Montblanc Meisterstück 163 Solitaire Solid Gold Rollerball – 1996 Retirement Presentation
The pen is pre-owned but was never used and remains in excellent condition.
The chevron-patterned metalwork and trim are crafted from solid 18k gold. It is a beautiful design, with the alternating chevron pattern giving the gold a lot of depth and movement without taking away from the classic Meisterstück shape.
The clip is engraved with the initials “MTF.” Normally, initials on a pen can be a detractor, but in this case they are part of the story and tie the pen directly to Marie and its original 1996 presentation.
The pen comes with its original Montblanc presentation box and outer packaging. The packaging shows some age from storage.
Now for the history, because this is where this pen gets really interesting.
This Montblanc Meisterstück Classique 163 Solitaire Solid Gold Rollerball Pen was presented in 1996 to Marie Frankenfield upon her retirement from Montblanc North America.
Marie began working for Koh-I-Noor in 1985, when Koh-I-Noor was the exclusive distributor for Montblanc in the United States. She worked in the Pen Repair Department as a Pen Repair Technician, with her responsibilities dedicated to Montblanc writing instruments from day one.
Over her 11 years there, Marie became one of only a few technicians entrusted with Montblanc nib repair, working on pens including the 149 Diplomat, 146 LeGrand and 144 Classique. This to us is pretty cool! If you sent a Montblanc in for nib work during that period, Marie was one of the very few people who may have worked on it. She specialized in the most important part of the instrument and spent years working directly on some of Montblanc’s most important fountain pens.
She retired in March of 1996, and this solid gold Solitaire Rollerball was presented to her at her retirement celebration.
Below are two photographs from Marie’s retirement party.
One photograph shows the presentation of the pen. Marie is pictured on the left, the Vice President of Montblanc Customer Services is in the center, and the President of Montblanc North America is on the right.
The other photograph is of Marie’s retirement cake, which reads “Happy Trails To You Marie.”
The pen remained with the family from the time it was presented in 1996 until it came to us.
