Montblanc 149 | Should all serious collectors own one?
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2024
- After a year of fountain pen ownership, I feel that using a fountain pen is more about the feel and experience rather than the actual practical aspects of it i.e. being able to write words on paper. Also, the cost of the pen would bring about a certain degree of expectation in terms of quality and performance. As such, I must admit I feel a little let down by the Montblanc 149 in terms of feel in the hand and in terms of its performance - especially in the nib area.
Having said that, I do understand the feeling (or need) of getting a 149 if you are a fountain pen lover even if the purpose is "complete" the collection. If you do decide to get the pen, the best advice I can give is to buy used, from a reputable seller, and make sure you peruse the forums and guides to identify which pen you are getting (and to avoid fakes)...unless money is no object.
I also recommend spending a good bit of time looking through the many Montblanc threads on the fountainpennetwork forum (www.fountainpennetwork.com/) before making a purchase. 
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That was a great video thank you very much. I watched it twice. Just today, just today!, my new 149P turned up from MB themselves. I’m very happy with it. Glad i bought it. Worth the money? Not even close, but I don’t care, I like/love it anyway. I also love the knowledge it’s real, genuine, 100%. PPL just don’t realise quite how MANY fake MB’s there are out there. I got bitten on the arse with a fake MB off EBay TWENTY YEARS AGO. That’s how long they’ve been faking MB’s for. AND, as we know, it’s not an overly difficult task to fake a MB. They’re not rocket science. Caveat emptor and have fun!
I also had the hard start on my 149. I put it in for service recently and it was repaired under the warranty. Now it writes perfectly.
Good to hear that Peter. Thanks for your comment.
Thank you for making this video. From the comments and your responses, I believe I have formed a positive opinion of the pen that will be my next acquisition. Kudos to you and thank you.
Very, Very nice video. Thank you. RS
I think (I may be wrong 🙏🏽) the hard starts you were having was due to angle at which you were trying to write - you are holding a B nib, but was trying to write as if you were writing with an oblique nib. Because of this, some times the full face of the tip of the nib was not touching the paper and onlt those times the so-called "hard starts" occurred.
Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, it isn't because of that.
Actually he might have a point. You hold it very angled. Also you have waranty on new pens. If you have any hard starts they will fix it. I’ve had problems with my 146 and i sent it in. It is fixed now.
I think it very much is because of your writing angle. I've used fountain pens for 46 years, and you're holding it wrongly.
Try an oblique broad
Just my two cents, after going strong into the macros of nibs tunings , most hard starts happen due to baby bottoms, the grind - majority of time is good, the thing is manufacturers grind and test the nibs before fitting them into the housings. Due lack of quality assembly the nibs being installed with wrong alignment that create tensions and forces on the tines that make them wrap and go wrong way. Going to local nib master to remove the nib and refit it correctly is best way to solve it without tinkering with tip adjustment.
I like how you showed the instructions booklet and the layout you use to show details. I have always wanted this pen but coming from an experienced person like you, I'm Disappointed about Starting issues for the price of this pen. I wonder if you could compare it with your other pens you like and please share your opinion. Thank you✒️
I can't afford a MB, but it doesn't hurt to look. This video has great photography throughout. 🙂
It’s sad that you had a poor experience with writing, I just bought a new 149 with the medium nib, I am delighted with this pen and have not had any bad experience with it, the ink does lay down very wet and I think the medium nib is on the broad side for me and am considering changing to the fine
Hi Barry, please take a look at my followup video - should show at the end of this one where I show how I solved the problem (mostly). Great to hear about your 149 experience, thanks for sharing!
I'd say the answer is yes... I own 6 Monthblanc pens, besides 2, they're all fountain pens... and by least expensive one by far is the 149.. the remainder are selling for $1900-$2100 right now... I also have an ST Dupont limited of 100 made, with 13 diamonds, and amazing Chinese lacquer work... as well as a Montegrappo EXTRA OTTO custom with fossilized ivory and celluloid body, solid silver plated in gold hardware, etc.. with a cost 4 times that of a 149... they are almost all objectively finer and more "Grail" worthy than the 149... BUT.. the 149 is a benchmark pen.. it's a standard pen of it's kind.. a writers pen, with a uniquely large nib.. (I happen to have the B)... so it's a must have for ANY collector in my mind.
