Precious Opulence from Montblanc
I'm pleased to share with my fellow pen-nuts the most ornate addition to my Fountain Pen wardrobe - Montblanc's "Pope Julius II" in the 888 edition, from the 2005 release of the Patron of the Arts Series, seen in my avatar.
Photo from Pensinasia
Photo from Pensinasia
Backstory
I wanted a new dress pen for special occasions, and went shopping in Atlanta at ArtLite, Total Fine Writing, and at the Montblanc Boutique in Lenox Square Mall – our three brick and mortar pen stores. Initially I had wanted to look at the Montblanc Pope Julius II in the 4810 edition because the ivory base color of the pen barrel was a good match for my summer Dinner Jacket. I was underwhelmed. But true to form, Sara, the affable and knowledgeable former manager of the Atlanta Montblanc Boutique traded up my interest to the more formidable red 888 edition (888 copies worldwide).
The Pope Julius II is the 2005 release of Montblanc’s Patron of the Arts Series, honoring those whose pivotal support for the arts transformed our culture. Pope Julius II held the Throne of St. Peter from his election in 1503 until his death just a decade later. But in that decade, Julius II strengthened the Papacy militarily and artistically. He laid the cornerstone of St Peter’s Basilica. He commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, and ordered works from Raphael and other Italian masters. He transformed Rome into the cultural capitol of the Renaissance. So it is not surprising that Montblanc chose to honor Pope Julius II as a Patron of the Arts. Raphael’s painting of Pope Julius II hangs in the National Gallery in London, and the image is used in presentation packaging for the pen:
As with other Patron of the Arts pens, the Pope Julius II was widely released in two editions: a gold-plated pen with cream colored enamel inserts (4,810 copies worldwide) recently reviewed by FPN member GoodGuy http://www.fountainp...showtopic=84655
and a solid 18 kt gold pen with guilloche engraved deep red enamel reviewed here (888 copies worldwide). A third Atelier edition was available – three copies in red & gold, three copies in anthracite and gold – each with 861 diamonds totaling 3.8 carats. http://www.cruzaltpe...istorico/?p=296
Image from Cruzal Pens
All three editions were available only as fountain pens – neither companion ballpoints nor rollerballs were offered.
Sara, the former manager of the Atlanta Montblanc Boutique told me that Patron of the Arts pens were displayed in MB Boutiques for two years after their release, and then unsold copies were returned to Germany for vault storage. Editions that had not sold out could still be special ordered after their two year display window, but they were not seen again in Boutiques. I do not know whether this display policy is also followed by non-Boutique authorized retailers; it is certainly not followed by authorized internet retailers.
Presentation & Documentation
The pen is protected during shipping by a sturdy corregated white box that is significantly larger than the inner box it protects. The thinner cardboard inner box is nicely printed with a detail from Raphael’s portrait of Pope Julius II in his red Papal mozzetta showing his left hand. Curiously, it is the third finger of the right hand where the Pope wears the Ring of the Fisherman.
Inside the printed cardboard box is a highly polished rosewood casket that holds the pen. A cast bronze gilt raised medallion is mounted on the front of the presentation casket, and shows Pope Julius II in bas relief profile.
Image from Pensinasia
The bespoke casket is lined in black velvet, and shaped to securely hold the capped pen on a diagonal. Accompanying the presentation casket is a glossy brochure with the same rich cover painting of the eponymous Pontif’s left hand. Printed in five languages, the brochure has a brief biography of Pope Julius II, a review of the Patron of the Arts Series, filling & cleaning instructions, and the dealer’s warranty stamp. While I always prefer more information, more backstory, more history, more discussion of the techniques and craftsmanship that went into creating the pen; Montbanc’s documentation is more thorough than most. I’m not Catholic, but I nonetheless found the history and symbolism interesting. Eventually, I hope Montblanc and other premium pen companies produce DVDs or CD-ROMs or FlashDrives telling the story of their limited edition releases and showing the build process and craftsmanship that went into creating the pen.
Design and Craftsmanship
The 888 Edition Pope Julius II is solid 18 kt yellow gold (not an overlay), fenestrated like the windows of a Gothic Cathedral to reveal deep claret-colored engraving of wavy guilloche enamel work. Unlike the Michel Perchin Blue Serpent,
Image from Michel Perchin website
the guilloche engraving on the 888 Pope Julius II is not sealed with layered coats of glossy lacquer. The deep and wide guilloche engraving is open and gives the design much more visual texture than would a lacquered guilloche. Perhaps Montblanc’s designers liked the contrast of the high gloss yellow gold with the matt finish of the unlacquered enamel; I like it too.
Image from Pensinasia
The open guilloche work would make the pen very difficult to clean – dust settling in the guilloche cracks would require an air gun to dislodge. So the Pope Julius II does need to be stored under glass or in a case to prevent accumulation of dust in the little nooks and crannies.
