writing

Montblanc Now Offering Bespoke Pen Making Service

Filed under: Writing Instruments, Luxury Shopping

A new service by traditional fine pen (among other goods) maker Montblanc will offer customers the experience and opportunity to order custom made pens suited to their particular writing style. Montblanc has always offered a number of pen nib sizes depending on a writer's preferences, but the new service will include a unique personalized writing evaluation to designed to identify how someone writes, what the best type of pen size is for them. It also involves the creation of a one-of-a-kind fountain pen nib made for you at the Montblanc pen manufacture in Hamburg, Germany.

I had the opportunity to experience the writing "exam" myself first-hand. The process is simple and informative. Montblanc sits you in front of a computer with a large digital writing tablet. You are given special paper sheets that are placed over the tablet and asked to write preselected text as you normally would. Your writing is digitized via software on the computer in real time, which tracks variables such as how hard you write, the angles you make with the pen, and when you lift a pen off the paper when writing. It is quite interesting to see an analysis of your own writing – the test feels a lot like a vision exam.

The computer makes a recommendation as to what type of Montblanc fountain pen nib is best suited for your penmanship style. A fountain pen nib is the tip of the pen that actually does the writing. At one time these tips were part of specially cut feathers, but have since been made out of metal. Montblanc is known for making the highest quality, most effective pen nibs around (and they look quite nice as well). Montblanc pen nibs are constructed from solid gold, with the ends of the tips being made from a complex metal alloy (that is actually more expensive than gold). This alloy is used because gold is a relatively soft metal, and Montblanc designs their pens to last decades, even with constant use.

Tags: bespoke, custom, instrument, montblanc, pens, writing

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Montblanc's Personal Code Ink Prevents Fraud

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

Montblanc has long been an icon of luxury in the writing world and that tradition continues as they plan to release a new kind of cutting edge ink. Personal Code Ink contains a special botanical ingredient that gives it a unique DNA code of sorts that can be identified and linked to its specific owner. Each ink is unique and impossible to duplicate, being heralded as unique as a fingerprint and inspiring the slogan "Only one person will own this ink -- you." Each Personal Code Ink set comes in a wooden box finished with black lacquer and includes a felt-tipped Meisterstück Signature Pen, a rollerball Meisterstück Solitaire Barley, and ten ink cartridge refills for months and years of forgery-safe writing.

In the event of signature or other handwriting dispute Montblanc with use forensics to authenticate whether Personal Code Ink was used and if so by whom. Look for Personal Code Ink in Montblanc boutiques worldwide starting May 2010.

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Tags: custom ink, ink, montblanc, pens, personal ink, signature, writing

Conway Stewart Valentines Limited Edition Pen

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

Conway Stewart has designed a pen just for Valentine's Day. The 'Valentines Limited Edition' is made of rich red resin and shining sterling silver with a large 18k gold nib. Carefully designed and balanced for smooth and effortless writing, the clean contemporary design is accented with small engravings of romantic Shakespearean love sonnets. The romance continues all through the packaging with a small book of sonnets, a calligraphic copy of the love Sonnets engraved on the pen, and a bottle of red ink all included in a pretty black satin-lined box. Limited to only 50 for $750.

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Tags: conway stewart, ConwayStewart, pen, valentine, valentines day, ValentinesDay, writing, writing instrument, WritingInstrument

Luxist Gift Guide 09: FitzGerald Coleman Curated Desk Sets

by Ariston Anderson (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Holiday Guides

Building the perfect stationery set can be a real challenge. To build the ideal collection, you want to find pieces that both reflect your personality and pull from a wealth of design sources. Fortunately FitzGerald Coleman has come to the rescue this holiday season, and done all of the work for you. Introducing curated desk sets, each three-tiered secretary box is expertly filled with elite paper goods from brands like Herman Yu, Pancake & Franks, Paper & Cup, Snow & Graham, TokyoMilk, and John Derian.

