0:00 This slim steel cylinder has a 14-karat gold nib hidden inside it. It was designed in 1969 by the architect Marco Zanuso, manufactured by a family-owned company in Turin, and it became the first fountain pen [music] ever placed in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It's been there since 1972. Item number 61.1972, Department of Architecture and Design. Most fountain pen buyers have never heard of the company that made it. It's number one on this list because old
0:31 money writes with pens like this one, and almost never a Montblanc. Mont Blanc is a fine company, founded in Hamburg in 1906, still makes its pens there, and [music] the Meisterstück has been in production since 1924, the longest continuous model in the fountain pen industry. [music] But since 1993, Montblanc has been owned by Richemont, a Swiss luxury conglomerate controlled by the South African Rupert family. Its sister brands include Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. The flagship 149 runs around $1,000, and
🔒 The full, searchable transcript is available with Pro.