#writersedition

After the successful staging of Chillu, a sci-fi play, it's appropriate to review the Montblanc Writer’s Edition fountain pen created in honor of the father of the science fiction: Jules Verne.

The pen I own is the 5269th out of the 18500 fountain pens that were made. The pen is dedicated to Jules Verne’s creation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It has a vibrant blue color with platinum coated fixtures on the top, middle, and bottom.

The body of the pen is an amazing vivid blue color indicating the blue expanse of the ocean, with intricate, even-sized guilloche pattern indicating the waves. The guilloche pattern is very similar to the one that’s seen in Omega’s popular James Bond watch ‘Seamaster’ (I have enclosed a picture of my Seamaster.) The guilloche pattern is covered by highly polished lacquer, which is unusual since most of the Montblanc pens are made with resin. Of all the Writer’s Edition pens I own, this has a nice heft and gives a solid feel when you are writing.

The clip has a nice curve and the only association I could make was with the original cover published by Pierre-Jules Hetzel for the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which has the face of an elephant and the trunk. At an angle the clip looks like an elongated elephant trunk. Maybe the clip was an homage to Hetzel who made Jules Verne’s work popular by having the right illustrations. The nib has a delicate engraving of the antique diver’s helmet in a rhodium plated gold nib. This pen was released in 2003.

The word Kafkaesque entered the dictionary to mean anything bizarre or of illogical nightmarish quality.   Franz Kafka created a world in his work that was bizarre and one of his most popular work is ‘The Metamorphosis’, where a salesman turns into an insect – yes, you read it right, an insect.  

When Montblanc decided to create a pen honoring this great writer under their Writer’s Edition pens, they combined both metamorphosis and the Kafkaesque-ness in a minimalistic design that highlights the author, his work and his legacy.  

The outside of the pen embodies, the metamorphosis.  If you notice you see square at the bottom and as we slowly move to the top, we see a circle with the Montblanc logo on the top – reflecting his work.   The subtle, ‘square peg in a round hole’ characterizes the author.    The eerie translucent red on some areas in the body of the pen clearly stands apart.

Top, clip, rings are made of 925 sterling silver.  The nib is a rhodium plated gold nib which has the image of a cockroach further solidifying the connection to The Metamorphosis.  The clip to me looks like an insects leg.    

You can treat a pen as just an accessory or integrate that into your personal style.  For men, there a nice ways to accessorize a pen with few other things – watches & shoes.  Men’s grooming etiquette suggests that you pair the leather color of the belt with the shoes and the watch strap.  Pair the watch bezel color (stainless steel, silver, gold) with the belt buckle and of course the clip of the pen with the watch bezel at the least.  Obviously these are #firstworldproblems