Choose your personality: the Romantic, Minimalist, Innovator, Traditionalist, Connoisseur, Humorist, or Modernist, and find a box packed to the brim with luxurious paper goods tailored directly toward your own style. If you love gorgeous die cuts and pop outs, go for the Innovator. If Victoriana is more your style, choose the Traditionalist. If you like to make people laugh, the Humorist is the box for you. In addition to standard stationery, you'll find wrapped cards for every holiday and occasion of the year, all on delicately printed handmade paper. Click through the images to see some of the intricate designs. The boxes are even topped off with a matching pen from Montreal company Pierre Belvédère.

At $145, including shipping, fine paper is the luxury that anyone can afford this holiday season. It's a perfect gift full of wonderful surprises for anyone on your list. Head to FitzGerald Coleman to find your own paper personality.

Gallery: FitzGerald Coleman Curated Desk Sets

Tags: desk sets, DeskSets, fitzgerald coleman, FitzgeraldColeman, holiday gifts, HolidayGifts, stationery, writing

Park a Maserati on Your Desk

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Writing Instruments

Perfect for those who love their Maserati, wish they had a Maserati to love, or are just all about all high-end sports cars, the latest writing instrument from OMAS is a silver, sleek Maserati pen. The inspiration from the Italian auto can be seen in the aerodynamic design, in the grille pattern on the upper half of the case, and of course by the Maserati logo engraved on the pen's silver nib. Made of sterling silver the pen will be issued in a limited edition of only 1,914 in honor of the year Maserati was founded, 1914. Available in fountain or rollerball styles, $2,750

Via Bornrich

Gallery: Automobile-inspired Luxury Pens

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Tags: fountain pen, FountainPen, italian, maserati, pen, pens, writing, writing instrument, WritingInstrument

Conway Stewart's 'The Evolution' Pen

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

The latest pen from Conway Stewart features technology that took 3 years to develop: it can shift its weight from front to back to suit the individual's writing style. Used extensively the pen is said to reduce writing fatigue and improve writing consistency, and if in today's world of computers and email you don't find yourself facing "writing fatigue" you can simply use the pen's adjustable gravity feature to enhance your personal writing by varying between heavier and lighter strokes.

Made of pattern-engraved solid silver The Evolution is available in a limited edition of 200 pieces for $2700 each.

Via Gizmodo

Gallery: Conway Stewart Pens

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Tags: conway stewart, ConwayStewart, evolution, pen, pens, stewart, the evolution, the evolution pen, TheEvolution, TheEvolutionPen, writing, writing instrument, writing instruments, WritingInstrument, WritingInstruments

The Montblanc Boheme Papillion

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

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.

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Tags: butterflies, Montblanc, pen, writing, writing instrument, WritingInstrument

Montblanc's Love Letter Ink 2008

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

A holiday like Valentine's Day is all in the details, and in today's world of emails, text messages, and computerized everything what better detail than to write your sweetheart a love note by hand in beautiful rose colored and rose scented ink. Love Letter Ink 2008 by Montblanc is available either by the bottle or in cartridges, and although it's not clear how strong the rose scent is or how long it lingers (this reviewer says it's fairly short-lived) how great it would be for a long-distance lover to open a perfumed V-Day card along with a delivery of blooms (not to mention it would be so pleasant to write the note as well!).

Via LuxuryLaunches

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Tags: ink, love, love letter, LoveLetter, montblanc, valentine, valentines day, ValentinesDay, write, writing

David Oscarson Celestial Fountain Pens

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

The Celestial Collection is definitely my favorite of the beautiful enamel pens by David Oscarson. The pens each have a sunburst design on the cap with a midnight blue enamel pen which is decorated with stars and the four phases of the moon. The pen cap comes in five different colors, white, blue, red, gold and white. Each pen is made of 18K gold and .925 sterling silver and enamel and is created in an intricate process that involves many hours of handcrafting. The pen's filling system accommodates a cartridge, converter or eyedropper fill and a roller ball version of the Celestial Pen is also available. There are 88 of each pen style created and they sell for $4,500 each.

