What do you think about the points i mentioned and do you have any further one?

@businessman1912

15 күн бұрын

To me, it seems like you mostly talked about the reasons for a company to create products with a price tag of €800+, but not so much about why it would make sense for a customer to purchase such a pen. Perhaps food for another video.

@alexandrevaliquette3883

15 күн бұрын

You discuss about all the steps to make an expensive FP... But the cheap FP and copycat use most of the same steps. The tolerances are lower, the quality testing is lower. But is it cost 100 times more to manufacture? You cannot justify the 100 fold increase in price because it use a little bit of gold. If you do so, use real number: nib weight x cost of gold = additional cost. People are willing to pay a large premium on MontBlanc because it has the cross on top, not because it's a well made pen. If a well made pen was the only goal, they would buy a well made FP, not a luxury one. Same with +10,000$ FP: prestige over built quality.

@alexandrevaliquette3883

15 күн бұрын

I would prefer if you show us a chart pie to show what % is manufacturing, parts, shipping, labor and the big ones: marketing and distribution markup!

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

@@alexandrevaliquette3883 how evil can it be to compare labour prices in china with labour prices in USA and Switzerland?! The fact you think that steps producing a high pen are the same for producing cheap pens shows two things: 1. you haven't listened to what i said, cause you were already too triggered by the title ; 2. you've never ever visited a factory and seen things with your own eyes. you talk by "heard saying"

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

@@alexandrevaliquette3883 the other great thing is that i don't get paid by you to tell me what and how you would prefer me to do things.

This is a very good and informative video. Thank you very much for producing this.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

I’m very glad to hear this! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Excellent presentation. You really touch he soul of these products.

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

thank you very much, i'm glad to hear!

Great video, love the brand.. and you replied to everyone that took time to comment. MB is lucky to have you.

@SamuelNaldi

5 күн бұрын

Thank you so much! 🙏🏼 but this wasn’t all about Montblanc, but about all/most manufacturer! ❤️

I will wish to watch this again as you make so many excellent points. I think of my Yard-O-Led. It writes wonderfully. So do my Sailor, Pelikan, Hongdian, and others. But, each company has a different history and hope for its people. I am proud of good craftsmanship of artisans, and good work of everyone else who gets a pen to me. Thank you for speaking for all of them.

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

Thank you so much.

In general, you make some good points, but there are things going on in the pen market that I find borderline obnoxious. My collection isn't particularly large, but it's varied, from Japanese maki-e to British hand-chased silver to Italian celluloid to even a Montblanc. But it also includes less expensive pens like Diplomat Aero, Parker 75, Waterman Carene, Sheaffer Targa. The Aero has a steel nib, and I find that nib superior to the gold nibs on my Visconti, Omas, and even Montblanc. Admittedly there's an issue of the feel one prefers, but the only gold nibs I own that are smoother than that Aero steel nib are Namiki. I've found the quality control of some expensive Italian brands a little less that stellar. I think in general there's a bit of puffery about gold nibs, and an element of snobbishness among some pen users. A lot of them seem to disparage steel nibs, a position I consider foolish. The endless churning of the market with limited editions is a blatant appeal to FOMO thinking. I don't blame sellers of fine pens for feeding it. They sell a niche product of, as you say, high quality, and once I have a MB 149, which hasn't changed substantially in appearance over the 30 years since I got mine, I don't feel much need to buy another. New Montblanc fans aren't being born at the rate they once were, and if my son becomes one, he can just wait to inherit mine. Or my Onoto or Omas or Conway Stewart. That presents a challenge to a company that, unlike MB, doesn't start branching into other luxury goods. But jeez, even the best designers can be overwhelmed with the need for endless novelty. A lot of those high end LEs are, in my opinion, unusable and in really questionable taste. The pens I've least minded paying steep prices for are those, like Namiki, that involve delicate artistry applied over months. They're uncommon to rare not because the editions are artificially limited, but because the artists who make them can't produce many, and then the artist retires and that design is no more. Pens like the MB Meisterstuck 149 are ubiquitous in the executive (upper and mid-level) suites of the corporate world - my lawyer and accountant both use them - a status symbol (people who don't know pens know that white star) more than a writing instrument, all of them from a particular year _exactly_ the same. And i get the feeling that that white star commands part of the premium for that pen. I love fountain pens. But. I don't think their prices are strongly correlated with writing quality, I think that some of the prices reflect much more than the factors you mention, and I don't think that customer care and product design are as significant at the high end as they should be or as you suggest that they are. And marketing isn't what makes a fine pen fine or worth handing on to the next generation, but only what convinces people that it is.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

These are some very interesting points. Thanks for elaborating these.

