I remember once seeing a photo of Yves Saint Laurent drawing with a pencil on paper in his studio and wondering: how many designers do that nowadays? I did a little research on the internet and found that despite the most advanced graphic design softwares on the market, most of the world’s top designers seem to stick to traditional pen and paper to bring their creativity to life.
That was a while ago, but I recently discovered the instagram account of the Creative Director of Bvlgari Watches, the renowned Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani. If the name is not familiar to you, though I doubt it, he’s behind the world’s thinnest mechanical watch, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, which measures just 1.8mm and many other spectacular watches.
Besides the incredibly detailed sketches that I pored over for hours on Fabrizio’s instagram account, I couldn’t help but notice the writing instruments he uses to draw, which is why I assumed his fondness for pens. Among the pens I noticed were a Montegrappa NeroUno rollerball, a Lamy Dialog 1 ballpoint and a Lamy Safari fountain pen. How cool is that?
Having Italian origins, I expected to see a Montegrappa in his collection, and the NeroUno model is a classic whose silhouette I’ve always liked. But the presence of Lamy pens didn’t surprise me either, especially the Lamy Dialog 1. Designed by Richard Sapper for the German brand, it is probably the most representative pen for the Bvlgari designer.
The geometric and unusually unique design must have caught Fabrizio’s attention, but it was the triangular shape of the section that won him over, saying that he really likes triangular section pens because they are the most ergonomic for him.
As for his Lamy Safari fountain pen, I think he was attracted by its aesthetic simplicity as well as its ergonomics.
As much as I’d love to show you more of Bvlgari’s designer pens, I’m afraid that’s all for now. There aren’t many photos of his other pens online, but I’m sure Fabrizio’s pen collection is much more generous and, as you, I look forward to seeing more photos on his instagram account.
