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Montblanc M. G. 400 & 420 Glasfeder (Glass nib)
Montblanc M.G. 420 from my personal collection
The glass nib or "glasfeder" Montblanc was made between 1936-39, as per Collectible Stars I. However, I do not see them featured anywhere in the catalogues of 1937, 1938 or 1939 that I have. These catalogues present pencils and even the stylograph (ink pencil) but no glass nib MG. The only catalogue I have seen the M.G. in is the 1936 price list pictured below. Two pens were available in this series - a safety filler No. M. G. 400, and the No. M. G. 420 button filler. According to Collectible Stars I, there are actually two versions of the model - one with a steel clip, and one with a gold plated clip. The pens were only available in black. Notice how they don't have the star logo engraved in the cap-top like MB's tier two and three pens at the time. Instead, the star logo is imprinted on the cap, and positioned in between "M" and "G". This is a rather distinctive design element that distinguishes the M.G. model from other models of its time.
1936 Pricelist
The glass nib is harder and has no flex when compared with gold nibs, and so it was a better tool for pressing down on multiple layers of paper and carbon sheets to make duplicate receipts or other such clerical documents at the time. These nibs do tend to chip though, in my experience, and that's probably why customers could buy replacement nibs in boxes of 6 or so (it seems from the 1936 Pricelist image). There is no rubber feed to regulate the flow of ink. Instead there are grooves along the length of the glass nib, and these do a remarkable job of regulating flow.
Montblanc M.G. 420
Image and pen belong to Ariel Zuñiga - a distinguished collector of vintage pens who has generously contributed images to FPN, seminal books, and this website
Montblanc M.G. 420, with a war-time cap
Image and pen belong to Eric B. whose collection of vintage MB's is the closest thing we have to a vintage Montblanc museum
Though the M. G. series was priced very low at the time of its manufacture, it is a rather rare pen to find today. Collectible Stars rates it a 9 out of 12 in rareness, or "ultra rare". It took me five years to find one for my collection! This makes it far more valuable to collectors than MB might have possibly imagined at the time of production! The Stoffhaas imprint on my pen cap signifies that this pen was sold by the Montblanc-exclusive stationer Stöffhaas in the 1920s and 30s at one of its boutiques in Germany, Spain, Paris, or London.
MG 420 box and papers
Image: Penboard.de database
Montblanc M.G. 420 from my personal collection
The M.G. nibs came in three sizes - fine, medium and broad. I am told that different sizes came in different colours. I don't know for sure which are the three colours and what nib size they correspond to, but based on the examples in this article, here is what I speculate.... Two pens have brown/amber nibs, and both have "F" imprinted on their blind caps. So, if we assume these were the original nibs they came with, then we might conclude that brown/amber nibs were fine points. The M.G. 400 example has a clear nib / no colour nib with "B" imprinted on its blind cap. The tip does look quite rounded in the closeup picture, so we might conclude that the clear colour nib was a broad tip. Finally, two of the M.G. 420s pictured here seem to have a blue tint. Is that the colour of the nib or were they clear nibs that became stained blue by ink over time? I can't confirm. But, if we assume they were made as blue nibs, then we might hypothesize that it was a medium nib. So, altogether, if I were to speculate, I'd say the three colours are brown, blue, and clear, with fine, medium, and broad tips, respectively.
M.G. 400 Safety Pen
Image: Myk Daigle from MaD Mercantile
Montblanc M.G. 420
Image: Stefan Wallrafen
Haro pens from my earlier personal collection
Stefan W. pointed out to me that the MG 400 was essentially the same design as the Reflex 300, except it had a glass nib instead of the gold nib. If you examine pictures of the Reflex 300 below, you will notice that it has the same clip, same single cap band, and same cap / barrel / knurling design as the MG 400. Also, the dimensions of the two pens are essentially identical, with the Reflex being just a few millimeter shorter. The 1 RM (Reichsmark) higher cost of the Reflex was probably because of its gold nib.
Montblanc Reflex No. 300
Image: Stefan Wallrafen, the author of Collectible Stars I himself!
The glass nib series is a modest one. It was advertised in the 1936 catalogue as an "inexpensive writing instrument for carbon copy paper". The 1936 catalogue priced the M.G. at a mere 3 RM. For perspective, this was the cheapest of the fountain pens with the next cheapest one being a Reflex student pen for 4 RM. Compare this to the 50 RM that the 129 was priced at in the same catalogue! The carbon copy use case technology was not exclusive to glass nibs. Montblanc had Stylographs or "ink pencils" (link), and even special gold nibs for use with carbon paper, like the 314 nib (link), but at a considerably higher price point. Later on, MB made models like the 34x D nib (link) for the same function. The M.G. series pens are quite small, as you might expect from their low price. You can find their precise dimensions in the 1936 catalogue pictured in this article.
1936 Pricelist explaining the difference in hardness across different materials. Notice that glass is much harder than gold.
1936 Pricelist
The glass nib M.G. series might have been inspired by companies like Haro that were quite successful in the late 1920s with their glass nib offerings. Earlier, when I used to collect non-MB vintage pens, I had small collection of Haro pens that I loved writing with.
Montblanc M.G. 420
Image: Stefan Wallrafen
An interesting detail on two examples of the 420 in this article is the "M-N" imprint on their blind caps. This probably referred to "Montblanc-Niederlage" which translates roughly to Montblanc depot or warehouse or even branch or subsidiary. See the box pictured below.
The "M.-N." blind cap imprint
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Montblanc ink bottle box
Picture and box belong to Poul Lund
As always, if you possess knowledge or theories regarding these pens, I encourage you to contribute your insights in the comments section. Also, if you own an example of the pen model presented in this article, and are open to sharing images with me, please do reach out. The more examples we can collectively analyze, the deeper our understanding of these fascinating pens will become. I am not an expert on vintage MBs. The information I present in these articles come from my triangulation of (a) whatever primary documentation I can find in old catalogues and advertisements, (b) books written on the subject, (c) images of pens shared by collectors, and (c) conversations/feedback from some of my expert friends that are exceptionally kind and generous with the knowledge they have gathered over decades of experience and research. So please feel free to pitch in and share pictures and/or information if you know something that has not been mentioned here. These articles are all work-in-progress, open to constant updation and correction.
For bibliography, see Resources page -->link
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