MB Pope Julius II 888 Edition

[yachtsilverswan]

Thanks MontblancDude for the kind words about my pen and its review. I still enjoy the opportunity to ink and use the pen at least once a month.

 

Sadly, I agree with Brian that many 888 edition pens are consigned to a display case and sit for years un-inked and unused. It's not that the pens are not appreciated for both their aesthetic beauty and for their functional excellence - I think most collectors appreciate the technical craftsmanship involved in creating a fine writing instrument. Instead, I think many 888s and the even more rarified Atelier Editions sit unused on display because people just don't dress to the nines any longer. There was only one function last year in Atlanta where I felt White Tie was appropriate (Debutante Balls excepted - very excepted) - and only a handful of Black Tie affairs. And without an event that calls for tuxedos and evening gowns, a pen this dressy just has no mission. Fortunately for me and for the Pope Julius 888, I enjoy the opportunities that come my way to get the Derham washed and waxed, pull out the tuxedo or white dinner jacket, and enjoy a night on the town. The Pope Julius II 888 looks quite appropriate pulled from a summer dinner jacket, and yes it attracts a lot of attention.

 

The Pope Julius II 888 and the Michel Perchin Blue Serpent are my two dress pens, and they get as much exercise as the invitations in my mailbox allow. Haudquaquam sorbeum.

 

Pen2009, the Holy See has not yet found cause to beatify the pen, despite my suggestion that the ultra-smooth broad Cursive Italic Binder nib fulfills the Church's requirement of at least one miracle. Maybe I'll give them a bit longer to make up their mind. I understand they've been busy.

 

Thanks again for celebrating the pen's outstanding design and craftsmanship with me.

Edited July 15, 2009 by yachtsilverswan

[adelaidepen]

Hi Ray,

After reading your review I've decided to take the plunge and get a PJ 888. Bryant has kindly sourced one for me and I can't wait for it to arrive........

[DKbRS]

I came across this review after it was linked to from a For Sale posting in the FS forum. I never got to read it at the time at which it was posted, and having just read it, I figured it's one-year anniversary was the right time to bring it to the top again. I just wanted to add that the only thing better than reading about this stunning pen, was enjoying the author's wonderful, subtle humor that had me laughing out aloud into my morning cappuccino.

[yachtsilverswan]

...I just wanted to add that the only thing better than reading about this stunning pen, was enjoying the author's wonderful, subtle humor that had me laughing out aloud into my morning cappuccino.

 

Why thank you David. Hobbies and avocational interests should be sources of amusement - they should be smile factories.

 

I really enjoy the backstories and symbolism behind the pens in my small stable. And having a great story to spin when someone comments on what I pull from my jacket pocket - well that's always a plus.

 

Thanks for resurrecting my review, and for appreciating with me the great design and stunning craftsmanship of the Pope Julius II 888.

[breaker]

a good review on a magnificent pen as most POA series.The only problem I still haven't discovered the oil in the back yard to start production and start saving on the pen.

[nujak]

Wow that pen is insanely nice looking. I will over that pen for many years I think.

[georges zaslavsky]

a fabulous and ostentatious pen

[ftp249]

Pelikan should make Benedict XVI now cause he is German

 

It would probably draw a bit to the right when you write with it

[yachtsilverswan]

Wow that pen is insanely nice looking. I will over that pen for many years I think.

 

Why thank you Nujak. After several years, this pen is still a favorite dress pen, and gets plenty of carry. It is the carry of choice for a dressed-to-the-nines evening out if I'm wearing a red necktie or bowtie.

 

Montblanc included a soft cotton cloth in the presentation packaging; I had always assumed it was a polishing cloth. But perhaps, as you suggest, the cloth was enclosed to mop up the drool.

 

Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm.

[yachtsilverswan]

a fabulous and ostentatious pen

 

Thank you Georges. Coming from a Montblanc enthusiast like you, that's high praise indeed.