The shape of the pen is almost identical to the flagship Meisterstuk series that made Montblanc famous. The length of the Pope Julius II pen is similar to the MB 146. The girth of the Pope Julius II barrel is slightly wider than the MB 146; but not as wide as the MB 149. The Pope Julius II 888 looks substantially larger than the MB 146 on first look, because the cap of the Pope Julius II 888 is very wide - wider than the MB 149 - and the broad cap gives the pen greater visual impact.
MB 149 (top), MB Pope Julius II 888 (middle), MB 146 (bottom)
The very top of the hand-chased gold cap of the Pope Julius II is modeled on the long retired Coronation Crown of Popes – referenced in Catholic ritual as the “Tiara of the Pontifex Maximus.”
The crown has not been worn since the Coronation of Pope John XXIII.
Photo of the Papal Crown of Pope John XXIII
Pope John Paul I dispensed with the one thousand year tradition of a Papal Coronation and a Papal Crown because he felt the kingly rituals and symbols inappropriately emphasized the temporal and Earthly powers of the Papacy instead of the timeless and Godly influence the Pontiff was called to assert. Subsequent Popes have worn ceremonial damask Miters instead of the Tiara to emphasize their priestly and apostolic roles over their kingly authorities. The Papal Tiaras were traditionally three-tiered bee-hive shaped crowns, much taller than the crown of any contemporaneous King, Queen, or Prince. The base, and only the base of the Papal Tiara was set with precious jewels to symbolize the Pope’s supremacy over earthly Princes and Kings. The 888 Pope Julius II pen is set with five deep red marquis cut rubies to reflect that traditional design. The middle layer of the tiara symbolized the Pope’s authority as “Ruler of the World,” and is not represented on the pen. The uppermost layer of the Papal Tiara was traditionally topped by a gold globe, and the globe was topped with a silver cross, symbolizing the Pope’s role as the Vicar of Christ. Montblanc revived the design of the Papal Tiara and modified it for this pen, capping the 888 Pope Julius II pen not with a globe and cross, but rather with a Mother-of-Pearl (Nacre) Montblanc star, giving their familiar logo a shimmering depth and glow.
Image from Pensinasia
The Montblanc star logo represents the snow capped summit of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe at 4,810 meters, a number which figures prominently in Montblanc design and edition size. (The mountain is two words – Mont Blanc; the pen company is one word – Montblanc.)
The pen’s gold clip is set with six small fully faceted diamonds of descending size mined from the same South African mine that gave up the Cullinan I diamond (the Greater Star of Africa) on HM Queen Elizabeth II's State Scepter and the Cullinan II diamond (the Lesser Star of Africa) in her crown. To be frank, I think the vertical row of diamonds along the clip detracts from the rest of the design, and is a bit too flashy, even for a dress pen. As a guy, this single design feature, this one row of small brilliant VS1 diamonds, almost vetoed my purchase of the pen. Guys don’t wear diamonds - ever (Burton’s Fourth Rule). Two gin & tonics later, I got over it and wrote the check – sorry Burton.
Image from Pensinasia
The iridium-tipped solid 18 kt yellow-gold nib is engraved with the 2005 date of the edition, 4810 (the height of Mont Blanc in meters), and with the Pontiff’s seal - the Tree of Life. The tree is also found on Pope Julius II’s family coat of arms. Julius II was born Giuliano della Rovere, and as FPN member FritsB has pointed out, the Latin for Rovere would be “robur” which in English translates to “oak.” So the tree on the family coat of arms and on Pope Julius II’s seal is a pictograph for the family name.
Image from Pensinasia
Interestingly, I know a guy from Greece whose properly granted, centuries old family Coat of Arms has an oak tree at the center of the shield. As a first born male, the Coat of Arms passes in patrilineal succession to him, and he just had the Coat of Arms tattooed on his back (I suggested a nice signet ring instead, but was ignored). I recommended he research a family relationship to the storied Roveres.
The nib is crafted in house by Montblanc and is carefully polished, apparently even between the tines, because I have observed no nib creep of ink onto the surface during use. A single round breather hole is used, supplied by a vaned black ebonite feed.
The pen is substantial in the hand. It is designed to be used unposted (with the cap off and set aside - not posted to the top of the barrel). But even unposted, the weight of the pen reminds me that words themselves can and often should be substantial. Words should carry weight.
The nib was custom crafted for me by Montblanc in broad (only medium nibs are stock; all other widths are special orders from Germany) and it writes a glassy smooth, wet, reliable line. At the Atlanta Pen Show, I asked nibmeister Richard Binder to regrind the tip into a 1.0 mm Cursive Italic, giving my handwriting the bold line width variation I like in penmanship.
