Montblanc (''UK:'' /ˌmɒ̃ˈblɒ̃(k)/, ''US:'' /ˌmɑnˈblɑŋk/) is a German manufacturer and distributer of

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good (economics), good for which demand (economics), demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spend ...

, founded in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

in 1906, and currently based in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. The company is most known for its luxury pens and also designs and distributes bags, small leather goods, and watches. Since 1993, Montblanc has been part of the Swiss

Richemont Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells j ...

group.

History

A Hamburg banker, Alfred Nehemias, and a Berlin engineer, August Eberstein, produced simple pens in 1906. After a short period of time Wilhelm Dziambor, Christian Lausen, and later Claus Johannes Voss took over the business. Their first model was the ''Rouge et Noir'' in 1909 followed in 1910 by the pen that was later to give the company its new name, Montblanc. The Meisterstück name (, the name used for export) was used for the first time in 1924. Today, the Montblanc brand is on other goods besides pens, including watches, jewellery, fragrances, leather goods, and eyewear. The company was founded in 1906 as Simplizissiumus-Füllhalter in Berlin, and in 1907, moved to Hamburg and changed its name to Simplo Filler Pen Co. GmbH; it was incorporated under that name in 1908. Its current name was adopted in 1934. Montblanc was acquired by

Alfred Dunhill Ltd. Alfred Dunhill Limited (known and stylised as dunhill) is a British luxury goods brand, specialising in ready-to-wear, custom and bespoke menswear, leather goods, and accessories. The company is based in Westminster, City of Westminster, Lond ...

in 1977, following which lower price pens were dropped, and the brand was used on a wide range of luxury goods other than pens. In 1993, Montblanc became part of the Swiss

group. Its sister companies include luxury brands Cartier,

Van Cleef & Arpels Van Cleef & Arpels is a French high-end luxury jewelry company. It was founded in 1896 by the Dutch diamond-cutter Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law Salomon Arpels in Paris. Their pieces often feature flowers, animals, and fairies, and hav ...

Chloé Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. During the next year of 1953 Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative ...

, and

Baume et Mercier Baume & Mercier () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1830. It is a subsidiary of the Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont. History Baume & Mercier was founded as "Frères Baume" in 1830 by brothers Louis-Victor and Célestin Baume, who op ...

. Montblanc is owned, through Richemont, by the South African

Rupert family The Rupert family is a family from Stellenbosch, South Africa. Anton Rupert (4 October 1916 – 18 January 2006) and his wife Huberte Rupert (3 December 1919 – 28 October 2005) moved to a home in Thibault Street on the northern banks of ...

. In October 2014 the first blocking order against trademark infringing consumer goods was passed against the major UK

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise priva ...

s (ISPs) by Montblanc to block several domains selling trademark infringing products.

Products

Montblanc is most known for its luxury pens and also designs and distributes bags, small leather goods, and watches. In 2022, the company began collaborating with streetwear brand BAPE and lifestyle brand Maison Kitsuné to broaden its leather goods portfolio and attract a younger audience. CEO Nicolas Baretzki told '' Vogue Business'' in 2022 he believes leather goods will become one of the company's biggest categories, possibly even overtaking pens. Montblanc makes several models of pens, with the Meisterstück (fountain pen) representing the cornerstone model. Each is slightly different, however Meisterstück models created after 1990 have a serial number located on the ring at the top of the clip, and under the clip is usually has "Pix" engraved. The barrels of pens made of black 'precious resin' will reveal a reddish hue under strong lighting; if the pen in question does not have these attributes then it is possibly a fake.

Branding

A trademark identified with Montblanc is the white stylized six-pointed snowcap with rounded edges, representative of the

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...

snowcap from above, the symbol being adopted in 1913. The number "4810", the mountain's height in metres, is also a commonly recurring theme. In January 2014,

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

was announced as Montblanc's Global Brand Ambassador, outside of the United States. In November 2019, Montblanc launched their partnership with

The Webster The Webster (also known as The Webster Miami) is a luxury multi-brand fashion house operating ten physical boutiques in the U.S. and an online store. The multi-brand boutique sells designer brands ( Balmain, Celine, Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Yves S ...

for a limited-edition, capsule collection.

Gallery

File:Montblanc pen and watch.jpg, Montblanc Meisterstück 149 with a Longines DolceVita Chronograph. File:Montblanc 149 nibs (DSC02303).jpg, Montblanc Diplomat c. 2006 (left) and Meisterstück 149 (right), c. 1978-1980 File:Montblanc_Fitz.jpg, F. Scott Fitzgerald fountain pen from 2002 in double-broad (BB) nib File:Montblanc_FitzNib.jpg, BB engraving of the Montblanc F. Scott Fitzgerald model, featuring ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

'' File:MBknoflicky1.jpg, Montblanc Meisterstück

cufflinks Cufflinks are items of jewelry that are used to secure the cuffs of dress shirts. Cufflinks can be manufactured from a variety of different materials, such as glass, stone, leather, metal, precious metal or combinations of these. Securing of ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

and

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

File:MontblancSilver.jpg, Sterling Silver Montblanc pencil, biro, and black leather case

References

External links