 

I certainly agree the pen is ostentatious; but that fits with parts of my peacocking personality. I certainly don't choose this pen as the carry when I'm trying to blend into the background. But then I'm seldom trying to blend into the background.

[Toolattack]

I love both the MB Julius pens, but for me the 4810 just edges it - something about that creamy white resin.

[Keyser]

wow! that pen looks amazing. enjoy it!

I particularly like the blue background or the black background styles. they are stunning

[yachtsilverswan]

wow! that pen looks amazing. enjoy it!

I particularly like the blue background or the black background styles. they are stunning

 

Hey Keyser -

 

Thanks for taking time to comment. The black version of the Pope Julius II is an atelier edition of only three pens in anthrocite guilloche, white gold, and diamonds. Montblanc considered using black diamonds in the ornamentation of the pen, but in the end used white diamonds from the same Kimberly mine used as their regular source - the same mine that gave the world The Greater Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa.

 

I understand there was considerable controversy within Montblanc about the release of this particular livery because there is some meaning in Catholicism to the term "The Black Pope." The term "Black Pope" is a derisive term for the Superior General of the Society of Jesus (the leader of the Jesuits) whose robes are black, in contrast to the white robes of the Pontiff. The more disturbing use of "The Black Pope" comes from a 12th Century prophecy by St Malachi about the end of the Catholic Church and the last Pope. So it is indeed surprising that Montblanc - a German company in a country with a plurality of Catholics - would release a black pen honoring a Pope.

 

There was a 2003 fictional movie titled "The Order" or in some countries "The Sin Eater" that featured The Black Pope in a heretical tale of a second pathway to heaven.

 

I don't know the asking price of the three anthrocite atelier pens in the Pope Julius II series, or whether any are currently available, but Cruzal Pens still has an ad up listing them for sale:

http://www.cruzaltpens.com/historico/?p=296

 

Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

[yachtsilverswan]

I love both the MB Julius pens, but for me the 4810 just edges it - something about that creamy white resin.

 

Evening Tool -

 

I initially intended to purchase the white 4810 edition of the Pope Julius II pen to use with my white summer dinner jacket - the photos of that edition look great.

 

But when shown the pen in the Boutique, the build quality just did not seem up to the standard expected of a $2,000 pen - the gold fretwork was plated and very very thin, and the enameling looked like a thin plastic tube inserted loosely inside the fenestrated barrel.

 

The weight and build quality of the 888 edition seemed far superior, even given the steep price jump, and so that's the pen I walked away with. The mother of pearl star on the 888 edition, contrasted with the white resin star on the 4810 edition, also heavily influenced my choice.

 

I'm still looking for a high end white or ivory pen with white metal furniture to use with my white dinner jacket. But the hunt is half the fun.

 

Thanks for taking time to comment.

[pennamer]

 

I'm still looking for a high end white or ivory pen with white metal furniture to use with my white dinner jacket. But the hunt is half the fun.

 

 

What about Montblanc Carnegie 888?

[wspohn]

I enjoyed the review very much, thanks, Ray.

 

That particular pen is over the top for me, but I can certainly appreciate the workmanship that went into it. I can't define the line where a pen is overly ornate for me to own and use, but like the US Supreme Court and pornography, I know it when I see it. Might be the diamonds or the red and gold, don't know - still, it doesn't stop me from admiring pens that are over my own personal line!

 

A few things struck me. Your comment about doing lovely guilloche engraving and then obscuring it with enamel struck home. I much prefer it either raw metal, as in the many Classic Pens CP series I own, or overlaid with only a clear coat with little or no tint. I found it quite odd that the excellent pattern on my Classic CP3 Odyssey was also used by Aurora on another pen I won, their 80th Anniversary edition, also 'in the raw', but when they used it in the Petersburg LE they enamelled over it in red and it lost most of the attraction and visual definition.

 

I think I might prefer your Perchin unenameled, but the enamel works on the linear pattern on the Julius, probably as you said, because MB didn't cover the coloured portion with high gloss clear.. Must be a bear to keep clean if you use it a lot - have you dared to put it in an ultrasonic cleaner yet?