So u own 8 pens ? , dude thats pathetic
@@Cortesevasive no, using "u" for you is pathetic.
that's dumb to have more than 1 pen.
@@kl-ly2xh It depends. Fountain pen are not ballpoints who uses same refills.
If you use it more often or take a lot of notes or do sketching or arts. Its a good idea to have 1pen which would write extra fine lane. 1pen which would be more universal like medium . And maybe some other pen with extra flex or lane variation.
Thanks for this review. This is the pen I never bought, so this was good to watch.
Yes, Montblanc seem to be like Rolex watches. Both companies spend huge amounts of money promoting their products as being the finest and chosen by the most discerning customers. They then charge a very high premium for the name. Those who know about watches don't have a such high regard for Rolex.
After a lot of thought I passed Montblanc by and went for an Onoto Magna Classic for a $300 less.
All Onotos are individually made and they write like a dream straight out of the box. It's a shame more people don't review them. To give some perspective my Onoto has a better feel, an nicer, slightly flexy, nib and it writes more pleasantly than my Pelikan Souverin M800... I used to think there could be nothing much better than that Pelikan, or my Pilot Custom 823. My Conway Stewart Winston is also a prime pen.
Just thoughts, we all have different preferences.
Thanks for the thoughtfulness you put into this review. As always that's what really makes your reviews a good watch for me.
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If you bought it new with a fine nib you would love it. I have a 146 and love it. Note, the pen loves its own ink. Also repairs are expensive and MB service time is slow and slower. You might sell it for 200.00 USD on a good day😂
Can’t you buy from a place like Appelboom or Nibsmith that will tune the pen for you? I bought a humble Kaweco Sport with a broad nib from Nibsmith and they tuned and smoothed it no charge.
There are other brands (Pelikan, Montegrappa, Pilot, and even Cross Peerless 125) that give a better writing experience at lower or similar price. However, that’s the beauty of fountain pens! Everyone has their own special pens - for various reasons
Thank you for sharing. I always thought Montblancs were the best nib experience. I don't have nor haven't use any but I like a lot my Pelikan M800 and Pilot Soft M and Wavery nibs (bouncies, smooth) so your comment really changed my perspective of Montblanc.
Well, there are some pens that cost several tens of thousands or even more Dollars or Euros ... especially Namiki Urushi or Maki-E the same is to say about Pelikan Maki-E. Of course there are all those made out of gold, platin or with diamonds ... they could cost even a couple of millions.
Does Montblanc nib has greater quality than Pelikan
@@azamatbezhan1653 tough question
I’m more of a Pelikan fan but comes down to a matter of opinion
I have a 146 with the EF nib. It is inked with Montblanc Midnight Blue and never hard starts. Actually, I'm still amazed at how they made such a fine nib write so smoothly! Have you tried your 149 with Montblanc ink? Maybe that will help with the hard starts.
Quick answer to your title question: YES.
Thanks for the review. I will not pay full price for a pen with that nib performance. Personally don't find the pen aesthetically appealing enough.
For the flights, I think the idea is that filling the pen minimizes the amount of air in the chamber. Not sure how much difference it actually makes, but that's the reasoning, IMO.
Interesting to see that hard-starting is still an issue. I got a 149 (fine nib) for graduation in 1986. (I was an experienced fountain pen user already.) The hard starting and its tendency to "sweat" on the section when the pen was in my pocket led me to sell it several years later. It was embarrassing to pull this magnificent instrument out of my pocket and then not have it write without a struggle! Even if I got it started, a few seconds _not_ writing was enough to make it stop again.
A pen simply _must_ be able to write, or it's just decoration, not a pen. I want an excellent _writing_ instrument, not a status symbol. If the two can be had together, great! Watching you struggling to write with it gave me flashbacks. My vintage Parker 51 _always_ starts (as do most of my other pens), and is ready when I need it. Recently I've been considering getting another 149, but it looks like this is still an issue. That is unacceptable at a 1000USD price point. Guess I'll look elsewhere for my next pen!
Yes, serious fp users ought to have a MB 149 pen. I have 5 MB 149 pens, and I write with 149's everyday, always have 2 of them in my pen rotation.
People should have whatever pens they like. It's an incredibly wanky/insecure attitude that people 'need' to have the pens that we happen to like.
Every Montblanc pen has a 2 year waranty. If you have any issue like this you send it in untill it gets fixed.
all 5 of my 149's are from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. I have had no problems with the 149 pens.