@threethrushes

12 күн бұрын

Normies settle for status symbols; cognoscenti appreciate artistry, craftsmanship, and beauty.

Mr Naldi, I was a really faithful collector of MB products and can agree with all your points and I am willing to pay the prices asked for. However unfortunately my experience with the MB after sale customer service is a huge huge disappointment for me and makes me stopping entering MB shops again. 😢

@andrewlensky632

15 күн бұрын

Any hobby is spending in one direction, you exchange your own money for pleasure and no other way)). By the way, Montblanc service is currently the highest quality among all other brands.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Dear Fabian, i’m so sorry to hear. Bad experiences can happen all the time. Please get in touch with me on info@styleofzug.ch with your matter and disappointment and we’ll try to solve it for you 🙏🏼❤️

@TheRacerRich

14 күн бұрын

The after sale service of Montblanc in the US is not as good as in Europe. Also remember how they used to have a lifetime warranty and very cheap non warranty repair service

@andrewlensky632

14 күн бұрын

@@TheRacerRich But the Pilot service in the USA is better than in Europe. Repairs may not be cheap now, but they will be doing at the customer's request, unlike many other brands. Of course, there are also independent nib-pen-maisters who can do any repair of any brands in any times.

@JoeGiz64

3 күн бұрын

I love your outlook and perspective, Mr. Naldi. I wish you had a store here in NJ.

A lot of good points made here, ones the average consumer may not consider when buying anything. People like to compalin about prices but never consider everything it takes to get that product in their hands. There is much more to it than just going to the store to buy it and bring it home. Going to the store is all the consumer has to do, but the manufacturer's list is much longer just to get it to the store you will buy it from.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Absolutely 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Great breakdown of the true cost of a fountain pen.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Thank you ❤️

I bought the Visconti Il magnifico calacatta gold and it’s worth absolutely every penny. You should make a video on it. It’s one of the best if not the best looking pen that has ever been made.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Very cool 👏🏼🙏🏼

All great points. It's about the craftsmanship that goes into making each pen. Also, I believe in lifetime value. An expensive fountain pen will literally live beyond you and get passed down. If you think about it in terms of many years of ownership, it isn't that much $ per day for a premium writing experience!

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Very good points and totally agree. Proud to have such an awesome community.

Samuel, can you do a video on the Montblanc line of "PIX" pens and explain what "PIX" mens and the differences? I have a Classique rollerball but on the cap band it says Meisterstuck, but also PIX.

Everybody must win. If your budget cannot justify a $800 pen, you simply shouldn't buy it or, what I do, is not spend in multiple other things, but gift myself a nice pen that will require months of my savings.

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

That is absolutely correct. I talked about this in many of my videos. I also talked about now overbuying, i also talked about first start using the wonderful pen you have at home. However the understanding shall be here on why a pen can cost a certain amount. Thanks for your comment.

"$800 for a fountain pen, that's just crazy" Looks down at Montblanc Napoleon on my desk

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

😂😂😂

Does anyone know if Samuel Naldi has reviewed the ST Dupont D Eternity line with the new "angel" nib?

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Unfortunately not yet 🙏🏼

Couldn’t agree more

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Thank you 🙏🏼

Muchas gracias por tus vídeos Samuel. Son muy divulgativos y entretenidos. Siempre aprendemos algo nuevo. Gracias

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

My great pleasure!

I think it is insane for someone to purchase a car when they live in the centre of a city. Other people may think it is insane to commission art, or to purchase beautiful automatic watches, fountain pens, or bespoke cufflinks. I'll finish off by saying that hoi polloi settles for status symbols; cognoscenti appreciate artistry, craftsmanship, and beauty.

@SamuelNaldi

12 күн бұрын

I agree, it’s People that set the standard of a Status Symbol - but the standard of a Status Symbol can only be set when there is contextual understanding and awareness for the craftsmanship and work behind a product

Pen-tastic 👍👍👍👌👌✍️✍️

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

❤️❤️❤️

In terms of the writing experience, is there any difference between a Montblanc Meisterstuck 146 or 149 and a Montblanc limited editions? As for a rollerball or ballpoint, it is the same refill. I don't know if it's the same with fountain pens in terms of their nib. That applies to all brands.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

There is a big writing experience difference between a 146 and a 149 because of the size of the nib. Not necessarily different when it is a Limited Edition.

