Selling a Montblanc Classic

montblanc refillsA few weeks ago we talked about some of the most expensive luxury pens, but one pen we didn’t talk about was the Montblanc Meisterstuck Solitaire Royal LeGrand, also known as the Diamond Solitaire. With a name like that, you know this isn’t some cheap Bic ballpoint! The pen is just one of 200 luxury pens that will be sold at the upcoming Bonhams & Butterfields sale of Fine Writing Instruments in LA on May 23rd. People are expecting the pen to sell for at least $175,000 –which is more than an Aston Martin.

The pen is encrusted with over 4,600 brilliant cut white diamonds! The barrel is 18k yellow gold and the cap is composed of seven diamonds as well. When the pen was created, Montblanc only made small quantities, making this a rare and exclusive pen to own –hence the high price tag. Another luxury pen people are looking forward to is the Montblanc Sir Winston Churchhill pen. It is one of 53 made. Churchill was quite fond of Monttblancs and used them to sign many important documents. This pen is 18k rose gold. The cap has 53 diamonds and is estimated to be worth $15,000-$25,000.

 

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Removing Pesky Ink Stains

waterman fountain pensYou’ve gotten a little overzealous with your Waternman fountain pens and made quite an inky mess. It was bound to happen eventually. Any luxury pen lover will spend his days covered in ink, mostly on his fingers. But what do you do when that ink settles in nicely on your hands or clothes? If you are suffering from inky hands, try washing them with shampoo instead of normal soap.

The tough problem to solve is ink on your clothes though. It’s best to clean the stain as quickly as possible, before the ink sets in. Take a wet towel and very gently blot the stain. If you press too hard, you will set the ink into the fibers. Then soak the stained section in cool water for about 5 minutes (not hot water!). Blot again afterward. If there is still ink left, spray some hairspray which will release the ink from the fibers. More of a hair gel person? Try rubbing alcohol instead.

Repeat the process if necessary and then treat the area with laundry detergent before washing the garment with cold water. When all else fails, you will need to purchase commercial ink stain remover.

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New Ink for Your Luxury Pens

luxury pensAfter purchasing a beautifully crafted pen from the fountain pen store, you realize that you will eventually need new ink for those Lamy Safari fountain pens. Maybe not anytime soon, but if you use your pen enough, new ink has to be purchased. First, you don’t have to stay with just black. Any luxury pen enthusiast knows that color ink is almost as important as the pen you own. However, before you set your sights on azure or or apache, you should know that several factors can affect how the ink will look.

For instance, the width of your nib can change the variance in color. A wider nib will put down more ink and therefore appear more colorful than with a fine pen. Also the color of the paper will affect the ink. White paper will show the ink in it’s truest form, but anything else will make the ink appear slightly different. Also be aware that how good the ink looks on paper depends on the paper too. Sometimes, certain ink just look best on a particular piece of paper for no reason. Other times, the humidity in the air can cause the ink to feather on paper. Broad and wet writing pens are also more prone to feathering.

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Fixing Scratchy Nibs on Parker Fountain Pens

luxury pensYou’re all set to whip out your beautiful new collection of Parker fountain pens. You have your specialty paper all set so you can write some letters to friends. But alas! The nib of the pen appears to have a problem. The ink isn’t flowing as elegantly as it should and it feels scratchy. Whatever are you to do? I’ll let you in on a cool trick to fix that scratchy nib right up! Use a brown paper bag. Yes, write on a brown paper bag to smooth out the nib. It is the least abrasive way to smooth it out. Just write normally on the paper bag, with no extra pressure, in 15 second sets. Do this between 4 to 6 times.

Instead of writing words though, draw circles from left to right and squiggles left to right and up and down. Make figure 8′s and whatever other doodles you wish to smooth the nib. While this is a great trick, don’t make it a habit of writing on paper bags because this will wear down the nib. So does this mean high-quality linen paper will also ruin the nib? No, it won’t! Your luxury pens should write just fine!

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The Most Expensive Luxury Pens, Part 2

Did you really think there were only 3 crazy expensive luxury pens in the world? Of course you didn’t! So let’s continue wishing we had enough money to purchase these gorgeous luxury pens!

luxury pensThis beautifully crafted pen sells for $60,000 and is made of platinum and yellow enamel. The nib is engraved and made of 18k gold. If you can afford the Omas Phoenix Platinum, you’ll certainly make others jealous.

luxury pensThe Visconti Alchemy HRH pen is handcrafted and is only a mere $57,000. Unlike most pens, this one has two nibs and two ink reservoirs. It is trimmed with both gold and silver. Both nibs are 18k gold and 4k diamonds and rubies adorn each side of the pen.

luxury pensAnother pen by Omas, but this one is known as Marte and is much cheaper, selling at $43,000. The name means Mars in Italian and the pen actually has a map of Mars on it in rose gold. The pen features the deserts, mountains, and craters that decorate our red planet. Only 30 were made, so good luck finding one. I think this one is my favorite simply because the design on the pen is just so intricate. And who would have thought to put Mars on a pen?!

