Montegrappa Miya Turquoise: A Pen Like The Sea

[fpupulin]

As it often happens to me on this forum, I don't know if I should have inserted this new topic under the chapter of the "Fountain Pen Reviews" or that of the "Write Stuff" or in the theme of the "Handwriting & Handwriting Improvement". The fact is that, for me, there is no precise boundary between these themes, and my pens - besides being the objects that they are - frequently pass from one theme to another simply because, from my point of view, they are serious about their duty ...

But anyhow, here I am with the friends of the Italian forum with a sort of brief review of a pen that is certainly not new (it has not been in production for seven or eight years), but not even "old" enough to enter the vintage category, the Montegrappa Miya. There are two good reasons from my point of view to talk about this pen. First of all, it has recently become part of my collection of pens, unearthed at a more than excellent price, and secondly it is made with what I consider one of Montegrappa’s most extraordinary celluloids - and one of the most beautiful and brilliant on the market -, Turquoise celluloid.

Montegrappa used this celluloid sparingly.

For the first time, it made her appearance in the "Symphony" series, with the classic (for Montegrappa) octagonal section, the silver finish and the end of the pen threaded, to be able to post the cap surely. I have insufficient information on the period of production of the Symphony, but the series was certainly abandoned around 2005, when the extraordinary "Emblema" assumed the role of standard-bearer in the Montegrappa house of the octagonal model in celluloid. The Emblema, however, was not produced in turquoise color.

In 1999 Montegrappa presented "Classica", forerunner of a very successful series that, through "Historia" and "Extra", led to the current, lasting "Extra 1930". Classica comes out in parchment, cinnamon, pearl black and turquoise. In the turquoise version the Classica is beautiful and, judging by the few times I've seen it offered on the net, quite rare. For some time now, one has been circulating on the Bay, but at a price that leaves one rather perplexed ... Classica in celluloid was dismissed in 2002-2003, and in 2004 it was replaced by a beautiful version in blue and red resin.

On the occasion of the Athens Olympic Games, in 2004, Montegrappa presented "Classical Greece", a limited edition of 1169 fountain pens and 291 rollerballs in turquoise celluloid and solid silver (as well as 108 fountain pens in 18k gold, 15 in yellow gold and diamonds and the same number in rose gold and diamonds). The pen is embellished with a map of Greece from the classical period (roughly 5th-4th century BC) hand-painted on the turning knob, with some classic places highlighted, such as Mount Olympus, Corinthus, Olympia, Sparta ... In the turquoise color, Classic Greece makes reference to the transparent waters that surround the Peloponnese and the Aegean Sea with its islands suspended over the blue. The choice of this celluloid to celebrate the "Greekness" of a pen has always seemed to me very well done.

In 2005 the turquoise celluloid reappears in "Miya", a beautiful pen with an unmistakable profile with a bulge on the celluloid body just before the silver section. In the version with both body and cap in celluloid, Miya remained in production until at least 2011, when it was placed side by side - and then replaced - by "Miya Argento", which adopted the same shapes and colors but with a solid silver cap and a ring in celluloid to match the body of the pen. Miya and Miya Argento have been proposed in red, yellow, midnight blue and turquoise celluloid.

Recently, a collaboration between Montegrappa and Chatterley Pens has revived the turquoise celluloid in the pen "The Sea" of the series "The colors of the sea", based on the forms of Extra 1930. Unlike the latter (which since 2018 offers in the regular series a version in "Mediterranean Blue” celluloid), the Sea presents a wave motif on the cap ring, instead of the Palladian Greek, and a nib decorated with the head of a seahorse.

Turquoise is my first Miya, but not the first in the family. My daughter Margherita, who is passionate about this model, has two in red and yellow celluloid, and a Miya Argento in turquoise celluloid. I remember that when the Argento arrived, a few years ago, the original cap had been replaced - probably inadvertently - by the seller with that of a Miya Argento Midnight Blue, so that the celluloid ring on the cap did not match the color of the pen. That was the first opportunity in which we experimented the exquisite assistance service of Montegrappa, who replaced the celluloid ring with one of the correct color for free, on a pen no longer in production for several years. The effect of the turquoise ring on the silver cap is splendid.

