No. 124 E
This pen is from the personal collection of Joudenali. Watch out for reviews of truly rare pens from his treasure chest!
This is as rare as it gets, scoring a 12 out of 12 on the rareness scale of Collectible Stars I! The "Rosenmuster" or Rose Pattern Meisterstück was made in Germany for a very short period of time 1935-1936. A catalogue from that time presents the series as "Extraklasse" (E) to convey - I presume - how extra great or special it is!
Joudenali explains that "in the 20s and 30s, it was common to decorate the black hard rubber supports with surface engravings (Guilloche). Guilloche is a machine engraving technique. It consists of very precise lines that, together, make up a detailed surface pattern. The most chosen pattern of carved engravings was the wave pattern. It was often subject to manufacturer-specific originalities. To differentiate itself from the numerous fountain pens on the market, Montblanc produced a fountain pen with a beautifully engraved rose design. This fountain pen had been explicitly described as the Knight of the Rose. The pattern was only made for two models of medium-sized pens: the safety filler 104E and the push knob 124E."
In general, the chasing on hard rubber pens tends to fade over time - especially on pens that were well used. Considering this, and the fact that the production of this pen was for a very short period of time, it is exceptionally difficult to find a near-mint Montblanc Extraklasse today! As Joudenali exclaims, "this surely makes it one of the centrepieces of any Montblanc collection". I agree wholeheartedly!
The 124E is a push knob filler, and it has a rather special clip only made for this series! The pen measures 12.5cm capped.
For bibliography, see Resources page -->link
Extraklasse sets presented in a 1936 price list
