Montegrappa Extra 1930: A New Pen With A Story

[fpupulin]

It is quite a long time that I have been charmed by the beautiful celluloid and the essential shape of the Montegrappa Extra 1930. An extraordinary pen, with quite an extraordinary price tag Furthermore, there was a tremendous dilemma as to the celluloid. Which one looks better, the brilliant, striped celluloid in turtle brown, or the sober and very elegant black and green celluloid called bamboo? Actually, both the colors are, in my opinion, the best celluloids available on the market, together with the glorious Arco used to be offered by Omas.

As I planned a trip to Italy wth my wife to visit the family, I was really excited at the idea of seeing the two Montegrappas side by side to discover which one was speaking more sweetly to me. After three visits to Milan and Turin, the comparison resulted much more difficult than I had figured out. The Montegrappa Extra 1930 is a serious expensive pen, and apparently also the best pen shops are quite limited in the available stock. Apart from the pleasure to known a lot of new shops and their kind owner and staff, I could never find two fountain pens in turtle and bamboo to compare in the same place. Now, after visiting Brunori, Ercolessi, La Stilografica and Mazza in Milan, and another four or five shops in Turin, the chances that my enterprise would come to an happy end were really low. Looking here and there, however, my initial preference for the turtle brown celluloid was seriously mined by the fantastic look of the bamboo, and my wifes tastes pending toward the bamboo also helped in getting really and completely undecided. In a few days I came back to Milan with my daughter Carlotta to have another watch at the bamboo in the only shop that had it available, but the pen was sold a couple of days earlier

End of the introduction, and now the good story.

The family of my father is native from Treviso, in northeastern Italys Veneto region, from where dad moved to Milan when young in search of a job. In Treviso remained the grandfathers, four uncles and a group of cousins, with whom I had a lot of fun when I was a child. Traveling to Treviso to visit the grandfathers was fantastic, with the promenade and the coffee in Piazza dei Signori, the shop in the Isle of the Pescheria, the market, the runs along the ancient walls of the town, the nice old buildings and the elegant shops, and the slow going of the Sile river, which with its tributaries peeps here and there in downtown. After the death of the grandfathers, and the diaspora of uncles and cousins, the opportunities to visit Treviso again became rarer and rarer.

Since a long time, however, I wanted my wife (who is Costa Rican) knew the ancestral town of my family, but after many years of marriage our visit had always been postponed. This year, finally, we have not failed. We arrived at night, we slept over a little a square just behind Piazza dei Signori, and the next day, on a day that the perfect light of autumn seemed to have painted everything with bright enamels, we wandered Treviso. How many emotions and memories, seeing again the grandparents' house, remembering so many places of my childhood, and the dark and slow waters of the Sile on which the algae spin shades of brilliant green between the matte reflections of the willows! Now I know that I remembered that color, greens and blacks in the sleepy river, as a symbol of my Treviso when I was a child. To stop that memory, I took some pictures with the eye of the adult that I have become today.

Turning this way and that, we passed in Corso del Popolo along a stylish shop of Montblanc pens and fine leathers and perfumes, and peering inside my wife spotted a display case with some Montegrappa pens. We went in and got acquainted with the friendly owner, Mr. Enrico Marton, from which it is named the store, Marton. Yes, Enrico had a Montegrappa Extra 1930 to shown us, yes, a fountain pen, in bamboo! It was unbelievable. The translucent green stripes, immersed lighter and darker in the black, almost liquid and transparent celluloid, here deeper and there more superficial, were the portrait of the Siles waters! If there is something comparable to a love at first sight for a pen, my close encounter at Marton with a Montegrappa Extra 1930 in Bamboo celluloid it is a classic example. My dear wife Elvira decided it was my gift, and the excellent price offered by Enrico made the gift even sweeter.

Here, then, my new Montegrappa Extra, renamed "Sile Waters", posing against the backdrop of the gentle river that crosses Treviso, perfect memory of an unforgettable day.

Thanks for reading.

Edited October 10, 2016 by fpupulin

[Barkingpig]

Thank you for perhaps the most wonderful story about acquiring a pen that I feel sure I will ever experience! I have oft coveted the Turtle, yet have merely some second & lesser choices, because of their availability & prices. I currently have a Symphony, in Parchment celluloid, filled with a recently arrived ink; each time I use the pen I am happy I purchased it.

 

I can only imagine how happy your pen will make you feel each time you use it & remember the joy of it's becoming yours. Enjoy & thanks again for a very nice journey with a perfect ending.

[jmccarty3]

What a marvelous story! I also have had my eye on the Extra 1930 in bamboo for many years, but have never actually encountered one. It appears that you have the fine nib on yours. How do you like it?

[fpupulin]

Thank you for perhaps the most wonderful story about acquiring a pen that I feel sure I will ever experience! I have oft coveted the Turtle, yet have merely some second & lesser choices, because of their availability & prices. I currently have a Symphony, in Parchment celluloid, filled with a recently arrived ink; each time I use the pen I am happy I purchased it.

 

I can only imagine how happy your pen will make you feel each time you use it & remember the joy of it's becoming yours. Enjoy & thanks again for a very nice journey with a perfect ending.

Thank yo uso much for your kind words. Really, a pen is something more than just a "thing", is the ending of our own hand, a way to tell something, a support to our expression. For this reason, one would like to have each pen with its own story, a cherished instrument to treasure and to pass on. "Sile Waters" is a fortunate pen, and I am a fortunate owner. Edited October 10, 2016 by fpupulin

[fpupulin]

What a marvelous story! I also have had my eye on the Extra 1930 in bamboo for many years, but have never actually encountered one. It appears that you have the fine nib on yours. How do you like it?

In the flesh, in its smooth celluloid and silver, the Extra is really impressive and quite a masterpiece, and the bamboo has a deepness hard to compare. I hope you will find one along the way.

 

Yes, the nib is a F. It is not a flexible nib, but it is neither a stiff nib. I would define it a "live" nib, with springiness and at the same time very precise. A well done nib for my uses, which span for normal writing to some calligraphy and drawing.

Edited October 10, 2016 by fpupulin

[lecorbusier]

Wonderful story! I have good stories of accidental FP finds in Italy too. Enjoy the 1930 Extra! (icing on the cake: you no longer find them in shops as readily as the past anymore today).

[MCWB]

Wonderful story and very nice pen. I hope it continues to remind you of Treviso!

[Russ]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story! And the photos are superb!!

[aardvarkbark]

Terrific story. Thank you for sharing your quest. For those in the US, one benefit of owning Montegrappa is the comfort of knowing that, should service ever be required, Ryan at Kenro will ensure that everything is handled smoothly.