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The Most Expensive Luxury Pens

We all love searching for the most beautiful luxury pens and Montgomery Pens certainly has many to choose from, but none compare to the most expensive luxury pens in the world. Even we are floored at these price tags! Check out these stunning pens:

luxury pensThe Aurora Diamante is the most expensive pen in the world, costing $1,470,600! The pen is covered in over 30 De Beers diamonds on a solid platinum barrel. The nib is 18k solid gold. The pen is customized with a personal coat of arms, portrait, or signature. Only one is sold per year.

luxury pensThe Mystery Masterpiece is actually a limited edition pen created by both Mont Blanc and Van Cleef & Arpels. There are three versions, each with either rubies, sapphires, or emeralds. The design is truly one-of-a-kind. This pen will set you back $730,000.

luxury pensLa Modernista Diamonds was crafted by Caran d’Ache in 1999. It is an homage to the modern architect Antonio Gaudi. At the time, it was the most expensive pen in the world, selling for $265,000. It made it into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2001. It is set with 5,072 Wesselton diamonds and weighs 20 carats.

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Presidents Love Tons of Luxury Pens

luxury pensIt’s not shocking that the former presidents had love affairs with luxury pens. After all, they were signing some pretty important documents. You can’t use a plain Bic pen to sign legislative laws! But did you know that President Obama used 22 luxury pens to sign the Health Care Bill last year? No, he didn’t have a severe case of OCD nor did he have terrible pens that kept running out of ink. There is actually a tradition in Washington that the President signs important legislative bills with multiples pens.

We’re not sure how old this tradition is, but we do know it dates back to at least President Roosevelt. Any pen used is automatically considered an historic artifact. The White House will usually engrave the pens and give them as keepsakes to significant supporters of the legislation. Lydon Johnson actually used over 75 pens to sign the Civil Rights Act and gave one of them to Martin Luther King Jr.

Not all pens end up in someone else’s home. Some are used again, while others can be found in museums. It must be a great honor though to own a little piece of legislative history. I wonder if the President has been know to get a hand cramp after all that signing!

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Common Problems with New Luxury Pens

luxury pensYou’ve just purchased new Parker fountain pens, but sadly, when you go to use it, it’s not working as well as it should be. Perhaps the ink isn’t flowing properly or you have to push down hard for it to write. It’s a shame, but do not worry! It can be fixed! Here are some common solutions to fix new luxury pens that aren’t working:

  • Misaligned tines can make the pen write scratchy. You can use your fingers to gently bend the tines back into alignment.
  • If the tines are squeezed too closely or too far apart, it can produce poor ink flow. Pass a thin brass shim between the tines to spread them apart. If you need to narrow them, remove the nib and then squeeze the tines passed each other so they spring to the correct position.
  • A gap between the nib and the feed can cause the pen to skip. You will need to reset the feed. Feeds become flexible with heat so use hot water to soften it and readjust it.
  • Gunk in the ink system will cause no ink to flow. When you first get the pen, flush it out with water before use.
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Hemingway’s Writing

waterman fountain pensI’ve argued elsewhere that Ernest Hemingway is among one of the best writers of classic literature. Let’s take a look at why.

It was obvious that he wrote a lot. His experiences in WWI as an ambulance driver provided him with much material. But by the time he bought luxury pens his style had been crafted into a specific form, light on punctuation and heavy on conjunctions. This tendency is called polysyndenton.

An example:

“The dog kept close behind him and when David stopped the dog pressed his muzzle into the back of his knee.”-An African Story

The use of the many conjunctions changes the rhythm. Instead of pauses commanded by commas we are forced to keep reading.

Hemingway reserves his punctuation for emphasis, such as in this sentence:

“But I never knew anyone else that could shoot better at ten than this boy could; not just show-off shooting, but shooting in competition with grown men and professionals.”

–I Guess Everything Reminds You of Something

His semicolon is usually reserved to discuss matters of serious importance, such as violence or life and death. Commas are used to emphasize a clause.

These are good tools to remember when you are writing with luxury pens like Waterman fountain pens.

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Luxury Pens and Letters

luxury pensSometimes the Internet age makes me so sad. Remember the days when people actually took the time to write a letter to someone? There’s nothing quite like receiving a handwritten letter in the mail, whether it be from a pen-pal, a relative, or a love. It shows that someone actually took the time to construct his thoughts and neatly, I hope, write to you. Even with e-mail, few take the time to write a lengthy one. It’s a few sentences at best.

And don’t get me started on how romantic love letters are! There are books upon books that only contain love letters –that’s how special they can be. A love e-mail just doesn’t sound the same. I encourage everyone to hand write at least one letter to someone they care about. It doesn’t have to be an epic narrative poem, but take the time to share with someone how your life is going. Take out the fancy paper and your Parker fountain pens! Can you imagine how excited the recipient will be when he or she sees a letter in the mail?! I know I would freak out.

The ideal scenario is that your friend returns the favor and then you can experience the thrill of receiving a letter written with luxury pens instead of a keyboard.

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