Another beautiful pen from Montblanc: the Montblanc Boheme Papillion. It's all about butterflies, and since they've been inspiring writers since the beginning of time what better subject matter for a writing instrument. The Montblanc Boheme Papillion comes in 6 different versions of yellow gold, white gold, and rose gold embellished with over 1400 diamonds in the pattern of butterflies and delicate intertwining plant stems and leaves. Plus, of course, the signature Montblanc diamond gleaming on the cap.
Butterflies and plant tendrils? How perfect for spring. Priced at about $273,000.
Caran d'Ache has created a pen to honor Swiss watchmaking. The 1010 Limited Edition fountain pen takes its name from ten minutes past ten (10:10), the moment when the hands on a watch dial are perfectly balanced. The pen body is designed to resemble watch gears and is made of rhodium-coated silver. Two cages, one decorated with gear wheels, and the other with the bridges that link them, are fitted over a transparent body. The cap is inspired by watch crowns and the clip resembles a watch hand and is attached to a pinion. The piston pump set with a ruby and a sapphire crystal dome at the bottom tip of the pen containing a balance wheel poised between two rubies. The pen comes in a black lacquered box with a glass bottle containing blue-black ink and a palladium-plated silver stopper. The pen is a limited edition of 500 and sells for $19,000.
How's this for a wild pen? This is the Free Ride from Jean Pierre Lepine. The Free Ride's race-car-like curves are designed to be ergonomic and fun. The ballpoint pen uses a rubber like material to cushion the areas where finger meets pen. This odd-looking pen is available in blue, orange, red, yellow, green or the chrome shown here. The pen sells at Joon for $152.
Dedicated to actress and singer Marlene Dietrich, this beautiful Marlene Dietrich Commemoration Edition fountain pen from Montblanc is available in a limited edition of 1,901. The cap and barrel are made of 925 Sterling Silver with a fine barley guilloche. On the cap a blue mother-of-pearl inlay houses the Montblanc signet, as well as a single deep blue sapphire (reminiscent of Dietrich's eyes) and 22 brilliant cut diamonds. It also has a platinum-plated 18k gold nib with delicate engraving and a heart-shaped hole. And of course there's an engraving of Marlene Dietrich's signature on the barrel ring.
The 2007 pen in Montblanc's Patron of Art series is dedicated to the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. The pen is created of granadille, rare wood similar to ebony and found in the southern hemisphere, where Alexander von Humboldt did much of his scientific exploration. The pen is trimmed in sterling silver on the ends, clip, band and in the center in an abstract motif that references the art of the indigenous peoples von Humboldt studied during his expeditions. The pen has an 18K nib that is engraved with a sextant, another nod to von Humboldt's voyages of discovery. The pen is available in an edition of 4,810 pieces. The pen sells for 1,850 euros.
The latest limited edition pen from Conway Stewart celebrates Sir Isaac Newton. The pen features hand painting on the cap and barrel of Newton and one of his most famous mathematical theories. The barrel shows the laws of motion and universal gravitation on the barrel and the cap has a likeness of Newton himself, taken from a portrait by Godfrey Kneller in 1689. The pen has an 18-carat gold nib which is available in a choice of eight grades. The pen is 25 numbered pieces available in fountain pen or roller ball and sells $2,450.
Last year's pen of the year from Graf von Faber-Castell used mammoth ivory, this year's rare material is petrified wood. The fossilized wood is so hard that it is cut by gem cutters. Eight stone pieces are set into a fountain pen of platinized metal. The pen also has an 18-carat bicolored gold nib available in three different widths. It has a solid metal spring-loaded clip and the platinum-plated end cap operates the plunger mechanism for filling. The cap also features petrified wood including a small plate in the end cap. Each pen is individually numbered and comes in a wooden case with a limited edition certificate. It can be found at Pens From Heaven for £1840 (around $3,650).