I wanted this pen for a long time but decided to buy the MB 146 first as I thought it would fit my hand better. I was disappointed with the nib and writing experience. The 146 is also a nightmare to clean as the section doesn’t screw off for easy access to the barrel. The nib unit doesn’t screw out either. My Pilot Custom 823 Smoke (medium) cost less new than my MB 146 (medium) second hand and is a much better writer. In my view the modern Montblancs are over rated and cost way too much money for what they are. I won’t be buying a 149 unless I can get a vintage one in really good condition because the nibs are supposed to be softer and write better.
Yes, the older MB 146 and 149s require a special tool to remove the nib and piston mechanism. Some have tried to make an equivalent tool - for the nib one it just looks like 2 prongs to hold the holes on the nib unit in order to twist it off. Without that tool, the only way for it is to pull in ink using the piston and rinse and repeat. One thing I will say is old Montblancs is that they are in plentiful supply and are largely quite durable. You just have to be patient when looking for the right one.
The Pilot 823 and the Pelikan M800 are pretty much recommended everywhere for good reason. They are not not perfect however they fit 80% of the needs of 80% of the people out there in my opinion.
There are many fountain pens that provide significant better writing experiences and higher build quality at a fraction of the price at all price points. I'm not a fan of MB fountain pens. I'd only consider buying an older used MB fountain pens. Frankly, one of them is plenty
Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, I completely agree with everything you felt about the pen. I purchased two MB 149's brand new last year, one with a F nib and one with a B nib. I had already purchased 149's in the past and it always felt as if every 149 I bought had some sort of issue. My very first 149 was from the 1980's which I bought from Osman Sumer, but it had never been used. The hard starting on that pen was horrible, I still remember how difficult it was to get it to write. That was not a pen that I was able to just let get smoothed out with use because it wasn't even usable to begin with. The new 149 that I got last year with a B nib also had hard starts but it was exactly like yours, I'd get hard starts 2 out of 10 strokes, especially down strokes, but at least that was more usable. With use, after about a month, the hard starting went away for the most part, and I would only get a skip once every 20 downstrokes. However, I really don't like the B nib for my writing, and so what I did was, I ground the nib into a cursive italic and now I use it a lot more. Not only does it not skip at all, but it's just a lot more interesting and the original shape of the nib tipping really helped to make the grind easier. The F nib never skipped but it also feels so uninteresting. It feels too broad for a F and while it's wet and nice, it's just too broad and awkward to write with. But it has been a year this month since I got them and for some reason, I still have them, don't quite know why I have not decided to sell them yet. I guess it's sort of a love/hate relationship. I know that if I sell them, eventually, I will try to buy another 149 in the future so I thought maybe I would just keep them.
Thanks Carlos for the amazingly detailed and insightful comment. It mirrors what I feel as well - however I think part of the reason why the nib performs like this is because it is overly smoothed and it can't lay the initial part of ink on the paper; once it "gets going" I have no problems with it at all. By the way, I did also try out the pen with a variety of inks and paper with no resolution. Under magnification I am unable to see any babies bottom.
Although I am not a B nib person as well, I am hesitant to regrind mine (as I might sell it eventually anyway) but I did think about it. Incidentally, I have all of the regular Meisterstuck series and my favourite is probably the 145 as its the simplest and no frills. Maybe I just like workmanlike pens!
@@WrexelsWorld While you may not be able to see 'baby's bottom' under magnification, it may very well be there; sometimes it isn't visibly obvious when its there. But through my experience with these nibs, I really do believe it is the 'baby's bottom' issue/over-polishing. I'd suggest sending it to get professionally reground into something interesting/something you could use. After all, what good is a nib if its not something you will look forward to picking up and use? Regrinding nibs, as long as the work is cleanly and professionally done, won't devalue a pen. Or maybe just send it to be tuned. It's frustrating when a nib skips or doesn't just write perfectly without even the most minimal pressure. Once it is well tuned to your liking, try it out with different inks. I've used several colored inks in my ground B nib and I just went back to Mystery Black! My choice of paper is always Midori. And that is interesting! You like it more than the 146 size? I feel like the perfect workhorse Meisterstücks were the 146s from the 80's. Great performing and springy nibs, ebonite feeds, piston filler, perfect size (for me), and quite affordable and easy to find.
