My Limited edition Montegrappa is here!! (modem burner!)

[shandy]

Hi Folks.

I blame in part Richard for my latest expenditure as his photographs of his wonderful Omas pens had me really looking hard at getting my first Italian pen and now I have it!

I was looking for something a bit out of the ordinary and was looking at John Mottishaws nibs.com site(where the excellent Nakaya Prize pen is coming from!) and saw a beautiful Montegrappa Historia Limited edition fountain pen with Box and book and papers going for what turns out to be an almost give-away price..I had to have it and so enter the wonderful world of Italian pens!

All I can say is, Richard, I know now what the appeal is!

A bit of History! This pen was made in 1999 to celebrate the history of Montegrappa. It was decided to use the materials that were used at the dawn of Montegrappa pens but still make the pen up to date with some more modern technology. The pen also comes with a bi-linguall hard cover book on the history of Montegrappa, it is a wonderful read and a real bonus to have!

My Pen is number 410/1000. Montegrappa made three colours that you can see in my pictures, 1000 of each colour.

This pen is pre-Richemont era (The company that owns Mont Blanc) and as such is much more sought after than the Montegrappas of the Richemont era. This is in part due to the fact the the Richemont group started to produce a great many of the pens outside of Italy and also started to use German nibs, not that there is anything wrong with that but collectors like to keep the purity of the line! Just last year Montegrappa went back to the Aquila family and great things are expected once again, back to the real Montegrappa of days of old!


This model is made of Celluloid which is amongst other things a combination of nitrocellulose and Camphor plus dyes. One can smell a slight wiff of Camphor if one holds the pen close to the nose!

All the metal components are made of hallmarked stirling silver except the Cartridge converter and nib. The nib is 18K gold plated with Platinum with the gold showing through on the greek key embellishment.

The pen has a good weight to it due to the copious amount of stirling silver in the construction and inspite of the light weight celluliod, the pen however is perfectly balanced!

Of special note are several things. Firstly, the build quality of this pen is the best I have ever seen outside of a David Oscarson pen. The quality of the special celluliod is outstanding, I hope my pictures convey that. This colour is a dark grey and mother of pearl effect and just shimmers in the light. Like Richards exquisite Omas's the Italian celluliod is something to behold!

The nib is medium and though I could have had John work his magic and create my favorite nib style, stub. I decided that as this is such a limited edition I would leave it original..A choice I am glad I made!

The nib is so smooth yet with great feedback, it just makes one want to write! There is a good amount of flex in the nib which will give good line variation (I am practicing with it and will share writing styles once I have mastered it!)

Another thing that is special is the filling system. This is a first for me as though it is a traditional cartridge converter one can fill the pen like a piston by just removing the end cap instead of the barrel as one would traditionally do.

I really like this as it gives a pseudo piston fill feel to the pen but with the convinience of being able to use cartridges! Also of note is that this pen has the largest ink reservoir that I have seen with CC operation!

A special mention must also go to the quality of the fret-work on the Stirling cap band. Montegrappa have cut out the greek key pattern from the silver and so that the celluliod background shows through, it really is stunning to see! I also like how the word Montegrappa has been engraved on the cap band, it looks to me as if it was hand engraved!

This pen has jumped to the top of my list now. I am blown away by the quality of workmanship, materials and quality of feel and writing pleasure. It really is wonderful!

So, now to the pictures! Hope you enjoyed my review!

[R S]

Just beautiful-thanks for the evaluation. Use it in good health. RS

[Bisquitlips]

Oh! My!!!

I will gratefully accept the blame for this Ian!

Superb!!

[shandy]

Originally Posted by R S

Just beautiful-thanks for the evaluation. Use it in good health. RS

Thank you so much Robert

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

Oh! My!!!

I will gratefully accept the blame for this Ian!

Superb!!

Richard, you have led me down the path of a temptation I never knew existed... And I am so grateful to you my friend

I wish you could see this one in the flesh, pictures just do not do it justice. I knew it would be of high quality but I never imagined it would be this high a quality!
To give proportion the box size it came in is 16"x14"x 1 1/4" deep
The book is much bigger than I imagined and the photography of some of their historic pens as well as other ltd's is amazing!

