The Montblanc Bohème Fountain Pen Is A Cult Classic! 

The pause after '...beguiling' speaks volumes about your feelings for this pen.

I had no business buying this pen but I am so glad that I did.

The best of worlds! German engineering, French charm, Italian passion and romance. And I don't have one, yet. Thank you for this, I hope MB starts making them again. Including the Moongarden! P.S. This pen has an amazing soundtrack! Aznavour, Pavarotti....Callas, Moffo, Tebaldi.... and, Led Zeppelin! Rare album if you can find it. Cheers!

The great thing about twist to post pens is they give you time to think before committing yourself. I have one that takes four turns to uncap and three to post that I used for signing permission slips in the Navy as it gave me about fifteen seconds to think about the request and ask any clarifying questions of my sailors without me looking hesitant with my pen poised. It is amazing how many of them seemed to have four grandmothers who would die at regular intervals!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Thanks for your wonderful review, you are right about this pen, it is indeed, unique. I have had mine for about 17 years, it was a gift. Lucky me. I always enjoy writing with it and playing with it.

It is a beautiful pen! I can apreaciate threw videos and images. I love the red gem on it, it is stunning against the black and gold clip.

Very nice presentation of the Boheme. I’m glad you’re enjoying it so much. I’m currently in a no-buy mood and enjoying what I have.

Love the review and the word "languorous." Fantastic little pen!

I have to admit MB makes a wide variety of attractive special designs.

Thanks for this! You spoke of a key thing about FPs they make you want to write more. I went to my first pen show yesterday, Manila Pen Show. I wasn’t sure if I’d buy anything but I ended up spending an hour at a vintage pen table, Guia's Vintage Pens. Something said, “If you’re going to get a pen, it will be here.” She also insisted that any pen you’re interested in you have to write with it first. I tried several then final got the courage to try the Montblanc 146 from the 1980s she had but the double broad nib didn’t work for me. She had a 252 which felt so wonderful in my hand and floated on the paper I had to get it. I couldn’t stop writing in the notebook I brought. I sat down in the hotel lobby and wrote. When I returned to my hotel room I wrote some more. It is an investment in yourself, your creativity and soul. Thanks so much. 🙏🏾❤️✍🏾

I adore my Bohéme (with a comparatively “boring” black stone), which I discovered at the Melbourne pen show last year. I had not seen anything like it in my admittedly fledgling fountain pen journey. I love the size, the incredible engineering, the feel and beauty. Thank you for a really lovely review, HJ.

I love my Boheme! And I have big man hands and it fits nicely when writing. I highly recommend picking one up.

Such a nifty pen… great for tinkering. Love it.

Hemingway, Mont Blanc sell a flushing bulb with an extension, that plugs into the nib holder like a cartridge. You just fill the bulb with warm water and pump it through the nib assembly. When purchased new, they already contain flushing liquid. But once used they can be re-used by using water to recharge them. I think they came in a set of 2 or 3. I used my Mont Blanc bulb flusher just the other day, they work well.

Great video. My grail pen is a Montblanc Centennial released in 2006 to commemorate the founding of the company. It is based on their first safety pen. It has not, to my knowledge, been reviewed anywhere on YT. It has a hidden nib, which you reveal by pulling down an internal sleeve. Cheers!

Interesting! Just yesterday i watched a video on a Waterman pen model that is very similar called the "safety pen". Intriguing to see they weren't the only ones to do something like that.

Because the prices have always been wildly all over the place for the Boheme, I waited patiently for at least three or more years before finally getting mine. I paid $670 for a never-inked Boheme in near-mint condition from a private seller here in CT. I couldn’t have been happier and luckier than that. It is a uniquely splendid pen. Worth the wait and the price. You couldn’t be more right about these pens - certainly any of my pens - not being ‘investments’ for re-sale purposes. I know that I’d be keeping my beautiful Boheme for ever.

Hi! You sold me! LOVE the idea on this pen! Should get mine tomorrow! Thanks for turning me on to it!

I just had to clean my brass Kaweco; it was not writing as well as it can. I cut the end off a short international cartridge (you'd probably cut a long cartridge for the Bohème), fill a bulb syringe with water, and push the tip of the syringe into the open end of the cartridge. Then I flush the syringe-full of water through the nib. I might have to refill the syringe once or twice, but when the nib is clean, I squeeze air back and forth through the nib to help dry it. I Don't have to cut the tip of the syringe to fit a particular pen, and the same syringe fits every cartridge. And yes, I agree that the Bohème is a lovely pen. It's just a touch out of my price range, though.

My pen, my favorite pen, Is a montblanc 146 le Grand gave me by granparents for my graduation. Is awesome

The Boheme is such a lovely unique wonder. Sad Montblanc discontinued.

