I believe year over year fountain pen global sales have grown every year for a decade or so now. The North American market has had shrinking years, but the world is not America. Drastic price increases are not a solution for most brands. Except for those with the strongest marketing, the business model of let's sell fewer but at a rip off margin doesn't work. Watches are not comparable to anything else, as many of the brands business models rely on being used for bribes in corrupt countries (Piaget sales basically track the extent of anti corruption enforcement in China). If you add it all up, I have cleared $10,000 in MB (wow, never thought of it that way) and they've pretty much lost me as a customer at this point with their current full ripoff approach.