[Skullring]

Simply beautiful Ian. Thanks for the review.

[shandy]

Originally Posted by Skullring

Simply beautiful Ian. Thanks for the review.

Thank you so much Also, my book on Thoreau is coming along nicely, I thought I would mention it as of your excellent signature line

[R1@160@alltimes]

Thanks for the write up, Ian!!!

Enjoy your new Montegrappa

[shandy]

Originally Posted by R1@160@alltimes

Thanks for the write up, Ian!!!

Enjoy your new Montegrappa

Thanks so much Gus

[vintage69]

Originally Posted by shandy

Hi Folks.

I blame in part Richard for my latest expenditure as his photographs of his wonderful Omas pens had me really looking hard at getting my first Italian pen and now I have it!

I was looking for something a bit out of the ordinary and was looking at John Mottishaws nibs.com site(where the excellent Nakaya Prize pen is coming from!) and saw a beautiful Montegrappa Historia Limited edition fountain pen with Box and book and papers going for what turns out to be an almost give-away price..I had to have it and so enter the wonderful world of Italian pens!

All I can say is, Richard, I know now what the appeal is!

A bit of History! This pen was made in 1999 to celebrate the history of Montegrappa. It was decided to use the materials that were used at the dawn of Montegrappa pens but still make the pen up to date with some more modern technology. The pen also comes with a bi-linguall hard cover book on the history of Montegrappa, it is a wonderful read and a real bonus to have!

My Pen is number 410/1000. Montegrappa made three colours that you can see in my pictures, 1000 of each colour.

This pen is pre-Richemont era (The company that owns Mont Blanc) and as such is much more sought after than the Montegrappas of the Richemont era. This is in part due to the fact the the Richemont group started to produce a great many of the pens outside of Italy and also started to use German nibs, not that there is anything wrong with that but collectors like to keep the purity of the line! Just last year Montegrappa went back to the Aquila family and great things are expected once again, back to the real Montegrappa of days of old!


This model is made of Celluloid which is amongst other things a combination of nitrocellulose and Camphor plus dyes. One can smell a slight wiff of Camphor if one holds the pen close to the nose!

All the metal components are made of hallmarked stirling silver except the Cartridge converter and nib. The nib is 18K gold plated with Platinum with the gold showing through on the greek key embellishment.

The pen has a good weight to it due to the copious amount of stirling silver in the construction and inspite of the light weight celluliod, the pen however is perfectly balanced!

Of special note are several things. Firstly, the build quality of this pen is the best I have ever seen outside of a David Oscarson pen. The quality of the special celluliod is outstanding, I hope my pictures convey that. This colour is a dark grey and mother of pearl effect and just shimmers in the light. Like Richards exquisite Omas's the Italian celluliod is something to behold!

The nib is medium and though I could have had John work his magic and create my favorite nib style, stub. I decided that as this is such a limited edition I would leave it original..A choice I am glad I made!

The nib is so smooth yet with great feedback, it just makes one want to write! There is a good amount of flex in the nib which will give good line variation (I am practicing with it and will share writing styles once I have mastered it!)

Another thing that is special is the filling system. This is a first for me as though it is a traditional cartridge converter one can fill the pen like a piston by just removing the end cap instead of the barrel as one would traditionally do.

I really like this as it gives a pseudo piston fill feel to the pen but with the convinience of being able to use cartridges! Also of note is that this pen has the largest ink reservoir that I have seen with CC operation!

A special mention must also go to the quality of the fret-work on the Stirling cap band. Montegrappa have cut out the greek key pattern from the silver and so that the celluliod background shows through, it really is stunning to see! I also like how the word Montegrappa has been engraved on the cap band, it looks to me as if it was hand engraved!

This pen has jumped to the top of my list now. I am blown away by the quality of workmanship, materials and quality of feel and writing pleasure. It really is wonderful!

