Montblanc pens: gorgeous writing reaches its peak…
Lo and behold, these pens are upheaving writing as we know it. They are beautiful, therefore expensive, incredibly expensive... The Montblanc Writers Edition collection celebrate this year one of the greatest writer of French literature, Victor Hugo, through a series of stunning pens paying homage to two of the author’s key works: Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris. Prepare your finest cursive...and your checkbook.
The first edition in the Montblanc pens’ new collection, made of black precious resin with platinum-coated fittings, is available as fountain, ballpoint and rollerball pen. Conceived as a subtle tribute to the author’s works, the cap protecting the rhodium-plated gold nib or ballpoint imitates the Notre-Dame cathedral architecture and reveals under its clip a depiction of Jean Valjean’s face, main character of the Misérables. Although the ballpoint design (€765) is now out of stock, the fountain (€990) and roller (€805) designs are still available on the Montblanc website (link).
Distinctive limited editions of Montblanc pens
Misérables book.
If your finances are on par, you could choose another creation. On another design, more exclusive and baptized 1831 after the publication year of the Notre-Dame book in Paris, the whole platinum metal barrel of the pen is decorated so as to resemble the neogothic monument and is adorned with a translucid red varnish: a shade not so dissimilar to the protagonist’s prison uniform. In parallel, the yellow underside of the cone evokes the shade of the yellow passport given to Jean Valjean when he was freed from the galleys. Furthermore, on the cap are engraved the numbers attributed to him during his first two imprisonments. The end of the clip must also be mentioned, since there stands a small ring, reminder of the character Quasimodo who was enchained in the cathedral. As is hinted by its name, this second edition “1831”is limited to exactly 1831 pieces in both fountain (€3 900) and ballpoint (€3 600) designs.
Yet more exclusive Montblanc pens limited series
I willingly admit that what follows is enough to infatuate any wealthy collector. Montblanc presents moreover two more writing instruments, but only available as fountain pens. They pay an even more vibrant homage to the Notre-Dame de Paris book by proudly displaying on their gold nib a gargoyle design, tutelary statue of the edifice, while their barrels reproduce the architecture of the Parisian cathedral. They also showcase a beautiful rosette, varnished in multiple shades of blue (edition limited to 83 pieces, €38 000) and red for the final variation, which establishes itself as the acme of this series dedicated to Victor Hugo.
Enameling at the peak of Montblanc pens’ art
The Montblanc Ateliers used there the enameling art of plique-a-jour, enhanced with threads of fine gold, in order to create actual miniature stained-glass windows. This ancestral know-how, consisting in applying enamel in bottomless cells so as to let the light shine through once dry, is an extremely complex technique, and explains the cost of this extraordinary fountain pen (€165 000), limited to only eight pieces.
These masterpieces from the Montblanc maison placing under the limelight Victor Hugo’s timeless works, available in stores since this summer, are doubtlessly a great gift idea for a wordsmith.
A well-written and well-filmed ad campaign
A Manufacture with historical expertise, the Montblanc maison is one of the few perpetuating the tradition of beautiful writing instruments. A feat in a time of digital communication. Montblanc nevertheless keeps up with its time, as shown by the celebrities included in its new ad campaign What Moves You, Makes You. This truly aesthetic campaign is also a great idea since it puts forth the careers of American scenarist and cineaste Spike Lee, of Britannic actor Taron Egerton and of Chinese actor and founder of an acting school Chen Kun.