@@carlosruperto8705 my sense is very much babys bottom as well as the hard starts go away on putting more pressure on the nib. I noticed that the MB nibs are slightly thicker compared to other brands which are using a thinner "gauge" of nib metal which compounds the problem i.e. the tines are harder to spread. I probably should get it reground. May I ask who you sent it to to get the work done? I wish I was near to a Mike Masuyama or a John Mottishaw.
The reason why I like the 145 more than the 146 is very personal - my very first Mont Blanc was a ball point Classique and the thinness of that pen is very familiar to me.
Why don’t you send them to montblanc to fix them? On new ones you have a 2 year warranty. I got mine fixed also had hard starts. After that i send it in twice for scratching a bit. After about 5 times free service it writes wonderful. Most people would have been happy i think after the they fixed the hard starts. But i have to say this is the only product I don’t sell after repairs done to it. Nomally I don’t like a product anymore or trust it after repairs. But i love my 145 Fine. Has a very nice character writing. I ordered also a 149. I read a lot of people never ever having issues and also a lot it in the beginnig. I agree it should be perfect for the price but i see a lot of people complaining but seldom sending it in to get it fixed. They do fix them. You have the right for a perfect writing mb
Does this pen dry out plus great video
No it doesnt dry out for me, its so wet I will run out of ink before that!
The most obvious remark to make is that the original owner may have encountered those "hard starts" you mention, & thus, sold it on. As an experienced fountain pen user (& maintainer), sorting out that nib should not be overly difficult for you. In terms of the leak at the section housing, use a denser form of silicone grease (not all silicone grease is the same), & if that should be unsuccessful, revert back to MB's original sealant - red wax paste...
I'm not sure that all collectors (serious or otherwise) would care for the brand; certainly, I tend to buy previously-owned models & service them myself - the newer incarnations are more problematic in that the build quality is no longer so exacting; I'd tke a thirty five year old MB over any modern contemporary. I cannot say I've ever regarded them as a 'status symbol', they're just pretty reliable writing instruments - only the materialistic will view them as a definitive signal that, 'you've arrived in the world'. That said, the platinum accents are very attractive, but in the meantime I'll stick with the traditional yellow gold finish.
Great approach to a (sometimes) contentious issue.
I will look around for red wax paste, thanks for the suggestion!
Damn. That's like having a Rolls Royce that sometimes starts and sometimes doesn't.
I just watched a 145 platinum coated pen go for 300 on ebay. I was so desperately tempted to buy it, but my bank account said no.
I think its ok. Montblanc put out a lot of these pens, just be patient and the right one will turn up.
Flip the nib around and press back and fourth it should align it right away
Hey Bro. Nice review. Are you from Trinidad 🇹🇹?
Hi! I am from Singapore. :)
The 149 is good, but definitely not my favorite in from my collection. I would give the crown to Namiki Emperor and Sailor King of Pen
Never fill a Mont Blanc if you are going on an airplane, in the 90’s I travelled to Montreal two weeks after buying my 149, and the barrel cracked, I went to Mont Blanc Mexico claiming the guarantee told them that I followed the stated in the manual, I had to pay for the reparation and never trusted this guys again, beautiful pen, excellent writing instrument, but lousy in service, I waited several months for this work.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Was it because of the ink freezing?
@@WrexelsWorld , no, it was due to pressure change. The main point that I want to address here is that these guys didn't honor the guarantee, even after following their instructions.
I always feel the brand suffers if they charge a lot for a pen that does not perform well. I don't get very exited for MB. For this kind of money I would much prefer a Pilot Custom Urushi, for example.
Hi Ain, I hope this video did not dissuade you from at least trying a MB. I cannot be sure if this syndrome only affects my particular pen or their pens with the broad nibs (although I have seen videos from other reviewers with the same issue). FYI, I prefer broader nibs for non-Japanese pens as I feel that Japanese F and M are the best in terms of writing experience. Thanks again for your comments.
@@WrexelsWorldNo, no. Thank you for making these videos and for your attention
@@ainstolkiner2063 mb is western business which relies on marketing . Their prices make no sense.
Does Montblanc nib has greater quality than Pelikan
Montblanc nibs typically are over-polished from the factory and will feel smooth on paper but this doesn't mean better quality as over smoothing will lead to problems later like skipping. Pelikan quality control isn't the best as well - I find their fines are not that fine, for example. If you want good quality nibs, you might have to go to Japanese pens.
