100 Years for Montblanc

I was at an event today for Montblanc's 100th Birthday. In attendance were both the Proprietor of the Toronto Montblanc store Wayne Kingsland and the President & CEO of Montblanc North America, Jan-Patrick Schmitz. The talk of the day was the limited edition "Solitaire Mountain Massif Skeleton 2006" which retails for CDN$215,000.

Now, when I said limited I really meant it, there are only THREE of these pens on the planet. Designed for the collector, it features 1,277 white and 123 blue diamonds arranged in a way replicating the Montblanc mountain itself. "You can actually use it as a map if you want to go climbing" joked Mr. Schmitz. I found that funny.

Another interesting item was the Sport Tantalum Automatic Limited Edition watch. With only 100 made this year (for the 100th birthday). This watch has the right feel for a CDN$40,000 watch, and rightly so, Tantalum is heavier than steel. I wonder if this will come useful for those deep diving watch lovers who just have to test out the lower pressure depths of 1,906m.

Something I learned today: Montblanc quality control consists of using invisible ink in order to hear how the pen touches the surface of the paper. By listening to the sound a trained ear can discern good from bad.