Mont Blanc History

By Author: Shawn Parker
Total Articles: 138
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The Mont Blanc pen is the most famous and best-known of writing instruments, and avid collectors are always on the lookout for certain hard-to-find vintage ones. It is easy to identify a particular pen because each has a serial number, and the Limited Editions even designate which pen it is of the batch, for example 1/888 would mean the pen first produced in that particular edition of 888 pens.

The history of the Mont Blanc pen is fascinating. Originally produced by the Simplo Filler Pen Co., founded in 1908 in Hamburg, Germany, it began as a fountain pen with a built-in ink well. Its name Montblanc is Europe's highest mountain, the white tip on the cap is a rounded six-pointed star (also identified as an edelweiss, a perennial in Europe's mountains and alpine forests) which represents an overhead view of the peak's snow cap, and the number 4810 on pens made since 1926 is the height of Montblanc (4,810 meters). It became an "eyedropper" pen with the ink dropping into the pen's well; then became a leak-proof safety pen. The most enduring pen, going back to the 1920's, is the Meisterstuck (Masterpiece) 149. Another popular ...
... pen from the 1950's is the rare no. 444 with its piston-filling ballpoint and gold-filled details. Today Montblanc's sister companies include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and other luxury brands.

There are many different themed "Limited Editions" including Patron of Art, Special Theme, Donation, America's Signatures for Freedom, and more. Its Writer's Edition is launched each year with the featured writer's signature engraved into the cap and a symbol of their most popular work engraved onto the nib of the fountain pen (such as F. Scott Fitzgerald with an Art Deco landscape referring to "The Great Gatsby"). Montblanc believes in cultural commitment, promotes the basic skills of writing and reading, and has supported UNICEF since 2004, providing children with an access to quality education. Montblanc's charity benefit on February 20, 2009 in Hollywood featured 12 portraits by photographer Roger Moenks of famous actresses including Eva Longoria Parker as "Gone With the Wind's" Scarlett.
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