Gallery: David Oscarson Celestial Pens

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Tags: david oscarson, DavidOscarson, fountain pen, writing

Dransfield & Ross Crocodile Pencils

by Marsha Reid (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

Remember when pencils were made out of wood and cost about $2 for a box of 20? Well, upgrade that boring writing utensil of yesteryear for a more modern and luxurious alternative. Set your eyes on Dransfield & Ross Crocodile Embossed Pencils. It doesn't write in gold and the eraser isn't made from suede - I wonder if that would even erase anything? - but at $27 for a box of 6, this is an investment for pencils. I can't remember when last I even paid for a pencil. However, for the school supply enthusiast, myself included, this could make for an unexpected and fun gift. Available in black, brown, cordovan, green and blue.

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Tags: crocodile, pencils, writing

William Shakespeare's Signature Worth $3 Million

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping

Celebrities spend a lot of time signing autographs, but besides personal value the ones that really end up being worth lots of cold hard cash are the rarest ones. In today's day and age it's hard to get through a single day sometimes without signing for a credit card purchase or something else, but hundreds of years ago things were different. Even for somebody who spent most of his time with a quill in his hand.

For all the writing William Shakespeare did he apparently didn't sign his name very often. Today there are only six of the playwright's known authenticated signatures in existence, which helps make his John Hancock one of the most valuable in the world. One can be found on a conveyance for a house in London, one on a legal deposition, one on his mortgage documents, and three in his will. And any one of those is worth $3 million, seriously.

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Tags: autograph, autographed, famous, john hancock, JohnHancock, most expensive, MostExpensive, name, play, plays, playwright, rare, shakespeare, sign, signature, signed, william shakespeare, WilliamShakespeare, write, writer, writing

Montblanc Marlene Dietrich Commemoration Edition pen

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

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.

Via Retro to Go

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Tags: dietrich, fountain pen, FountainPen, marlene dietrich, MarleneDietrich, montblanc, pen, write, writing, writing instrument, WritingInstrument

Vermeil Fountain Pen

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Writing Instruments

Once in a while, we come across a writing instrument that is slightly more covet-worthy than others and this seems like one of them. The Vermeil Fountain Pen is made of solid silver and is covered in 18K gold. It has a vintage guilloche design, an 18K gold nib and a worldwide standard converter/cartridge refilling system that makes it convenient to use anywhere, not just at your desk. I'm not sold on the idea that it will make you "feel capable of drafting a treaty," but you just might enjoy writing checks a little bit more. Price: $350.

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Tags: fountain pen, pen, pens, silver, Vermeil, writing

Smythson Writing Bureau

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Writing Instruments

If you want amazing thank you notes you might want to give someone this writing bureau designed by Smythson of Bond Street as a gift. The old-fashioned set is a nod to the days when people actually took time to sit at their desks and write careful handwritten notes. The bureau has a wooden frame covered in leather and comes with Smythson stationery, ink, an address book and pencils. The bureau is available in red or black with a brass lock and fittings or the pale blue shown here with nickel plated lock and fittings. It sells for around $2,067.

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Tags: correspondence, smythson, thank you notes, writing

Inhabit Braille Wall Flat

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

It has been a while since we have seen a new wall flat that we really like, but the Braille Wall Flat from Inhabit is hard to resist. The raised dots on the surface really do look like Braille, although not being familiar with that particular way of writing, I can't say for certain whether it says anything or is just a pretty design. Feel free to comment below if you are familiar with it.

Adhesive tabs are used to attach the flats to the walls and the pattern is very easy to line up to create a seamless look. They are made of molded bamboo pulp paper, and because bamboo is one of the fastest self-replenishing plants in the world, the flats are very eco-friendly. On top of that, they are paintable, so if the slightly off-white base color doesn't match what you had in mind for the room, it is easy to change without loosing the design. The flats are $84 for a box of 10 18"x18" panels.

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Tags: Braille, decor, inhabit, wall, wall flat, wall paper, wallpaper, writing