2019 marks the 50th anniversary of NASA landing on the Moon. It represents one of mankind’s greatest achievements, defining the USA as the victor in the space race with an accomplishment to rank with Christopher Columbus discovering the New World. Inspired by the Apollo 11 mission that delivered astronauts to the lunar surface, in a licensed collaboration with NASA, Montegrappa has reproduced the iconic Saturn V rocket, interpreted as a writing instrument. To be offered as a fountain and a rollerball pen, the Moon Landing Collection made in white pearlized resin with sterling silver trim, adorned with enamel to reproduce a three-dimensional trompe-l’œil effect of the rocket body’s First, Second and Third “stages”. Around the First Stage are the legend “USA” the American national flag, laser-cut and enamel-filled in exquisite detail. The pen cap is structured to represent the Second Stage and the Apollo command module, with the silver “lost-wax” signature clip, cast in the form of the stairway structure supporting the rocket. Completing the realization of a Saturn V in miniature, the blind cap is reproduced with the exhaust nozzles of the engines of the space-craft, detailed with red enamel. Montegrappa Reaches For the Moon Available as a roller ball or fountain pen, the latter is piston-fed, and its nib is crafted in 18k gold. By turning the bottom part of the pen barrel sideways, the Saturn V pen opens up its mid-section, to reveal its inner filling mechanism, augmented by a lunette-aperture showing the ink inside. For the limited editions, Montegrappa has issued 363 fountain pens in resin and Sterling Silver, the number denoting Saturn V’s height in feet when standing vertically. 110 rollerball pens have been offered in resin and Sterling Silver, because the equivalent in feet of 363 ft is 110 meters.

2019 marks the 50th anniversary of NASA landing on the Moon. It represents one of mankind’s greatest achievements, defining the USA as the victor in the space race with an accomplishment to rank with Christopher Columbus discovering the New World. Inspired by the Apollo 11 mission that delivered astronauts to the lunar surface, in a licensed collaboration with NASA, Montegrappa has reproduced the iconic Saturn V rocket, interpreted as a writing instrument. To be offered as a fountain and a rollerball pen, the Moon Landing Collection made in white pearlized resin with sterling silver trim, adorned with enamel to reproduce a three-dimensional trompe-l’œil effect of the rocket body’s First, Second and Third “stages”. Around the First Stage are the legend “USA” the American national flag, laser-cut and enamel-filled in exquisite detail. The pen cap is structured to represent the Second Stage and the Apollo command module, with the silver “lost-wax” signature clip, cast in the form of the stairway structure supporting the rocket. Completing the realization of a Saturn V in miniature, the blind cap is reproduced with the exhaust nozzles of the engines of the space-craft, detailed with red enamel. Montegrappa Reaches For the Moon Available as a roller ball or fountain pen, the latter is piston-fed, and its nib is crafted in 18k gold. By turning the bottom part of the pen barrel sideways, the Saturn V pen opens up its mid-section, to reveal its inner filling mechanism, augmented by a lunette-aperture showing the ink inside. For the limited editions, Montegrappa has issued 363 fountain pens in resin and Sterling Silver, the number denoting Saturn V’s height in feet when standing vertically. 110 rollerball pens have been offered in resin and Sterling Silver, because the equivalent in feet of 363 ft is 110 meters.

Mia Carissima is fashioned from shiny Malachite Green resin with black accents and Sterling Silver trim. It is a reinterpretation of an historic Elmo pen that was available a century ago and originally produced entirely in ebonite. The new pen possesses a voluptuous form that presents a “simple” silhouette, a shape that fits perfectly in the hand.
Recalling the design languages of a century ago, the signature clip reflects and is strongly influenced by past fashion. Slightly fan-shaped, it features a design with linear etching that epitomises the earliest awakenings of what would become Art Deco. Mia Carissima’s nib is made in 18k gold, adorned with filigree decoration, and is available in the writing grades of Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, , Broad, and Stub 1.1.
This writing instrument also possesses a secret – a technical innovation that still excites pen connoisseurs thanks to complexity that precludes its usage from becoming widespread, even a century later. Characteristic for this fountain pen and true to its vintage inspiration is its “safety nib system.”
Through a special rotating mechanism, positioned inside the barrel, the nib is exposed when being used or retracted when not required. The original pen that inspired Mia Carissima, however, had to be filled with an eye-dropper, thus making the filling ritual rather laborious. It is for this reason that our engineers have developed a new filling system: for the new design, the ink supply is accommodated by an easy-to-replace, single cartridge.
Every special edition produced by Montegrappa is dear to the company, but few evoke so strongly the company’s formative years. Mia Carissima embodies the era of Hemingway and Dos Passos, the war that engulfed Europe and – most poignantly – the many thousands, or even millions of letters that allowed soldiers to communicate with those they left behind.