Yo tengo una Boheme y me encanta, su tamaño y peso son perfectos, siempre cargo con ella en el bolsillo de mi camisa.

I love the Montblanc Bohème I have 2 in my daily drivers. The Rouge Roby and the Doué Ligne

Beautiful pen, I rather like the size. Can’t afford one now that we are both retired and I’ll just have to dream! Or snag one at an estate sale. 😊

Hands down - this is my favorite fountain pen as well! I've been using fountain pens since the 70's and I do have a 'few'. This one is always inked and ready to write.

You’ve inspired me to ink the Boheme. My 149, 146 and Boheme are in rotation. I am becoming or am already a big montblanc fan! Perhaps I need an egyptomania pen!

I have never had a Grail pen until seeing this video...now I am in love with your pen! It is now my Grail pen! Thanks for sharing this beauty!

Hi HJ! Thanks for showing us the neat little Montblanc pen! Have never seen one before. VERY interesting!

Ritual is certainly part of the experience. That's one of the things I like about my Opus 88's. That ritual opening of the valve. I wonder if there's a way to make a Boheme quicker on the draw. I found a solution for my Opus 88's. When taking notes, I screw the cap back on by only one turn. You could say the nib is poorly sealed. Poorly sealed isn't unsealed, though, and I've found nibs don't dry out too fast. All day is OK, and one-turn uncapping is handy.

What a neat little pen! While I'm not a fan of cartridge converter pens, it's so cool to see how much you enjoy that great little pocket fountain pen. If I'm going for a compact pen like that, which isn't very often, I really like my Opus 88 pocket pen.

Everybody should own A Montblanc.... I have 4 including a ballpoint.

That pen is so very beautiful! Thanks for sharing that one again.

Cool.

Your initial 'Grail Pen' post about the Bohème inspired me to acquire one. I don't have a lot of fountain pens, but something about the looks and operation of this one were, yes, more than a little beguiling to me. :-) I bought a decent, almost plain looking MB test pen with a medium nib and love it. I like the austere plain black and silver look of mine, and the tactile pleasure of getting it ready and posting is delightful. Thank you!

Beautiful pen! I like the jewel on the pocket clip. Actually I enjoy the whole pen and its secrets!!

Oh I love this pen! Thank you for sharing HJ

Thank you for this wonderfully crafted homage to the Boheme. A pen I have always wanted, but haven’t yet gotten around to acquiring. Perhaps someday. And special thanks for the closing music, one of my favs and perfect for the ambiance of this review.

I had to know about the mechanism so I bought the Moonman clone. To me, it's more a mechanical trinket than a practical design While I won't fault Montblanc for things that a cheap clone does, like drying out, I did find that the process of capping & uncapping was frustrating for my daily use. I ended up putting Private Reserve Infinity ink in it and leaving it uncapped on my desk all day so I didn't have to bother with so much threading capping, posting, unposting, and recapping. Today at work I have a Platinum desk pen and a Pilot VP. No fussing with caps for me when I have to keep productivity in mind.

Yeah! Yeah! What he said!

Lovely pen and video! Won another auction last night 18K Pilot Elite 95. Think I'm done now.

I love this pen, I have 4! You should also try the Heritage 1912, it’s also a retractable nib but with a piston filling mechanism.

Hello HJ. This was an interesting video. I, myself have a Boheme but it is silver with a blue sapphire. I have had this pen for over a year now and I just love it. I equate this pen similar to a watch with complications, just as you mentioned about a clock. Great analogy. Mystery black, Midnight blue and Burgundy are my choices for ink. Love the video. Keep them coming my friend.

I can close to getting the Boheme with the blue sapphire when I was in Las Vegas there was a Montblanc store in Cesar’s hotel but they only had the Boheme with the blue sapphire in the rollerball which I did buy,but still wanting the fountain pen.

I just bought a pen and when I bought it I did not know it has this SAFETY PEN MECANISM .LOL… I thrilled to know that all boheme pens has this feature. I collect MB pens and I am glad I got this pen. My only disappointment is this pen has a M nib. Basically I use only EF NIBS. But I am happy about this pen. Thank you for this video. It is well done.

I love your Bohème. It is so beautiful. You are a very lucky man. Happy writing! Take the M sticker off. It takes away from the beauty lol.

Another great video,I have my brothers,teddy pen ballpoint sterling silver,frank in Oswego,ill

Curiously, Montblanc watches -- though many times more expensive than a 149., are very competitively priced, unlike some of their pens.. There is a perpetual calendar and also a world timer that are both very tempting. (But I think not, at least anytime soon.)

I would put a red wine ink it this pen seems to fit with it

Lovers of retractable nib pens but with a more reasonable budget should have a look at the Noodler's Boston Safety Pen.

