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Montegrappa 1997 Cigar Pen


rinellatony

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Appearance & Design (8/10)

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar008.jpg

 

The Montegrappa Cigar pen was first released in 1997 at the height of the cigar craze. A few other editions since then have been produced in the late 90's to the early 2000's. The design of this pen is pretty cool and it happens to be my favorite variation out of all the editions. (I think there are three) It actually looks like a cigar at first sight. Montegrappa did a fine job with the celluloid part of this pen, if you look closely you see the celluloid looks like tobacco leaves.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar009.jpg

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar010.jpg

 

The box/packaging is done very well. I've noticed that Montegrappa does a really nice job packing all of their limited edition pens.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar001.jpg

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar002.jpg

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar003.jpg

 

The design of the pen makes it uncomfortable to write with. If you look at the area where the cap unscrews you can see that its evevated. This makes the writing experience with this pen pretty uncomfortable only allowing for some quick notes.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar011.jpg

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar017.jpg

 

Montegrappa somewhat got around this by allowing you to extend the pen, the black part is actually the ink reservoir.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar018.jpg

 

This makes the writing experience much more comfortable, it actually feels like a comfortable pen extended.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar019.jpg

 

 

Construction & Quality (9/10)

 

The quality of the pen is top notch. The weight of this pen is great, the cap doesn't post but I don't like to post caps anyways. You can see that the look of the pen is seamless, the breaks in the pen can barley be seen.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar005.jpg

 

Nib & Performance (10/10)

 

The Nib performance on this one is great. The NIB is medium but writes more like a fine which is ok by me. The NIB is 18k and doesn't skip at all. The yellow gold design on the NIB looks good against the dark brown celluloid.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar022.jpg

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar013.jpg

 

 

Filling System & Maintenance (9/10) -

 

I believe that this is a piston filled pen, if its not then I wouldn't know how to describe it. The pen extends and the ink reservoir section can also be pulled all the way out. It any event, it works fine for me. You have to unscrew the back part of the pen before you can suck ink up.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar016.jpg

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar015.jpg

 

 

Cost & Value (8/10)

 

I had a hard time finding the original retail price but I believe this pen retailed new back in 1997 for $760. I've noticed that today, while long out of production, this pen changes hands within $150 +/- of the original retail price it carried back in 1997. I would say that’s a pretty decent value for a very unique pen.

 

Conclusion (Final score, 8/10)

 

In conclusion, this pen makes a great conversation piece but it is more of a novelty to me than anything else. With that being said I think it will be in my collection for quite a while and I'm not even much of a cigar smoker. The uniqueness of this pen is second to none for me and I would have rated it higher if the pen wasn't so uncomfortable to write with un-extended.

 

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x180/rinellatony/Montegrappa%20Cigar/MontegrappaCigar021.jpg

 

I hope you enjoyed the review.

 

Tony

Edited by rinellatony
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Good review and nice photographs Tony.

 

 

I almost bought one of these when they came out, even though I am not a smoker.

 

I was just intrigued by the look and the mechanics of the pen (and your pictures really do demonstrate this better than any I have seen).

 

I called Fountain Pen Hospital, and they said it was a very heavy pen and not suitable for long writing (something that is a requirement for any pen I buy).

 

Nevertheless, a beautiful pen. I miss the old Montegrappa.

the Danitrio Fellowship

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Thank you for another beautiful review of a uncommon pen. I didn't know a cigar craze happened during the late 90s...

 

As for the filling systems, I believe that is a captive converter, like more or less the filling mechanism of the 1930 Extra. By the way the gimmick of the retractable barrel is nice.

 

Cheers,

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Great review and pics. Lovely looking pen.

The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher - Thomas Huxley

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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What a curious, interesting pen. Never saw it before or anything like it. Thanks for the super review.

JELL-O, IT'S WHATS FOR DINNER!

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Nice review! And what an unusual looking pen--really does look like a cigar. Now all you need is some kind of cigar like fragrance to put inside it, to complete the picture. :) Definitely get a cigar holder case for it.

[MYU's Pen Review Corner] | "The Common Ground" -- Jeffrey Small

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just received mine in the mail.

 

This is truly a beautiful pen! The weight of it is wonderful, heavy but beautifully balanced. THe nib is a delight to write with.

 

As for posting, if you want to you can unscrew the tail of the pen where the piston is located, and screw on the cap to provide a posted balance.

 

The colour of the celluloid is, as Montegrappa always seem to do, supurb! The clip is beautifully done, and I love the ink window.

 

No mere novelty this one, a masterpiece! :cloud9:

The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher - Thomas Huxley

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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I remember of those when they came out :thumbup: great review thanks for sharing :thumbup:

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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  • 6 years later...

So Wonderful. I have one of these that have not yet been inked, I'm so wary of actually writing with it! As though it is some relic! Any advice :P?

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  • 3 years later...

Hi, I finally decided I want to write with my 1997 cigar pen, but cannot for the life of me figure out how to fill it up. You said in the original post, that you must unscrew the back before you can suck up ink, but I cannot unscrew it whatsoever.

Edited by Zendawn123
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Hi, I finally decided I want to write with my 1997 cigar pen, but cannot for the life of me figure out how to fill it up. You said in the original post, that you must unscrew the back before you can suck up ink, but I cannot unscrew it whatsoever.

I have not use mine for the same reason.

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  • 1 month later...

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