The overall look of the pen is elegant, dressy, and perhaps a bit Edwardian or old-wordly. It is opulent. The solid 18 kt gold cap and body have a slightly rose gold hue, and I wonder if just a bit of copper was used in the smelting of the alloy.
The choice of Mother of Pearl to craft the Montblanc Star makes a dramatic difference in the look of the pen; and was one of the primary reasons I bought the 888 edition. By comparison, the 4810 edition of the Pope Julius II uses the familiar white plastic star. The Mother of Pearl has a shimmering depth that the dull plastic versions of the logo just cannot approach. When another Fountain Pen Network member Epictete92 interviewed M. Michel Ade, CEO of Montblanc France, http://www.penandco....ntblanc_en.html I suggested the interviewer ask M. Ade if Montblanc would consider offering an aftermarket exchange service for the dull white plastic stars on the iconic flagship MB 149 and on the 4810 editions of the Patron of the Arts Series (only the 888 editions of the POA series and the more upscale Artisan Series use the Mother of Pearl Star). The transcript of the interview did not suggest M. Ade was enthusiastic about my idea.
On the Pen Turning sub-forum, I tried to entice a custom pen maker to use a computer modeling scanner and lathe system to craft a Mother of Pearl replacement for my thirty year old MB 149. No joy. http://www.fountainp...showtopic=69448
Image from Pensinasia
Mechanics & Functionality
All Patron of the Arts pens are piston filled, and the mechanism on the 888 Pope Julius II is weighty and smooth. There is no ink-level view-port, and I suspect the designers felt the dark view-port would be too great a contrast against the highly polished gold.
The cap is a screw-on, screw-off design. There are no threads on the distal barrel to facilitate secure posting.
Metrics
As a card carrying Kool-Aid Drinker for Montblanc, I like a large pen. Size matters. The Montblanc 149 was my very first fountain pen, purchased almost thirty years ago, and so my tastes have been shaped by that early “big pen” experience. I use most fountain pens unposted, making even the larger production pens fit comfortably in my medium hand (size 7.5 gloves). The 888 Pope Julius II is a large pen, similar in width to the iconic Montblanc Meisterstuck Diplomat 149, similar in length to the Montblanc 146. The large girth of the 888 Pope Julius II, like its older cousin the MB 149, allows a more comfortably relaxed grip at the section. The wider girth allows my fingers to relax in the grip without crowding. That wider girth and the relaxed grip it fosters are keys to eliminating writers’ cramp.
Unlike the MB 149, I actually prefer a heavier pen, and that usually means a metal body. Words should carry weight, and a heavier pen reminds me of that. The 888 Pope Julius II is crafted from solid 18 kt gold, and so this pen has the weight that I favor. The cap alone outweighs the entire 4810 edition of the same pen – and it also outweighs most other pens. Despite its weight, the unposted pen is perfectly balanced for my grip on the upper section. The significantly heavy weight makes the pen inappropriate for a shirt pocket; this pen weighs so much that even the most stiffly starched cotton shirt pocket will sag rather unattractively. The pen needs to be clipped to an inner jacket pocket, or diagonally between the second and third buttons of a dress shirt. The underside of the pen’s clip tip is polished, and in my opinion, that smooth surface is a design error. A pen this heavy should have a ridged or textured underside to the clip to better grip the shirt or jacket. Proving with this pen that gravity works would wreck my day. Dude, F=ma.
Length Capped
MB Pope Julius II 888: 5 ¾ inches or 146 mm
Montblanc 149: 5 7/8 inches or 149 mm (clever)
Montblanc 146: 5 ¾ inches or 146 mm (also clever)
Length Posted (designed to be used unposted)
MB Pope Julius II 888: N.A.
Montblanc 149: 6 ½ inches or 168 mm
Montblanc 146: 6 5/16 inches or 161 mm
Length Unposted
MB Pope Julius II 888: 4 13/16 inches 122 mm
Montblanc 149: 5 3/16 inches or 133 mm
Montblanc 146: 4 15/16 inches or 126 mm
Girth at widest point of Barrel
MB Pope Julius II 888: ½ inch or 13 mm
Montblanc 149: 14 mm
Girth at widest point of Cap (diameter beneath clip)
MB Pope Julius II 888: 16 mm
Montblanc 149: 18 mm
Girth at widest point of Section
MB Pope Julius II 888: 12 mm
Montblanc 149: 13 mm
Mass Capped or Posted
MB Pope Julius II 888: 79 g
Montblanc 149: 31 g
Mass Unposted
MB Pope Julius II 888: 43 g
Montblanc 149: 20 g
Mass of Cap Alone
MB Pope Julius II 888: 36 g
Montblanc 149: 11 g
Balance Point (unposted and inked)
MB Pope Julius II 888: 2/3 distance from nib tip to barrel tip
Montblanc 149: 2/3 distance from nib tip to barrel tip
Congruity with the Golden Ratio: Phi = 1.618
MB Pope Julius II 888:
Ratio of Exposed Barrel to Cap when Capped: 1.17 (not close to Phi)
Ratio of Uncapped & Unposted Barrel to (Nib + Section): 1.59
(very close to Phi - this pen is meant to be classically beautiful when uncapped and unposted - namely when it is being used - how clever)
Metrics Conclusions: This is a heavy pen, sized close to the MB 146, though much heavier than the lightweight resin construction of the Meisterstuks. The size and weight are perfect for me, and the pen is balanced – but only because the pen must be used unposted.