As for me, I had Miya Turchese on the radar for at least a decade, since I had read a good review, with beautiful photographs, in this same forum. But Miya Turquoise does not appear often in the classified, and even less at a price that I consider the "right" for my wallet. At the beginning of the year, the stars finally lined up perfectly to give me the opportunity to get my hands on a pristine pen, never inked, with a beautiful celluloid and a Fine nib.

 

 

 

Live, Miya Turchese is spectacular. I have a Montegrappa Emblema in Blu Mediterraneo, but as I had imagined, the turquoise celluloid is more lively and bright, more cheerful and showy: a real joy for the eyes.

The “bulged” shape towards the center is unique and unmistakable. A few years ago the user of fountainpennetwork, "watch_art" wrote: “Actually I think that it is only aesthetic over function. Whats the old expression? Form over function? Yeah. That is. They said lets make a pretty pen, and they did. " As an artist, "watch_art" also proposed his vision of the pen:

I own and use various Montegrappa Extra and Extra 1930s, and I find that, in practical use, the "camber" is substantially indifferent to the hand. In my case, it is located just above the point where the fingers are closed on the section, so that passes completely unnoticed. When I draw the pen at a greater distance from the nib, like a Spencerian writing completely without pressure, I find that the bulge is very comfortable to hold.

 

 

The section is thinner than that of the Extra, to which I am more accustomed, but I find it equally comfortable. In general, I am not a lover of excessively large and poorly shaped sections (as in some Delta and other contemporary Italian pens), and the Miya section falls within the measures congenial to me. It seems to me - but it could only be an impression conditioned by desire - that solid silver is less slippery than coatings in other metals, but it is still a metallic section, probably unsuitable for those who tend to sweat on their fingers.

The nib must be a number 5, and overall I find it a bit small for the size of the pen. From the writing point of view, however, my Fine is simply perfect: polite, precise, moist but not uncontrolled, elastic, flowing but "present". Just as I like them...

 

 

 

The filling system is via converter, included in the original packaging of the pen. The converter can only be accessed by unscrewing the body from the section, unlike the Classica, where it is possible to access the converter also by unscrewing the blind cap, which gives access to the turning knob. For a pen that originally cost 450 Euros, it is a somewhat "substandard" solution, but I see that it is commonly adopted by various prestigious manufacturers, and undoubtedly the converter also offers some advantages. I prefer piston-filling pens, but I would say more for reasons of tradition than actual functionality, and the presence of a converter is not for me a serious impediment in the choice of a pen.

Ah, one more word on the package. Like all the gray boxes of Montegrappa at the beginning of the century, the surface crumbles and falls apart even without touching it: it is a real pity that the "house" of such a beautiful pen is so perishable.

And now ... at work!

What else could I have used in my Turquoise if not a dedicated ink, like the Turquoise of Montegrappa? And what else could I have tried, with a pen and an ink of this color, if not a marine view, of a beautiful turquoise sea?

Here are three examples of turquoise landscape painting. The first is taken from a hotel advertising brochure. The second is the view of a stretch of coast near Castiglione della Pescaia, in Tuscany, where we used to spend family vacations when I was a child. And the third, well, is rightly a view of Greece, from the top of the island of Santorini. Turquoise and classical Greece, once again.

 

 

 

I copied, from the Bacchae of Euripides, playwright of the classical age, a passage that refers to the ancient Dionysian cult. The translation is by the great Giorgio Colli, from the first volume of his "Greek Wisdom".

 

 

Brava Miya! And also the reader who has come this far ...

Edited August 11, 2019 by fpupulin

[Michael R.]

Like always: magnificent photographic skills and pretty pens :-)

 

Love those threads

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[langere]

Wow! What a great review! Well pondered.

 

You are a serious artist, both with the camera and with the pen.

 

Thank you for sharing -

 

Erick

[LuckyKate]

This is so beautiful. Thank you. I especially love the last three photos with the drawings in Turquoise. Gorgeous!

[fpupulin]

Among the beautiful Montegrappa iterations in turquoise celluloid, I forgot to mention the recent Extra Otto Grecia Classica Rinata (Classical Greece Reborn), another limited edition of Montegrappa for Chatterley, with a limitation number of 15 pens worldwide.