This was the start of my ‘gold nib’ pen collection and it’s still one of my favourite pens. Love that you brought it up because it’s so rarely spoken about. I am super curious though, that ink pot on the table (looks like Egyptian art on the outside). What is it. It kept catching my eye and got me super curious. :)

I think Montblancs are nice but I don't have any desire to own one (I think it's the status symbol thing someone else mentioned). But this one appeals to me. I like it!

Great pen 👍 I have always liked the Boheme, but the jewel is a dealbraker for me. Bought a 1912 Heritage instead, love that pen, it has a lovely soft nib. Love the inkwell, what brand is it from?

I think it was about ten years ago I bought this pen on ebay for about $20.00 ? or thereabouts. I knew it was a counterfeit (Shame on me, I beg forgiveness from our community). A neophyte would not know the difference from the real item. It is beautiful and performs wonderfully. I think the purveyor got caught and was expelled from the site. I still wish I had a real one.

Which pens beguile me? It dependes on which criteria are used. Referring to my collection to date I consider the Sailor KOP's nib to possess some inexplicable writing quality, as though manufactured by some Divine hand. I am also passionate about another two permanently perched on my desk that I oftentimes pick up just to admire the craftsmanship of the furniture, these are the Aurora Jubileaeum with gold veining on ivory coloured resin, and the Pelikan M1000 in maki-e raden. They give me slight electric sparks of joy and inspire the question "Which artist did those?" And all I think is how grateful I should be.

I'd always been turned off by the jewel on this pen. I don't like jewels on pens, and in this particular case, I found that the red jewel made the pen too feminine for me. Well, today, by complete surprise, I find a NOS Boheme without the jewel, at the back of an old stationery shop. Apparently, MB made a platinum version of this pen without the jewel! It wasn't cheap, but for a new discontinued item, I feel that I received a fair price, a little under the current going rate on ebay. It writes beautifully. I'm a little nervous still about the mechanism and what servicing might cost in the future, should it ever jam or fail. Nevertheless, I am overjoyed with this more masculine version of the Boheme.

The Bohème is utterly charming. I recently came to own a fake. I hasten to add that it was not from the producer, and nor was it a Moonman X1. Sadly, it doesn't retract, but it has the right sort of proportions and feel. I would love to own a Bohème, far far more than I desire a Meisterstück, but it is way outside my budget, sadly. 😞

My Montblanc 32 is a prize 😅

Good video. ...But Lapsang Souchong is also not my cup of tea. 😉

I own this very pen. Yes, beautiful, but... The internal mechanism on mine is now useless, it was never vey good from the start. I use it as a dip pen. I guess I was unlucky all those years ago.

Cool video HJ. Have you splashed out on the New Piston Sport

Have you figured out how to clean this pen? I'm ready to change ink color, but this pen cannot be flushed, lest water seep into the mechanism and cause rust. Would simply cleaning the nib in water by dipping it be okay?

I'm not a huge fan of the look of the pen, and the price is outrageous so I will never own one (I don't care if other people feel happy with the price that's fine.) But the mechanisms are fun I like how different it is from almost any other thing I've seen. I really like the back hinge rotation filling system whatchamacallit, but how does it not flop open when it's not supposed to? is it magnetized? Have you ever heard of waterman safety pens? They're the closest thing to this I've ever seen. I'd thought I'd ask you since you love them so much. What do you think is best size to get a TWSBI eco in? I want to get one eventually though I can't get one now (especially since I have to get a safari next), I'm curious what you would suggest. And I know I've asked a lot of random questions, and this one has nothing to do with fountain pens but have you ever tried doing Genealogy? you seem like the kind of person who might like that sort of thing.

Hi all…so I have the Boheme with red “jewel”…. Any suggestions for ink? I was thinking for fun to put a red/hot pink to coordinate! Just for fun. I saw Diamine Claret and Fabre Castell Electric pink but am open to suggestions 😊🙏 thanks

Well, after seeing this video, I am a bit sorry and sad that I got rid of my MB Boheme. What was I thinking???:(:(:(

How about panache?

I have sights on a MB146 & Starwalker. All other MB are in the realm of Japanese Maki-e, Montegrappa, St. Dupont, and Visconti LE: museum pieces that function better as paperweights than writing instruments, imo.

I had two. Sold both. Why? Too slow for quick note taking and writing. A gimmick. And a diva: Always dry. And the plastic thread wears out: The clip and spring are no longer in line and the clip presses into the palm of the hand. Bravo. You also have to be careful when changing cartridges that you don't destroy the delicate hinge if you don't press the cap on exactly in line. If fountain pen enthusiasts were to undergo a blind test like wine connoisseurs, there would be surprised faces. But the brain thinks what you tell it to think.