The Pick: An ode to Mont Blanc’s reputation-making pen

There are few brands who could be said to have lived up to their logo in quite the same way as Mont Blanc. In its early years, the firm adopted a white star to represent the snow-capped peak of Europe’s highest mountain – a bold and aspirational statement for for such a young company. Yet 110 years later, and with Mont Blanc sitting at the very pinnacle of the writing world, it seems rather apt indeed.

Perhaps the first of their pens to set them on this path was the celebrated 1906 Rouge et Noir safety pen. Profoundly innovative, it did away with the need for dipping into an inkwell, and would not seep across a man’s starched shirtfront while in his jacket pocket. To mark 110 years of continuing innovation, Mont Blanc have released a Special Edition of the Rouge et Noir ballpoint pen. The new pen has been given an update in the form of a longer and slimmer silhouette; the snake clip, however, which unfurls from the top, gives it the same unmistakable touch of turn-of-the-century styling. Add to this the splash of red in place of the usual black, and you have a Mont Blanc pen unlike any other.

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