Throughout the years, Montblanc has honored some of the most iconic figures who have written history in their careers of various kinds. Today I am going to present to you two Limited Edition releases of Montblanc as a tribute to one of the greatest legends of Opera in the world. I bet there’s no one who hasn’t heard of Luciano Pavarotti at least once in their life, but even so, I’ll make a brief introduction for you.
Born in Modena in 1935, Luciano Pavarotti’s dream was to become a football goalkeeper, a dream he gave up for music. However, the musical career he pursued took him further, making him famous around the world. Dedicating his entire life to Opera, due to its magnificent talent and impressive voice, the Italian operatic tenor was considered one of the finest bel canto opera singers of the 20th century. The event that brought him the widest fame was marked by the moment he performed the aria „Nessun Dorma” from the final act of Puccini’s opera Turandot. Later, that became the anthem of the World Cup football tournament in 1990.
With that being said, let’s discover the writing instruments that I’ve mentioned.
The first one I’m focusing on it’s the Patron of Art 4810 Luciano Pavarotti Fountain Pen Limited Edition. It comes to celebrate not only the exceptional singer, Luciano Pavarotti, but also his unique extravagances which are captured in the details displayed along with the pen. Two colors symbolizing the black tuxedo as well as the white tie and white shirt – Pavarotti’s most worn attire at his concerts on stages – are covering the barrel and the cap in a very thin layer of lacquer. The end of the barrel is beautifully adorned with a delicate red lacquer floral pattern and the turquoise resin cabochon at the base of the writing instrument is reminiscent of the Hawaiian shirts Pavarotti used to wear off the stages as the „Pop Star Tenor”.
The spring clip on the cap is designed in the shape of another iconic item from Pavarotti’s distinctive wardrobe – his favorite scarf is wrapped around the pen’s cap. Details like these five gold-plated rings Montblanc has chosen to honor the five famous operas which brought Pavarotti worldwide fame: „Turandot”, „Rigoletto”, „La Boheme”, „Un ballo in maschera” and „L’elisir d’amore”, are displayed at the base of the cap.
The nib of this one-of-a-kind writer is made of 750 solid gold and adorned with an engraved bent nail that brought the artist luck throughout his successful career. On the nib, there is also engraved the release year of the edition. This edition is limited to 4810 pieces.
Price: EUR 2343
The second writing instrument paying tribute to the singer – the Montblanc Patron of Art Luciano Pavarotti 888 Limited Edition has a bit different design and some different meanings of the details as well. It was inspired by Puccini’s opera „Turandot” and the aria „Nessun Dorma” which made Pavarotti famous around the world, a performance that remained a signature in the whole career of the artist.
Due to the fact that opera is set in China, on the cap can be seen the influences of the East in the elaborate black and white lacquer dragon painting with its sparkling red garnet eyes. The spring clip follows the same design principles being crafted as a scarf wrapped around the top of the cap. The tapered end of the barrel made of 750 solid gold is decorated with fine engravings representing oriental opera motifs while the base is adorned with a brilliant facetted garnet.
The same bent nail Pavarotti carried with him everywhere is engraved on the 750 solid gold as Montblanc did on the 4810 Limited Edition. This edition is limited to only 888 pieces worldwide.
Price: EUR 6877
Besides the sophisticated appearance of these two limited edition fountain pens, I would have liked to see some more improvements in terms of design since both limited editions have similar features like the scarf shape spring-clip that wraps the top of the cap, the bent nail engraved on the nib and almost the same color scheme.
Image sources: web