@@WrexelsWorld best answer
Estoy totalmente de acuerdo con usted cuando dice que la mitad del precio que cobran por una estilográfica Montblanc sería un precio correcto. Tengo un juego de Montblanc estilográfica y bolígrafo y casi nunca los uso. No son "entretenidos" para usar. Los repuestos del bolígrafo son excesivamente costosos. Si bien te dan reconocimiento en una reunión, no te da gusto usarlos en forma permanente (Yo tomo todo el día notas de mis compromisos y actividades). Hacerlo con el bolígrafo sería francamente estupido por costos y hacerlo con la pluma estilográfica mmmmmmmmmm. Comparada con otras plumas de Lamy, de Pilot, de Cross, de Watermann, de Sheafer e incluso de algunas chinas, esta pluma no es entretenida de usar. Una buena Pelikan m800 con plumón SOFT es muchísimo más entretenida.
Cordial saludo desde Medellín Colombia. PD de todos modos consideraría comprar la nueva versión de caligrafía.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I think the Pelikan M800 is a great pen with character, unfortunately it is also a very expensive pen where I live i.e. not much off the price of the MB 146...
Could I ask which pens from Lamy, Cross, Waterman and Sheaffer (and Chinese Pens) do you think are fun to use?
@@WrexelsWorld Lamy 2000, Parker 51 y su copia la Jinhao 86, todos los Twisby (700,580,Eco,mini), el Kaweco Sport, waterman carenes y serenity, wing sung 699, pilot Falcon 😍, pilot 912 FA nib 😍😍. Las lamy safary siempre estan en la lista con su variedad de colores y puntas. Las sheafer que tengo son todas vintage...en las Moonman la C1, penbbs 323, Jinhao 100 centenial, moonman s600 y la 800. Y otras...cross hay varias clasicas muy entretenidas y elegantes.
From most of the stuff I've read, Montblanc modern pens are not as nice as, say, pre-1980, if not earlier.
Montblanc seems to me to be similar to Harley Davidson motorcycles. Basically, a mediocre item that you're paying for the name, more than anything else.
MBs with a good Monotone nib is a dream to have. My grail 😅
Hi Paul, I am not sure I will refer to Montblanc modern pens as mediocre. What irritates me is the fact that the nib - although supposedly hand finished and polished - can "not perform" out of the box using a pretty adequate ink and paper combination. Although they offer a nib exchange, they should have gotten it right out of the factory. I will revisit this pen later on in some date after doing some work on the nib myself. Thanks again for your comment.
@@WrexelsWorld My thought was that it's definitely mediocre for the price. At least the ones made today. Of course, there's Italian pens that are even more expensive that have issues with how they write, too...
I agree that for a company that has made pens as long as they have, they should have everything coming from the factory working well.
@@paulherman5822 You're right about some very expensive Italian pens that write poorly. namely Stipula. Beautiful in design and appearance, but a real piece of junk.
No, modern collectors have many more choices, and the recent manufacturing systems produced high quality steel nib fountain pens. I don't plan to acquire a MB149 myself, a pen with a large steel nib will do me just fine.
Why is a 1,500.00 pen skipping so much
It's not about collecting, this is the submariner of the fountain pen world: it's all bout having one and using it, it has been created to be used and abused (!!!), for years, for decades.
As for many people that don't collect watches but have a submariner or a GMT Master, if you have just one pen, you could not be wrong with this one.
Nota bene: I have some Pilot inks, still none green, and this green is just fabulous, deep & rich!
Also have some Montblanc and in my journey to buy a 149 (and their inks)
I think so too. Its one of those "if you didn't get it, you would always wonder" type of pens.
Can I've y use India ink with a 149?
You should never, ever put real Idia ink in any fountain pen.
shame the ink is not supplied with pen as it used to be
It would have been nice but in all honesty, I dont miss it. The size of the old boxes were huge and I am one of those who likes to keep boxes. Out of their inks - I only like Irish Green and the purple. Thanks for the comment!
Probably yes
I'm very disappointed with the Montblanc customer service. I bought a fountain pen with a package labeled M nib. However it turned out to be actually an OM. Now I'm dealing with all the bureaucracy to change the nib to correct one. I recommend not to buy fountain pen without trying on the store. Not being able to trust to an authorised retailer nor the label on the package is a total frustration, especially when the subject is Montblanc.
