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No. 00 Baby Safety
This pen is from the personal collection of Kawuska - an FPN member that has inspired many of us with his pen collection, photography, and craftsmanship in penmaking!
Advert. from c. 1920
Collectible Stars I rates the No. 00 a 9 out of 12 in rareness. The Stöffhaas advertisement below shows that this pen was the cheapest from all sizes, priced at Reichsmark 7.5 in the 1920s. That translates to roughly USD $26 today if we calculate inflation. But, be ready to pay about 50x that amount if you want to add this 100 year old pen to your collection today!
This Montblanc No. 00 safety pen, known as baby, is made of black hard rubber (BHR) and was manufactured between 1920-28. The No. 00 was actually being produced earlier too under the 'Rouge et Noir' (ReN) brand of the company. But once the ReN was discontinued in around 1922-23, the No. 00 continued being made under the 'Montblanc' brand with the white star instead of the red one.
Notice the Stöffhaas sticker on the underside of the box. It implies that this pen was made for distribution from the Stöffhaas branches in Hamburg and Berlin. Stöffhaas was the official exclusive MB retailer in the 1930s with outlets around the world. One often finds pens with this retailer’s name imprinted on the cap too.
The baby is special because of its size. The box below reads "Der kleinste Montblanc" - the smallest Montblanc. It is the opposite end of the spectrum from the gigantic No. 12 (link). As shown in the advertisement on the right, the baby came in a 'short' and 'long' size. The latter is about 2.5mm longer when capped.
The No. 00 safety here is the short version and measures approximately 61mm capped, with a cap diameter of 7mm and a barrel diameter of 6,5mm. The cap length is 25mm - just look at it next to the L139! The No. 00 came in black, coral red, and mottled red. It also had a lever filler version that was made soon after the safety, overlapping in production, but it was about 1mm longer. The correct nib for this pen would be one with the star imprint and a "00" in the centre, made in 14c gold.
Right - L 139 cap
Next to a No. 0 gold overlay safety filler
The baby and the giant No. 12!
Credit: Marcwithac
A bunch of babies! Some "short" size and some "long". Notice that the tiniest is the full white dome measuring 5.90cm, while the later produced MB measures 6.35cm. Osman correctly asserts that the white dome baby was literally the smallest MB ever made!
Credit: Pics and pens owned by Osman Sümer
For bibliography, see Resources page -->link
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