 

 

 

[the images are from Chatterley Luxuries website]

 

As well as the original Classical Greece pen, Montegrappa pays once more tribute to the Greek culture and history with its turquoise celluloid, including an Olympic torch engraved on the nib.

 

A splendid pen, no doubt...

[TheDutchGuy]

Brava Miya! And also the reader who has come this far...

Reading it wasn’t hard at all, in fact I was sorry to see it end... I don’t have a Montegrappa but now I want one!!

 

On a sidenote, please share with us how you developed your penmanship. You’ve mastered lots of different scripts and you can also draw. Very inspiring!

[como]

Thank you for the thorough and very artistic review, fpupulin. Your sketches are a pleasure for the eye. The turquoise reminds me a lot of the Mediterranean. I bought the Leonardo Furore Blue for that, but I must say that it's still no match for this turquoise/blue celluloid material. Sooner or later I will have to get this one.

[gerigo]

Wow I have the very same pen but I seem to have problems with celluloid. Mine all loose their shine and become dull and matte. I wonder whether it's the cases I keep them in.

[Honeybadgers]

that section looks awful and uncomfortable.

[gerigo]

that section looks awful and uncomfortable.

 

On the contrary, it is quite comfortable for me. I find that pens that swell in the middle very comfortable to hold. Many Montegrappas are designed this way, such as the Monte Grappa. The Edison Collier has the same overall shape too.

[fountainbel]

Beautiful pen ,thorough and artistic review, thanks for sharing !

Hope your don't mind, but I would advise to screw the cap not to firm on.

Ive repaired already 2 of these pens were the cap threads were stripped due to over-tightening. See: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/336214-montegrappa-miya-repair-stripped-cap-threads/?hl=%2Bmontegrappa+%2Bmiya

The single lead large pitch threads don't provide enough back up surface and over-tightening the cap will gradually strip the cap threads.

Francis

[Honeybadgers]

 

On the contrary, it is quite comfortable for me. I find that pens that swell in the middle very comfortable to hold. Many Montegrappas are designed this way, such as the Monte Grappa. The Edison Collier has the same overall shape too.

 

I don't mind the stepdown section on light pens like the noodlers ahab, but I have long since lost all my patience in polished metal grip sections. I have oily fingers and they just feel unwieldy and cheap looking and gaudy and awful. I'm considering having a couple of my conklins with polished sections media blasted by Ron to have some useful texture.

 

I honestly like the rest of the pen, but it really needs the section to be made from that same beautiful resin. I also just don't have a huge regard for montegrappa. All three of my nerouno duetto's wrote like complete trash out of the box, which is unacceptable for an 18k, $700 pen.

[Doug C]

I am using mine today, in the same color. Just a lovely pen.

 

I normally also have huge issues with metal sections (unless they have a textured surface) but for some reason, this one doesn't bother me.

 

What does bother me is that when I screw the cap on, with the plastic insert in the cap, it always feels like I am cross threading it.

 

 

I'm not; it just feels like it.

[fpupulin]

I am using mine today, in the same color. Just a lovely pen.

 

 

 

 

Doug, would you bother, at some time, posting a photo of your pen? Thank you in advance.

[DrDebG]

Absolutely stunning pen and photography! Thank you for the review. This is one of my favorite colors.

[sansenri]

A lovely pen and a great excuse to show Franco's photographic (and drawing!) skills! (Franco, I just love your low keys!...)

This is truly one of the most stunning celluloids ever made, the depth of this celluloid is really incredible, light shines deeply into the material.

This is mine

 

If anyone is still wondering whether the metal section is uncomfortable, I will state again my impression that it's not.

One reason is it's silver, so it is not slippery, and warms up fast, so it's not cold either.

The other reason in case of worry for the step down, which I am very sensitive to, it is not uncomfortable.

In the picture here you can see that the section has rounded edges and it tapers gently, there are no sharp steps. It's really well thought.

And as Franco mentioned, the bulging barrel is odd, but not uncomfortable, actually it falls quite well into the hand.

 

 

[sansenri]

just out of curiosity this celluloid has also been used by Delta in the collaboration with Chatterley in the Fusion 82 LE.

 

 

Delta used the same celluloid also in the Fantasia (based on the Delta The Journal pen) in collaboration with Corsani of Rome.

(I don't have this pen in the blue celluloid to show, as I choose a different celluloid for my Fantasia)