I write everyday with a Waterman Expert. They're a little expensive (usually less than EUR100) but nothing compared to Montblanc, and very pleasant and resilient.

At some point I designed a blotter holder made of a plaque of stainless steel and a sheet of plexiglass, and hand-made blotter paper. I thought it was quite elegant [0] but I couldn't sell more than a couple of them, and now the inventory lingers in my garage ;-(

[0] The page still exists on https://drop.com/buy/medusis-rocker-blotter, although you can't order them from there anymore.