While the vast majority of actors and singers, such as Ed Sheeran, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper, and Kanye West, take pride in their watch collections, other celebrities have a penchant for writing instruments like Sylvester Stallone. The actor even shared on Instagram a part of his collection in 2022 (see here) but his journey into the world of writing instruments began back in 1995 when Stallone purchased a Montegrappa Dragon in 18k solid gold. From there it was only a matter of time until Stallone created the design for one of Montegrappa’s most spectacular pens. Today we take a look at Montegrappa Chaos – the first in the Cult series and probably one of the rarest limited editions on the market these days.
The Beginning of a Friendship
The relationship between Sylvester Stallone and Montegrappa started by chance, although the actor has shown interest in the brand before. It is said that in 1995 Sylvester Stallone purchased a Montegrappa Dragon in 18k solid gold to sign two of his important contracts but a few weeks before signing, the writing instrument got lost or stolen.
At that time, a close common friend of Sylvester Stallone and Giuseppe Aquila contacted Giuseppe to ask if there was any chance of getting another Montegrappa Dragon to sign that very important film contract. Unfortunately, the all Montegrappa Dragon sold out in four weeks after launch. But the friend insisted that Stallone was very superstitious and that he had to do his best to find that pen.
Giuseppe thought about it for a while and the only feasible solution was to give Stallone one of the PDAs (Prova d’Autore – The Artists Proof), which is a kind of prototype/pre-series that they produce in a series of nine pieces.
A few weeks later, an envelope arrived with printed photos of Stallone holding the Montegrappa Dragon pen while on his private jet, along with a message “Use these images as you wish”.
From Idea to Design
The beginning of a friendship would later turn into a great partnership. After the Aquila family bought the Montegrappa brand back from the Richemont group in 2009, they wanted Stallone to become part of the project and one of the investors.
However, the idea of the first Chaos came up while Giuseppe Aquila and Sylvester Stallone were dining together during the Venice Film Festival. At some point, Stallone grabbed a napkin and started sketching out ideas with a fountain pen on it.
Chaos’s design would be born by the time the actor was finishing filming for the movie “The Expendables”, which is probably where the inspiration came from. The design would feature a skull as the main motif surrounded by snakes and lizards.
Many may wonder how Stallone was able to create such an intricate design. Well, let’s not forget his artistic background as he started painting long before acting. “Before I wrote the script for Rocky, because I wanted to have a mental image of him in my mind, so this is the way I pictured him at the time…The eyes tell the story.” the artist once said on Instagram about one of his Rocky paintings. When the design was received by Montegrappa, the production team had a difficult technical task: to find a way to implement it on a writing instrument. The pen had to look and feel imposing, so it did.
Design & Materials
Inspired by the works of 16th-century artists including Battista Franco, Albrecht Dürer, Hans Sebald Beham, and Antonio Pollaiolo, the edition aimed to capture the simplicity and nobility of things during the Renaissance, in contrast to today’s hi-tech society. For this Montegrappa has made use of the highest-quality materials as the body of the Chaos was made of black pearlized celluloid with an intricate and mesmerizing overlay in solid sterling silver. The antiqued, hand-finished overlay featured accents in red and yellow translucent enamel to emulate fire.
The ornaments represent the juxtaposition of life and death, with the reptiles symbolizing the earliest life on Earth and the central skull depicting death. The ultimate defining detail, bearing both a fist and a skull, is the pen’s clip in the form of a sword.
As bold and controversial as this pen may be, it enjoyed great success since 2013 when it was launched, and has become a rare gemstone in the world of pen collectors. I have to admit it’s not a pen for everyone, but now honestly who would like to own a pen that everyone can have at the end of the day? Even Sylvester Stallone was an actor who wasn’t understood by everyone, yet he went down in history as one of the greatest actors.
The same edition can be seen in an iconic scene in “The Expandables 2” when Stallone takes the pen out of his pocket and hands it to Dolph Lungren.
Availability
Today, only a few of the 1000 fountain pens are left on the market. Among the retailers who managed to get their hands on a few rare pieces is Style of Zug, which sells the silver version for € 6056.94. (shop here)
“When Chaos was released and I saw it for the first time, it was something out of this world. Especially that skull, it gave me somewhat mixed feelings, it seemed a bit too aggressive. On the other hand, customers went crazy when they saw it. We managed to sell 3 of the 4 editions we recently brought into the store. We currently have one edition left in stock. It’s clear to me that most buy this piece to collect it, and looking at how rare it has become, I think it has great collectible value. After all, we are talking about a work of art.” says Samuel Naldi, Owner of Style of Zug and Pen Expert.
For more information visit styleofzug.ch
a beautifully written article
Very informative and educational