The Fountain Pen
Not all pens are created equal. But what most do not know is that the difference is actually so vast, profound and even laden with history.
I suppose the earliest writing implement would be anything that could put scratches on surfaces, followed by some rudimentary all-in-one ink and pen like a piece of charcoal scrubbed into walls. Yes, the ancients got creative, as evidenced by the caves at Lascaux in France.
But what recently caught my eye is the fountain pen. Now here is a strange looking pen, with a tip that looks more like a weapon than a director of ink flow. That metal piece, what they call the nib, is often stylistically etched that one has to wonder, why bother?
Well, many of us who were born in the age of keyboards rather than pens may not fully appreciate the king of all pens: the fountain pen. This sudden interest of mine in this type of writing implement stems from a gift that I received, a Montblanc fountain pen.
Little did I know how much this thing costs, and how steeped in history the Montblanc fountain pens are. A bit of history digging, and I’m much more informed now.
The Montblanc fountain pen has been around for the most part of the last century, and it has been held in high regard by those all-important men; you know, the presidents and ambassadors, bankers and crooks (is there a difference?), arab princes who must absolutely own the best that money can buy, and on occasion silly graduates like me.
The Montblanc writing instrument appears to be the defacto choice for signing documents of all sorts. From treaties to mergers, the Montblanc fountain pen is always the writing instrument of choice.
There is so much more that can be said about the Montblanc pens, and if you’re really interested, check out their site and browse around. There are pens there that cost more than houses!