Bentley has joined the ranks of Ferrari and other luxury car makers with their own branded pens. The pens are from italian company Tibaldi and celebrate 60 years of production at their Crewe factory. The pens get their looks from the two limited edition cars produced for the Diamond Jubilee of the Crewe factory, the Arnage and the Continental GT Diamond Series and have the Bentley B on the top of the cap. The limited edition includes 400 silver fountain pens. 200 silver roller balls, 40 solid white gold fountain pens and 20 solid white gold roller balls.
Swiss pen maker Caran d'Ache has made an entire wardrobe of black pens, one for each day of the week. The Varius Black Series Limited Edition from Caran d'Ache recently won the Stylographe Trophy 2007. The black case contains seven black numbered Varius ballpoints pens in Chinese Lacquer, Zebu Horn, Carbon Fibre, Ebony, Coat of Mail, Rubber and Alligator, as well as black Goliath cartridges in fine, medium and broad, a velvet pouch and a polishing cloth. Each pen is silver-plated and rhodium-coated for scratch-resistance and is fitted with the Caran d'Ache Goliath cartridge, which has a writing capacity of 600 A4 pages. The set is a limited edition of 500 and it sells for $3,400.
British pen company Conway Stewart have released the latest version of their popular Westminster pen this time in teal enamel. The pen takes its design cues from the palace of Westminster with its Gothic style engraving on the cap and barrel. The small diamond-shaped recesses mimic the detail on the palace and the tiny oak leaves are a symbol of England. The teal color of course doesn't have anything to do with the Gothic style, it just looks cool. The pen is available in an edition of 100 fountain pen or roller ball writing modes. It sells for $1,800.
This exquisite pen, the Limited Edition Pheasant & Sakura from Namiki is new for 2006. The pen uses the Chinkin technique in which patterns are carved into the lacquer surface with chisels. Next more lacquer is poured into the carved grooves and gold foil or gold powder is inlayed. Then pens are detailed with platinum powder sprinkled on the petals of the flowers and nacreous shell embedded in the center of the flower. There are 99 of these pens created and they each come in a box made using the Kaba-zaiku technique which involves using a thin layer of mountain cherry tree bark and creating a cherry blossom design. The pen sells for $10,000.
Personally, when watching "The DaVinci Code" movie I thought the cryptex box was nothing special. But maybe you crave your own cryptex box to toss around when eluding mad Europeans in hot pursuit. And, since you'd never use the actual cryptex itself (how impractical is that thing?) let's put something useful in there. How about a pen. Check out the DaVinci Code pen from Tibaldi. It's officially commissioned from Sony. They have made the pen in roller ball editions in silver or solid gold in prices ranging from $3,075 $19,125. Each one is a limited edition. Philippe over at Just Writing reveals the secrets of the pen, showing off his new silver DaVinci Code pen in a comprehensive photo gallery.
To celebrate five years in the business, Grayson Tighe has created five special anniversary pens. The anniversary design on titanium is a collaboration with knife maker Jose de Braga collaboration. The pen features a Roman numeral V on the cap with a lapis lazuli composite inset. The pen has stainless steel accents and a titanium trim with blued millgrain accents. The body of the pen has another Roman numeral V set with 5 VS grade white diamonds. The limited edition number is displayed at the top of the pen. This pen sells for $5,500.
This is the latest in the series of indigenous
people pens from Delta. This year's line is Indios, which celebrates the
indigenous people of the Amazon. The many ethnic groups in the region were called the Indios by the Portuguese
explorers and that term is still used today in Brazil. The pens are made of brown and black resin except for the
celebration version of the pen (shown above) which is made of Amazon green and brown resin. It has an 18K hand-carved
gold ring separating the resin colors and there is a gold disk at the top of the cap which portrays a parrot. The
celebration pen is a limited edition of 40 pieces and sells for $2,400. Other versions sell for for $325 to $695.
The Waterman Serenite pen has a beautiful curved shape that echoes the days of
writing quills. The new blue lacquer version has a solid silver ring designed to look like melting ice. The cap has a
solid silver clip like a needle and the 18K gold nib is overlaid with rhodium. The pen is available as a fountain pen
or a rollerball. The pen stands upright open or closed. The fountain pen costs $720 and the rollerball is $595 from Fountain Pen Hospital. The pens are available for May delivery.
