MONTEGRAPPA White Nights Sterling Silver. 925 Limited Edition 1305 Fountain Pen. Year of production: 2003. White, red & blue enamel inlaid with sterling silver. 18k – 750 Fine (F) two-tone gold nib. Outer box (worn, with stickers), display box, chamois, booklet. Excellent pre-owned condition, may have been inked or dipped. The white section shows some yellowing. Inspired by natural atmospheric phenomenon that illuminates summer nights in St. HISTORY OF THE BRAND. Here the “Manifattura pennini d’oro e penne stilografiche”. (“Maker of gold nibs and fountain pens”) was founded in 1912. During the First World War Bassano was a centre of military operations. Among the many soldiers who used the company’s pens for their correspondence were two celebrated 20th century writers, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos, who had both volunteered for service as ambulance drivers. At this time the Bassano factory became widely known with its Elmo fountain pens, which were among the first to use new materials such as celluloid and galalith. Soon the Elmo brand was joined by a second name, Montegrappa, recalling the epic defence of Monte Grappa near Bassano by Italian forces during the First World War. Between the two world wars, the company enjoyed its most magnificent phase. It was a period when the fountain pen became widespread and Elmo products met the taste of the public with their sober design, the variety of their materials and colours, the perfect operation of their technical solutions, and the originality and precision of their manufacturing techniques. The company changed its name to Montegrappa S. In 1947, and it continues to maintain its distinctive appearance, concentrating on a product whose characteristic individuality lies in its precious metalwork, carried out by craftsmen of Vicenza. In 1992, on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of its foundation, Montegrappa launched its first Limited Edition of 1,912 pieces, immediately gaining the approval of collectors and connoisseurs throughout the world with its use of traditional exclusive craftsmen techniques, such as deep drawing and low relief engraving. Freely inspired by great historical events, the culture of the past or mankind’s deepest emotions, the limited edition pens today represent the pinnacle of Montegrappa’s production. The company’s acquisition by the Richemont Group at the end of the year 2000 represented a milestone in the development of turnover as a result of the improvement of the distribution network. At the same time it leaves untouched the distinctive features of fine craftsmanship and the skills of the goldsmith that represent the distinctive peculiarities of the brand, finding wide acceptance among connoisseurs and collectors throughout the world. ST PETERSBURG: RUSSIA’S GATEWAY TO THE WEST. The year 2003 marks the third centenary of the foundation of St Petersburg, one of the most fascinating cities in the world. It is different from any other in its position between the East and the West, overlooking the Baltic Sea, with its brow turned to Europe and its shoulders to mother Russia. The city was created from scratch in 1703 at the instigation of Tsar Peter the Great, on a few dozen islands at the mouth of the Neva. St Petersburg owes its unique fascination to the circumstances of this improvised birth. The city is particularly notable for the extraordinary architectural consistency of its historic centre and the omnipresence of water, which insinuates itself everywhere, being crossed by an countless number of bridges. A great cultural and cosmopolitan traveller, Peter I the Great envisaged a city like Venice and Amsterdam when he chose this handful of islands scattered between the sea and the marshes for the construction of his new capital. It was a political gesture of extraordinary symbolic force, opening the country to the modernity of the West. From that moment, through a thousand vicissitudes and four baptisms (St Petersburg until 1914, Petrograd from 1914 to 1924, Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, and St Petersburg once again after the fall of the Soviet Union), this great metropolis has often been compared to Moscow in terms of cultural and, eventually, even political capital, as expressing the more industrial and modern spirit of Russia. Montegrappa has devoted this numbered, limited edition to the fascination of St Petersburg on its third centenary. The name of the design recalls the particular phenomenon that has made this city famous throughout the world: the white nights. St Petersburg is located on the 60th parallel of latitude and it is therefore a Nordic city in the literal meaning of the word. In the weeks preceding and following the summer solstice. (21 June), the sun after its very slow setting falls so few degrees below the horizon that it leaves the sky lit up with a whitish-beige, opalescent light throughout the night. This characteristic phenomenon of the cities of the north is particularly enchanting in St Petersburg because of the beauty of the city, its exceptional architecture, its historic gardens (in particular the Summer Garden and the Mikhailovski Garden) and the reverberating mirror of the Neva with its thousands of rivulets of water. THE MAGIC OF THE ST PETERSBURG AND THE WHITE NIGHTS LIMITED EDITION. The White Nights Limited Edition recalls the fascinating phenomenon from which it takes its name through the diffuse and sober luminosity of its body of precious metal. The barrel, decorated with the exclusive technique of low-relief engraving with cold enamelling in the colours symbolic of Russia (white, red and blue), recalls in its sophisticated design the details of the ironwork fence of the Summer Garden, celebrated for the airy appearance of its wrought iron and delicate as lace. By contrast the decorations on the sides of the barrel reproduce the art nouveau iron fence at the Mikhailovski Garden, with its fantastic, contorted arabesques. The same motifs appear on the cap, which is also enhanced with the city’s coat of arms and, at the upper part, by a ring of blue enamel. The most precious version of this writing jewel is embellished with rubies and sapphires on the barrel and cap. The end cap and section are made of precious white resin. The clip, in sterling silver or 18k gold, is realised with the die-casting technique and reproduces the central element of St Petersburg’s coat of arms. The two-headed eagle, the symbol of Russia, is engraved on the 18k gold nib. The pen has been created in a limited edition of 1703 examples in all, the number matching the year in which the city was founded. There are five different versions. ?? Fountain pen in sterling silver: 1305 pieces. ?? Rollerball pen in sterling silver: 300 pieces (for the 300th anniversary of the city’s foundation). ?? Fountain pen in 18k gold: 42 pieces (the number of islands on which St Petersburg is built). ?? Rollerball pen in 18k gold: 42 pieces. ?? Fountain pen in 18k gold with cap decorated with sapphires and decorations on the barrel decorated with rubies: 14 pieces (the number of moving bridges in St Petersburg). Each example is marked with dual individual numbering (the edition number of the version and of the collection) and is presented in a box of precious white resin, decorated on the lid with a medallion representing the city’s coat of arms, and lined inside with elegant red material. Thank you for your cooperation in making my service efficient and relatively free of risk. If you have any questions, please feel free to message me for more information. We use only high quality materials such as double wall cardboard boxes, extra large buble wrap, polypropylene packaging tape, pvc pipe with high resistance. We are at your disposal for any further information. We usually reply e-mails within the same day, but please allow do bear in mind that our time zone differences might cause a slight delay.

Tags: edition, fountain, limited, montegrappa, nights, silver, sterling, white