@jackfurman7922

15 күн бұрын

​@@SamuelNaldi Thanks for your answer ❤

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

@@jackfurman7922 my pleasure!

You make great points and I don't mind paying for good quality products. At the end of the day, value for money is key for many people. It's subjective as to where someone seeks value from, so like you said, companies should make a honest effort to explain that and then people can decide if it is worth their time and money. What's inexcusable in my opinion is a pen that has nib issues new, out of the box. I'm not saying that the nib on a $1000 pen has to be 10 times better than a $100 pen. But there are numerous reports of expensive pens barely writing, that it has become a common pattern with some recognizable brands. Either the pen has to be tuned by the retailer before dispatch or sent back to the manufacturer to be fixed. So the customer is left without a pen that they payed hundreds of dollars for months. I think this is unacceptable. Buying from a physical store can alleviate this problem, unfortunately though most people don't have easy access to physical stores. Customer service by manufacturers is also quite random in the pen industry. There have been many cases where the pens have been returned without a proper fix and in some cases new problems have arisen. The average repair time is several months in general with only a handful of manufacturers that take only a couple of weeks. So there is a lot of work to be done by manufacturers to fix these basic things that can keep customers happy. A pen that doesn't write or a pens that you paid for and it isn't in your pen case is worth nothing, regardless of how awesome the material, technology, design, heritage and craftsmanship that went into making it are.

@andrewlensky632

15 күн бұрын

This refutes the fact that all expensive pens from well-known brands are made by hand, because any specialist do not will give a non-adjusted nib from his own hands.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Very good points and thanks for sharing these!

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

Nobody said that. From Facebook and here it really looks like you have a hard time understanding what someone says. In addition to that, i would really like to know how many factories you have visited yourself. Pretty sure it’s a number close to zero. 😂

@andrewlensky632

14 күн бұрын

@@SamuelNaldi I will answer you here. You yourself said in the video that many things are done by hand (from polishing bodies to creating/adjusting nibs), which is why it is so expensive, because manual labor is the most expensive. Did I not understand something? You are only spectator with opportunity to visit on the factory because you are the saler, but I am directly the creator, and I know how designed pens and nibs, because I can make them myself. I value the manual labor of craftsmen as much as the craftsmen themselves. And also I have adjusted/tuned/modding many pens of different brands by my own hands, do you have any experience with this? ps: there are a lot of production videos of different brands on KZread, so I generally understand how it works. Yes, the equipment needs to be serviced, the employees are all important, but people work in any industry from medicines to agro-industry, so their services should be more expensive too?

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

@@andrewlensky632 yes, i own a Brand called Edelberg distributed in 15 countries, i have experience with this, i have done this, lived this, in the watch industry and in the pen industry. We design, produce, distribute, retail, and also purchase as a private collector myself. The fact that you do 100 pens per years still doesn’t prove the fact that you have an idea of the huge commitment of the factories (doing then thousand of high end pens), starting from administration, ecology, manufacturing, QC, and much more. If then you refer to other industries i laugh even more - since every single industry of this world has a market up that is probably 2x bigger than the one of our industry. So really… we’re talking about absolutely nothing…

I do think that MB is priced because of the brand, compare a MB149 with a resin body & 14k gold nib with a Caran D’Ache Leman that has a 18k gold nib, lacquer, engraving. It would appear that more work goes into the Leman than the 149 but the MB is more sought after

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

it is a bit too generalistic put like that. Caran d'Ache Fountain Pen has an 18k Gold Nib, that is right, however a Montblanc LeGrand has a shuttered ink window with a Piston Filling Mechanism, just to make an example. The video was 15 mins, but i could have talked for 4 hours straight about the fact that there are always reasons why an item is priced in a certain way.

I agree that there is often more justification for the price than the customer realizes, but Montblanc has really gone to far. The new Wes Anderson version of the Baby will be $2500. That is so overpriced it insults the customer.

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

Well that is kind of over the top kind of pricing. Bit it’s also a one of a kind edition and limited. At the end, no one gets forced buying it.

📘📖📗📚📓❤️✍️📕📙

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

You’re trying to hype the pen market like the watch market by yourself, the market drives itself directly from the consumer’s interest. And thank God we don’t have snobs like in watches in this hobby yet! It’s hard to hide a watch in public, but a pen has to be confined until you use it, so less show off snobs will ever be interested in this hobby, again thanks God!

