Zhenya Ciurana - Official Author Blog

The other day I dropped my trusty Montblanc Noblesse Titanium. This skinny pen is a discontinued model from before the Noblesse series accepted piston adapters, so it only works with ink cartridges. The full cartridge I'd just popped into it came lose inside the case, unbeknownst to me until a few pages later when the nib stopped working. I opened the pen and realized what happened and, horror, the cartridge was stuck inside the pen, out of reach.

I tried shaking the cartridge lose, and to pop it out of there with a think pick without success. I then called the San Francisco Montblanc store and they indicated that retrieving the cartridge would cost $85 and a two-week turnaround. I switched pens to my stainless steel Meisterstück (built-in piston only) and noticed that I barely had ink for a day or two after filling it. So, I decided to go to Flax Art & Design, an awesome store here in San Francisco, to buy more ink.

Bjor is the lady in charge of the luxury writing instruments department at Flax. We spoke a bit about ink, inkwells, pens, and so on. She told me that Flax no longer carries Montblanc ink--yet another reason to head to the Montblanc store. I mentioned my problem with the cartridge to her and she came up with a great way to solve it:

Just get a 3" screw, gently put it in the pen's case through the cartridge's opening, turn it once or twice, and pull the cartridge lose.

She worked on it for the whole of 5 seconds, and the problem was solved!

We discussed other topics and I learned more tips and tricks about various fountain pens (and I've been writing with them exclusively for 20 years... yet she taught me a few quite interesting things!), met the store manager, and otherwise had a fabulous time. Moreover, that saved me a trip to the Montblanc store since I can just clean the Noblesse and use that for the next couple of weeks since I'll be on a trip. Cartridges are better than pistons when flying because they're less likely to leak.

So... I saved $85 (maybe over $100, since I'd have had to park downtown if I'd gone to the Montblanc store), learned new things, re-discovered how cool going to Flax is, and otherwise had a great time. Thanks Bjor! You rock. Thanks Flax -- I'll try to shop with you more often!

P.S. On a somewhat unrelated note: if you run into Santa Claus/Dyet Moroz, los Reyes Magos, the Christmas Spirits, or a rich aunt, let them know that I'd really, really, really, really appreciate getting a pen as a gift. Flax has this fabulous 18kt gold Montblanc Meisterstück that I just fell in love with. I've been a good kid all year, did my homework, and otherwise have a need for another nice pen, in case I get another ink cartridge malfunction. The pen at Flax needs a home where it'll be loved and coddled. Maybe I could adopt it?

Cheers!