounted items, if they have a huge inventory of them, chances are, it will not meet the quality standards you have come to expect.
Montblanc Starwalker Review
If the quantity is not listed where you can see it easily, you can send him a message saying that you want to purchase a few for friends or family since they are offering such a great value on them and you were wondering how many they have available. If they have more than a few, walk away because chances are good, they are selling a true pen replica.
Serial Number: How To Check
All true genuine Montblanc pens have a serial number on them. You simply have to know where the pen serial number location is on your specific pen. There are some fake pens that have a number on them, but not all. If you are curious as to how to find the number, you may have to do a little number research, but in general, it is easy to find. This is perhaps not a clear indication of a bad Montblanc pens eBay dealer, because often there are very good replicas.
Lookup On The Database
Even the font may be similar as well as the location. However, automatically, if you cannot find the number on any database, you know it is a forgery. You can also tell by the fact that Montblanc pens have two letters and then a lot of numbers in the code. Any variation in that, could mean a it wasn’t a true discount.
Design Details Of The Genuine Article
When you purchase a pen set, there are certain features that make you consider it. For many people, this includes the way it is refilled or the cartridges that are used in it. With each pen set, you have a certain type of cartridge that works in it. If there is any variation between what you are considering and what is available on a true official site, you should reconsider whether it is truly a valued or not.
There are some exceptions to this rule, but it is a great way to check up on the stores that you find on the internet. However, when considering the cartridges and such, a piston filler is not easy to duplicate. Therefore, if you happen to find pens that have a piston filler, you may have found a great deal and legitimately found on sale. The thing is, if it has a converter in it, you are still not holding a legit product for less. Also, as a side note, if you find a 49 that says it has a converter in it, you can also know for a fact that it is not a real discount price either, because they never came with a converter.
Other Clues
Other possible clues are the nib size and how the pen closes up. The nib size is clearly indicated on the model number of all models. For instance, a 49 has a nub that is size 9 and a 46 has a nub that is a size 6. As to the cap, you should always remember that basically all have caps screw on, as do the popular Meisterstuck pens. A lot of fakes may try to fool you, but many of them have a slip off pen cap.
PIX Engraved: Identifies Original
If you have a newer pen it is easy to tell because after the 90s, Montblanc added the word PIX to the underneath side of their pen clips. This may not be easy to see when you are on a webpage looking at it, but before you brag about finding it to all your buddies after it arrives, you should make sure it is there. It should be engraved into the pen so that you cannot scratch it off. The details of the letters should be deeply engraved so that they stand out very well. Anything less could mean that the it is forged.On the center band of the pen, you should see the word Montblanc or Meisterstuck depending on the pen that you are looking at. This too should be deeply engraved and look very neatly done not like the replicas.
The Way It Feels in Your Hand
A true will feel solid in your hand, but most imitation pens bought and sold on the internet do not feel as solid. They generally use a different type of material to create them and according to most who have been fooled by the idea of Montblanc pens for sale online, they feel like a cheaply made pen.
Montblanc Meisterstuck Pix Serial Numbers
When in Doubt: Buy An Original Direct
Montblanc Starwalker Serial Number Location Online
Montblanc Starwalker Extreme Ballpoint
If you are looking at genuine Montblanc pens for sale at cheap prices and you want to further investigate whether you are getting a good deal or not, you can always check the dedicated website and compare the pen you are considering to the pen kits that are available there. This generation pens and all others have full details on the pen in question. If you compare the cheap one to the original, you should be able to determine fairly quick if you are looking at a real writing instrument or a forged pen. Especially, if the seller that claims to have low price pen sets posts photos that are not from the Montblanc website.