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

I’m not trying, i’m succeeding.

@andrewlensky632

15 күн бұрын

@@SamuelNaldi I agree with the first comment, and your answer only confirms that 70-80% of the information in the video is real natural marketing, because you are the person interested in direct sales of expensive and more expensive tools.

@SamuelNaldi

15 күн бұрын

there is no greater snob than someone writing such an ignorant comment. 😄 judgy and stupid.

Rolex, Leica, Montblanc, they do not justify their prices, ramble all you want, product per retail asked just don't deliver.

@SamuelNaldi

13 күн бұрын

But facts say something else. Are we going to put an opinion over facts?

@erosbonita6730

13 күн бұрын

@@SamuelNaldi technical facts always tell the whole story, cocowash advertisements don't.

I think you made some great points, however you are talking about the retail price of the pens and not the factory prices. The factory prices are much lower so lets be honest and factor the very high profits made by retailers. Not that I am against retailers making profit but the margins arequite high in this industry ( as someone who was indirectly involved in this business I know a bit about the margins here ).

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

i'm a Retailer and believe me, when you have millions of Dollars of Pens in stock to provide a service to your customer, the margin you have on such a pen are absolutely not high. On a new collection, if i buy 6 Pens, i start making profit when i sell the fourth. And that after i have pre-invested the money for 1-6 months in advance depending on how good it sells. This video was exactly to make people understand that there is always a reason behind things. I would never ever wish anyone at this stage being a Retailer of Fine Writing Instruments. The reason why we are Retailers and do what we do is pure passion. Hopefully very soon also a good Business Case. 🙂

@SiaN.N.

12 күн бұрын

Firstly, I appreciate you taking the time and respond to almost all the comments made here, that shows how passionate you are about your job. As you mentioned above after selling the 3rd pen, number 4, 5 and 6 are profits, also 1 to 6 months pre investment depending on the interest rates of banks in your country is not very high. Having said all this, I also understand that this not pure profit for the retailer and you have many other expenses like salaries, rent and so on. And on top of that not all pens are good sellers. I appreciate your time and the fact that you made me think about other aspects of your business. As fountainpen lover I thank you

All things mentioned are sunk cost. profit margin is still insane on luxury items and when you look at value, there is a price where it no longer makes sense i.e. Montblanc trash.

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

sometimes i have the feeling i speak Chinese in these videos.

@ClearMind-1752

14 күн бұрын

@@SamuelNaldi Maybe he only buys Chinese pens..😂. Good point Mr Naldi. Greetings from Belgium.

In my opinion, a Montblanc 149 costs $1,600 in Australia. I believe the pen costs $20 to make and the rest goes to rent, wages, marketing etc. Im sure that the directors of Montblanc dont drive Honda Civics or live in a suburban blue collar house.

@SamuelNaldi

13 күн бұрын

Well my man… guess you believe wrong. There must be real reasons to believe that a pen costs 20$ in production. And there must be context to why one believes so, and possibly facts. People read such comments and then might go around saying : “i’ve once read that Montblancs cost 20$ in Production” But then i mean… why should they drive a Honda? Do you drive a Honda? Is your aspiration to drive one? Do you get paid for your work? Is there margin for the work you do? I think and hope so. Business is Business, in all industries, and it’s everywhere absolutely the same. Just some industries exist since decades longer than the Pen Industry and have been working on acceptance of pricing and awareness for way longer. 🙏🏼❤️

My father gave me a MB long time ago.. I laugh when I read: 'writing instrument' in the booklet it come with. Seriously, this was the wording to make us believe that this pen worth so much. I hate such salesman wording so much. For me, it's a lack of respect for the customer. MB is a great PEN, get over it. Don't disguise it in a limited piece of art to increase the value and price. I appreciate high quality items, but I hate luxury items. I feel it's a dishonor to the Humanity, it's symbolise the poorly distributed ressources around the globe.

@frankv7068

15 күн бұрын

Amen 👌🏽 it’s all hype, MB plastic “resin” lol Montegrappa makes silver barreled pens for less and without the hype. Same thing in the watch market, Rolex hype when you can have a better functioning Omega for less without the hype.

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

How many times have you visited a production of any type in your life and spoken to someone that actually designs, conceptualizes, produces, assembles, QC's one of these items? Do you actually understand what i talk about?

@SamuelNaldi

14 күн бұрын

@@frankv7068 Frank - can you please go comment on Jinhao videos? Thanks. 😆