So, now to the pictures! Hope you enjoyed my review!

clap:Beautiful:l ol:

[buz-lh]

That may be the most beautiful pen I've ever laid eyes on. Congratulations.

[sunburst]

Ian, that's a stunning looking FP with great attention to the detail.
Thanks for the great detailed review as well as great photos.

[shandy]

Thanks so much Buzz and Joji. Trust me, the pen is even better looking in real life! I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was look at the pen...I know. I have to get a life!

[Numismatist]

Congrats Ian, that is a fine purchase to add to a great collection. Enjoy

[rpryan55]

Stunning, stunning piece. And I know that the Montegrappa is one of the most comfortable writing instruments made - I have one myself (not as nice as yours) and it is one of the favorites of my collection. Enjoy it in good health!

[shandy]

Originally Posted by rpryan55

Stunning, stunning piece. And I know that the Montegrappa is one of the most comfortable writing instruments made - I have one myself (not as nice as yours) and it is one of the favorites of my collection. Enjoy it in good health!

Originally Posted by Numismatist

Congrats Ian, that is a fine purchase to add to a great collection. Enjoy

Thanks so much guys. I am still in shock at how beautiful this pen is. Everything is so right with it

[gmh1013]

one word "wow"! beautiful

[Taffi Abernathy]

Lovely pen, Ian, hope it brings you lots of writing pleasure! I'm not real familiar with this brand, but it looks like it's worth looking into . . .

[shandy]

Originally Posted by Taffi Abernathy

Lovely pen, Ian, hope it brings you lots of writing pleasure! I'm not real familiar with this brand, but it looks like it's worth looking into . . .

Thank you so much Faith! Montegrappa is a wonderful company with a rich history, their pens are beautiful and they are known for their used of vibrant colours!

For those who might be interested I found this very interesting short documentary on the process involved in making the culluliod for Montegrappa.
Hope you enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHjtA1MZ43A

And this one is on the etching process!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFf3B...eature=related

[shandy]

Just did a bit of cropping to get a bigger picture of the whole pen, this shot though does not show off the mother of pearl component as well, will try to get a better one tomorrow!

[Lion]

Ian, what a very cool pen you have there. I can just imagine how the ink flows across the paper when in use. Enjoy your new find and write with grace and good health.....

[TSW]

Simply beautiful

[mkinbmore]

Ian - a real stunner! Congratulations. If you don't mind can you "pm" me the retailer you used. Would you recommend the seller? Many thanks.

Cheers,
MK

[2careless]

Ian, that's one beautiful pen! Congrats on the score!

[shandy]

Originally Posted by 2careless

Ian, that's one beautiful pen! Congrats on the score!

Thanks so much Kai. I am loving it! How have your Ltd Mont Blanc purchases been coming along?

[JimC]

That is truly exquisite, Ian. Congratulations on your new addition! I can only imagine the nib gliding across the paper...

[2careless]

Originally Posted by shandy

Thanks so much Kai. I am loving it! How have your Ltd Mont Blanc purchases been coming along?

Well, I've been away on holidays in Europe for the past month. I did purchase a couple of pens and other stuff. I'll post some pictures when I recover from the cold/cough I caught during the trip in the next few days.

BTW, I look forward to seeing your wonderful handwritten review

[Lol-x]

Yes, Ian it would be nice to see how that beauty writes.

I've got a new pen on the way myself, from Switzerland only thing is I didn't so much buy the pen for the pen itself, but I bought it for the box Anyway time will reveal all.

However, I really like your new pen, I appreciate the detail so much more after your enlightening review.

The sterling silver does not all appear to be over done.

Looks like John Mottishaw did it again

[2careless]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

I've got a new pen on the way myself, from Switzerland only thing is I didn't so much buy the pen for the pen itself, but I bought it for the box Anyway time will reveal all.

Show off!
Steve you got a real bargain out of this one mate. I'm currently watching another one like yours and it's already reached my limit...

[STEELINOX]

Outstanding Ian !

[Bisquitlips]

Those Italians know exactly what they are doing when it comes to craftsmanship!

I enjoyed reading this thread even more the second and third time around!

Congratulations!!!