The Montegrappa “Monte Grappa” fountain pen might not be perfect, but mine holds a special place in my heart.

I first purchased one of these, in the pretty lilac colour with 14k gold medium nib, from Harrods in November 2019. It was an impulse buy, for which my conscience later suffered and I took it back a few days later. The story was told in my brief encounter post, for those who like fountain pen love stories.

Then, as the winds of fortune blew in my favour once again, I got a second chance to own one at a very generous discount, from John Hall’s Write Here tables at the London Spring Pen Show of March 2023. John was ceasing to deal with Montegrappa and clearing his remaining stock. If price/value had been an issue for me previously, then it was no longer. John was down to his last one of this model. It was the smart, black version with a 14k gold nib in medium. I came away with a huge grin on my face and a saving of over 50%.

At home, I filled it with Diamine Conway Stewart Tavy, my go-to blue black, which immediately became its forever ink. A feature of the pen is the clicky piston filler which sounds and feels like winding a mechanical watch. You cannot see how much ink the pen is holding but can measure it by slowly ejecting the ink again and counting the drops. I am not sure whether purists call this a piston or a captive converter filler. I recall watching a short video from Montegrappa, proudly showing the patented new filling mechanism on its own, and explaining the various different materials that it comprised, (as related in my brief encounter post) but unfortunately I can no longer locate the video. * [see link below].

Picking up this pen after an interval, is always a joy. Its contours and weight all suggest quality, although in terms of Montegrappa’s range of fountain pens, it might be ranked as entry level to the upper echelons. Unusually, it was available with a choice of steel or gold nib.

On re-inking the pen recently I found in the following days, that the pen always left an inky stain on my second finger where I had rested the pen – rather like a smoker’s finger. Despite wiping the section carefully, this continued. I deduced that the ink was coming from behind the flared metal ring at the point where it meets the black resin section. Initially I thought that perhaps the ring had not been glued and sealed sufficiently such that ink would get trapped behind it when dipping in an ink bottle.

To investigate, I flushed the pen and then unscrewed the nib and feed unit. The nib housing simply unscrews from the section. To my surprise, the metal ring then came off the section: it was not glued on at all. (Note: if disassembling a pen over a basin, be sure to have the plug in).

I rinsed and dried all the components. Before reassembling, I took the opportunity to apply some silicone grease around the nib housing and particularly at the ridge where the metal ring is seated. I then screwed the nib housing back tightly into the section, whilst checking that the nib stayed centred over the feed and that the tines were level. I hoped that the combined steps of greasing and tightening the nib housing, would eradicate the inky finger issue.

The pen is now filled, (with Tavy, once again). So far there has been no recurrence of ink on the section.

Such tinkering with a pen on a peaceful Sunday morning is a satisfying activity and to be recommended. It is good to have the Monte Grappa back in rotation. But even when not in use, the remembrance that I own this pen can sometimes be drawn upon to help persuade myself that I do not need more gold nibbed Italian piston fillers. It should be noted however, that this psychology is not always successful.

*Update: I have since found the YouTube video, from Kenro Industries on the Montegrappa Monte Grappa, from six years ago. This featured the piston fill mechanism and can be seen here: https://youtu.be/xgv-FxRnHOU?si=lCtHb2GY-WMQLW-Q