Writing Sample
The nib is solid 18 kt yellow gold (not two toned), iridium tipped, vented by a round breather hole, and supplied by a vaned ebonite feed. I understand that fabled Nibmeister Richard Binder finds 18 kt nibs to be too soft for proper function in a fountain pen, instead preferring 14 kt or even lower purity gold for best performance. I have a very light touch on paper, and I don’t use flex in a pen anyway, so barring accident or abuse, this 18 kt nib is probably safe for my hand.
The nib starts reliably with the first stroke, and lays down a wet, smooth, wide line with no skipping. I have left this pen inked, capped, and unused for a week (now that was a challenge), to find that it still writes first time every time – no French nib kissing required. I run Aurora black ink in the most of my pens – it has a deep saturated color, but is not a permanent ink. Unlike many fountain pen enthusiasts, I don’t use a variety of inks or colors. I use black and only black, as deep and as saturated as I can safely keep in my pens. I’m not a fan of change. (Ray’s First Rule: Change is bad; change is always, always bad.)
I asked Nibmeister Richard Binder to regrind the factory broad nib to a 1.0 mm Cursive Italic to give the pen’s writing more visual texture and interest. The nib is smooth, even with its cursive italic tip - no tooth or tactile feedback – it glides across the paper just the way I like.
A pen this handsome should not lay down a feeble timid line – a pen this nice should roar with broad wet expressive strokes and maximal line width variation to give my handwriting visual texture and character.
Price & Value
Edition Size: 888 fountain pens worldwide – no rollerballs or ballpoints
This pen is #586 of 888
Price New at Montblanc Boutique in 2006: $6,700
Recent eBay closed auctions: No closed auctions found, but another pen is currently on offer at eBay for Buy-It-Now at $8,500, without a buyer (no affiliation)
Conclusion of Functionality: The pen writes, and it writes well. But nobody has to spend a fist full of hundreds to own a pen that writes well. This ain’t about function. At this price point, flawless function is expected – it is necessary but not sufficient. At this price point, it’s all about form. Form over function. For LE pens, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Case
I wanted a nice travel case for when the Pope Julius 888 goes on the road with me to an event. The Atlanta Montblanc Boutique still had one of the black crocodile Florentine cigar sleeve cases in stock, and that went into the shopping bag as well. Perfect. No gentleman leaves the house without something from the soft underbelly of a dead reptile (Burton’s Third Rule).
Conclusions
For me, the 888 Pope Julius II is a dress pen. It is not my daily carry, and does not see service at my office during the workday. But I do use the pen with some frequency. I enjoy fountain pens, and I use every pen I have; I do not collect pens to sit un-inked and unused in a trophy case. Each of the pens in my small stable was purchased with a specific mission in mind. I have two dress pens in my wardrobe – the sterling guilloche and blue enameled Michel Perchin Blue Serpent, and this yellow gold and red guilloche Pope Julius II. Between the two carries, I choose the pen to match the metal trim of my cufflinks, tuxedo studs, and belt or braces buckle – and to match the base color of my bowtie if I am dressed informally.
I use and wear the pen on special occasions – charity functions, night on the town, weddings, theatre, and last-night-out dinners on my boat. Like many Montblancs, the pen often makes quite an impression when it’s pulled from my jacket pocket – sometimes good, sometimes bad – the bad reactions generally tracking from preconceived conspicuous consumption notions about Montblanc and the people who buy their pens. This particular Montblanc often elicits even stronger reactions. It is an over-the-top design. Ray’s Third Rule: “Anything worth doing is worth over-doing.” Sometimes over-the-top is a good thing.
The MB Pope Julius II 888 is clearly art – usable art – but art. If you appreciate the Papal heritage of the design, the stunning detail of the sculpted craftsmanship, and the true beauty of the execution, then this is a pen with a high drool factor. Art is good for the soul; and supporting the work of talented artists and artisans makes the world a deeper and richer place to live, work, and play.
The Montblanc Pope Julius II 888 Fountain Pen – two thumbs up – way up. Haudquaquam sorbeum.
Now I just have to find some words worthy of this fine instrument.
Image from Pensinasia
Also Reviewed by me: Michel Perchin Blue Serpent LE #133 / 250 http://www.fountainp...showtopic=52092
