Molteni and Taccia

[Univer]

Hi All,

 

I freely admit that I know next to nothing about the "Molteni" brand. I first encountered the name in connection with that very attractive Bexley-made model that used Tibaldi celluloid.

 

Yesterday I was browsing around on the Net, and I happened to click on an eBay listing for a Molteni pen by the name of the "Curukova."

 

The Molteni:

 

 

Imagine my surprise: this pen turns out to be a virtual twin - as far as I can tell - of the new Taccia Staccato. The overall design, the trim, the clip, even the resin: they all look identical. (I gather, though, that the Molteni comes standard with a gold nib, as opposed to the Taccia's standard steel nib.)

 

The Taccia:

 

 

Are my eyes deceiving me? Is this Molteni a rebranded Taccia?

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[Cloud]

Hello Jon,

 

I does get stranger... if you do a search on internet, the results you get are either ebay, this forum or a link to:

 

Ancora

Molteni Pen Co.

1602 Alton Rd., # 503

Miami Beach, FL 33139

305-305-4140

Email: info@moltenipen.comDoes this mean that ancora is Molteni, and that they make pen for Taccia... This is starting to seem very mafiosi like story. Maybe there is a pen maker conspiracy!

 

Interestingly enough, the model I bought from molteni as bexley parts (clip, nib, maybe even the piston).

 

Stranger and stranger

 

Cloud

[Univer]

Hi,

 

Strange is right. I have no problem, in theory, with the notion that one pen manufacturer is making pens for another. After all, that practice dates back to the early days of the fountain pen.

 

What I find odd, in this case, is that the Molteni pen is being positioned as a limited edition of 40 pens, at a suggested retail of $475. How can one manufacturer's standard-production pen, with a simple nib swap, become another's ultra-limited edition?

 

Ah well...it makes for interesting conversation, anyway.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

Edited September 22, 2007 by Univer

[bgray]

I know that the acrylic material is actually fairly common.

 

I have some myself. Thinking it would make a nice Herald!

 

If any information surfaces regarding this, post it...interesting.

[NeoTiger]

Molteni also quite often uses Bexley stuff in their pens too, most of their pens have the Bexley gold nib (with the exception of the Curukova, the one we're looking at here).

 

I recently bought a Curuokova in black, also limited to 40 pens. The nib is unbranded, two tone gold nib, writes very smooth... maybe even better than my Bexley...

[RobbyD]

Hi,

 

Let us foir example imagine the way:

 

Molteni is outletline on ebay.

Moltenis ask Bexley (and Taccia) make some pens for him.

They make the pens but they need rods.

Where do they take the rods?

Taccia by themself (acrylic)

Bexley by old Tibaldi owner.

Argument for: the 2 Bexley's owners Club's pens.

One question. Did he make the new Mercury pens too?

Same material used...

Interesting international way!!!!

 

[diplomat]

I found this topic after incurring in the Molteni Brand over ebay. Intrigued enough, I made some investigation and came up with this info:

 

http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbcompany_647l6m

 

It looks like Molteni is an indipendent producer based on Florida, the business started in 2006 and total workforce = 2 ppl?? To me looks like some "hit & run" company made to exploit some "occasion".

 

For sure there is no connection with Ancora, a small artisan Italian firm....

 

Regards,

[Cloud]

I guess one could make a company, approach another and suggest to make a limited edition design. Interesting. Maybe more of us should do this! I can attest to the quality of the pen.

[southpaw]

Ben at Molteni does have Bexley make most his pens. I've purchased several from him and he's great to deal with, although English is not his first language so communication can be a bit strained. He ships quickly and the pens have been wonderful. No affiliation, just a happy repeat customer. FWIW, I'm also 99% sure that Taccia makes the Curukova. He's also had Visconti make some other pens for him.