[LWW]

That is a beautiful piece.

[adelaidepen]

The 888 Julius remains my favourite 888. When I got mine I sold my 4810 - it really didn't look that good up close. The 888 writes beautifully - I fill it with MB burgundy ink to match the barrel and sign letters with it. The burgundy matches a colour in my company logo on the letterhead. It you can get one for less than $7K (e.g. a real possibility at the Wilmore Auction) - you will not regret it. I think this pen will escalate in value over the years as the more recent 888 pens have been nowhere near in terms of craftmanship and finished product IMHO.

[yachtsilverswan]

I enjoyed the review very much, thanks, Ray.

 

That particular pen is over the top for me, but I can certainly appreciate the workmanship that went into it.... Might be the diamonds...

 

I much prefer it either raw metal, as in the many Classic Pens CP series I own...

 

Must be a bear to keep clean if you use it a lot - have you dared to put it in an ultrasonic cleaner yet?

 

Hey John -

 

Thanks for your kind words on my effort.

 

I agree this pen is most at home with someone who has a little peacock in his personality - and that would certainly be me. As I mentioned in the review, the diamonds on the clip were the only design element giving me pause (Pause being defined as leaving the Boutique to have a couple of Gin & Tonics before returning to write the check). Burton's Fourth Rule - Guys don't wear diamonds - ever. Sorry Burton. Montblanc must have since become more sensitive to that particular male style taboo - in some recent pens with diamonds on the clip, MB has offered a free exchange of an identical clip without the diamonds.

 

I too am a fan of Classic Pens' guilloche work. I have been trying for years to purchase a Classic Pens rose gold Mozaique ZJ1:

 

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/CPZJ1NEW800_07.jpg

 

I store the Pope Julius II 888 in a glass topped display casket by Venlo, so the pen does not collect dust while stored. My suit jacket pockets are silk lined, so there's not a lot of lint to attach to the pen on a carry. I have once before found a couple of stray strands of something evil embedded in the guilloche and offending my obsessive compulsive sensibilities. Those were blasted out of the zip code with a can of filtered compressed air used to clean computer innards. So the Pope Julius II 888 remains undefiled by earthly detritus.

 

Thanks again John for reading my review and for taking the time to comment.

[yachtsilverswan]

The 888 Julius remains my favourite 888. ...

 

I fill it with MB burgundy ink to match the barrel and sign letters with it. The burgundy matches a colour in my company logo on the letterhead.

 

It you can get one for less than $7K (e.g. a real possibility at the Wilmore Auction) - you will not regret it. I think this pen will escalate in value over the years as the more recent 888 pens have been nowhere near in terms of craftmanship and finished product IMHO.

 

I too am very interested to learn the results of next week's auction of the Wilmore Pen Collection by Bonham's in New York. Recent years' Bonham's auctions of writing instruments in Los Angeles have hammered copies of the PJ888 below the prices trading in the secondary markets - so Bonham's may be a source of high end bargains.

 

I like the harmony of your corporate logo colors with the pen and the burgundy ink - small echos of color across pieces of an outfit (tie color echoed in cufflinks and pen) are a foundation of putting together a coherent look. Like this gentleman waiting for his always late date:

 

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/tumblr_m0vhbi9eAI1rql4jso1_500.jpg

Note the red stripe in his bowtie echoing the Nantucket Reds and maybe even his cocktail.

 

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/tumblr_lxr98y9GkI1qjpd74o1_1280.jpg

And this UVA DKE at Foxfield Races who matched his Brooks Brothers Social Primer bow with a pocket square and solo cup.

 

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/tumblr_lyoighAB8Y1roq96mo1_500-1.jpg

And this UNC Sigma Chi at Carolina Cup echoing a secondary color in his bow to the seersucker suit and koozie.

 

[sartorial mode OFF / pen mode ON]

 

Thanks again for sharing my enthusiasm for this functional art, and for taking the time to leave a comment.