Montblanc is a German manufacturer of fine pens often identified
by their famous White Star" (peak) logo. Its pens are praised for
their quality, beauty and originality of design, but have been
criticized for their cost and the supposed inferiority of their
pens to other brands pieces of a similar price. Many of these
complaints have been quelled with the withdrawal of the
controversial 144.
Nevertheless, the Montblanc company is by degrees the most
successful pen manufacturer today, having firmly ensconced itself
in a comfortable niche market.
The company is easily associated with several of their trademarks,
most famously the star (white on black, with rounded off edges,
representing the snow peak of the Mont Blanc peak), an idea which
reportedly came to the Montblanc board of directors in a "stroke of
inspiration". Another trademark is the inscription of the number
"4810" on warranted Montblanc nibs. 4810m was the metric height of
Mont Blanc, the mountain from which the company is named.
Montblanc pens are often bought for their high quality and the
prestige associated with them, as opposed to their utility in
writing. As such, there is a significant part of the pen collecting
community that looks upon them more as piece of history than as
writing instruments.
Originally limited to merely fountain pens and relevant
accessories, they have recently branched out into other luxury
goods. Montblanc now sells watches, leather goods and desk
accessories in addition to writing instruments.
For decades Montblanc rarely deviated from its flagship
Meisterstück line, but in recent years has begun to establish new
lines. The Bohème (formerly Rouge/Noir et Noir ) the Scenium and
Starwalker ranges are the most recent additions to the Montblanc
family. The Bohème was renamed due to copyright issues with the
original line name.
Montblanc also produces limited edition pens of exceptional quality
and beauty, but at significantly higher cost. They are released
annually in various series: the Annual Series (not limited, but
only sold for one year in collabiration with Meissen porcelain),
the Donation Pens (usually unlimited, but different from regular
pens and much more costly), the Writers Series (15,000 to 30,000
pieces), and the Patron of The Arts series (4810 /888 pieces).
There are also exclusive "one-offs" commemorating special
events,and other pens becoming as limited as circulations of 75 or
less. These are the best pieces of the Montblanc collection, but
largely unavailable to the casual consumer and indeed most
collectors.