You might be able to get someone to trade you for your OM (or get used to using one). You probably know this that Montblanc allows you to switch a nib for some of their pen range within a period of time if you buy new.
@@WrexelsWorld the nib change policy is only valid for unused nibs. The problem is very clear actually. They sold a pen with wrong nib, but communicating with the customer service is like communicating with a bot. I don't want to give up on my pen, it was a love at first sight. A heritage collection with a very original color. Anyway, thanks for the reply
@ZEYNEP based on my experience, the nib change (at a Montblanc boutique) is possible whether or not the nib to be changed is used. There is a finite time period where you can do this after you bought the pen.
@@WrexelsWorld period is 6 weeks, but both boutique and global customer service mention the unused condition of the nib :( I don't know whether the policy changed recently
@@WrexelsWorld from the global customer service's response "Unfortunately, we have very strict regulations, the nib needs to be pristine and unused to qualitfy for a nib exchange. In this case, the Boutique is correct and we will not be able to offer a charge free exchange."
I also had to have this fountain pen.
It is a pure disappointment...
It's overpriced and even the 18 carat gold nib can't save the very modest performance.
It is an absolutely incomprehensible cult ...
Forgive my radicalism, but at least I am honest ...:)
Very sorry for late comment, but the performance of this pen is quite terrible. Perhaps your pen was defective?
I have several fountain pens of various pricepoints and none experience hard starts like this.
Hi thanks for your comment. I posted a follow up video on this pen where I described how I fixed the hard starts.
@@WrexelsWorld good to hear! I'll go check it out.
I don't agree at all with the statement that when people think of fountain pens, they think of something that looks like the 149. They would have thirty years ago, but the fountain pen world has passed Montblanc by, and the vast majority of fountain pen users don't have and don't want a Montblanc. That's just how it is.
I guess I'm a collector, though I'm really just a lover of fountain pens. But with only a few exceptions, there's nothing about Montblanc pens that I like. I detest solid black pens. There's simply far too much variety now, too many wonderful pens that offer art, as well as performance. I own some moderately expensive pens, such as a Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age a Scribo Feel, and a Namiki Chinkin, among others. These are right at the line where I think it's fair to call a pen expensive. I also own some much more expensive Namiki Maki-e pens. I prefer all of these to any Montblanc made.
During the Covid lockdown, I was bored to death at times, and Amazon was there, and pen companies were everywhere, so I bought about a hundred bottls of ink. Maybe more. I also started buy some inexpensive pens, just to have something to do, and to see what the hype was all about. I bought four or five different brands, but it was TWSBI that hooked me. I bout at least one of every model, and several ECO and Diamond 580 ALR. I'm very glad I found this brand.
For decades, I used a fountain pen an average of seven to nine hours a day for as many as six days per week. Sometimes those days stretched out to twelve hours or more. Because of this, I learned the immense value of a soft gold nib, IF you know how to hold one, and how to use it. It makes very long writing infinitely easier, without hand fatigue or cramping.
But for shorter sessions, for writing that takes minutes rather than hours, steel nibs work fine, and write very well. Quite honestly, I'd rather have a sixty-five dollar TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR than a Montblanc 149.
All that said, I've never owned a Montblanc that didn't write very, very well. If one doesn't, Montblanc will make it perform at no cost to you. I know many will disagree with this, but it's true, the 148 is actually an inexpensive pen. Because f this, a few do slip through QC that need tuned.
All fountain pen nibs are delicate, gold nibs most of all, and soft gold nibs are the easiest to damage. Just a tiny bit too much pressure can, over time, months, or even weeks, damage a nib enough to cause either leaking, or hard starts, or both. Rarle, a pen stops writing at all. But hard starts are the most frequent problems, with leaking not too far behind.
This damage can be imperceptible to the eye, though an expert can sometimes see it. But very, very few can. This is why many pens go onto the used pen market. The pen just doesn't write as well as it did when new, it suffers from the hard starts, or the leaking, or before reaching this stage, it just doesn't write as well. So the owner sells it, passing along the early problems.
The simplke fact is that if the large majority of pens in a given line, in this case, the 149, write well, then every pen in that line has the capability of writing just as well. If one doesn't, it is nearly always a very small, easily fixed problem that is the cause.