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Using design elements from different industries can be a lot like trying to put a round peg in a square hole due of the different philosophies, approaches, and even uses of the products. But then there are those times when something truly spectacular results from the effort. You might wonder what a luxury writing instrument company could possibly take from the world of high-performance cars, but Montblanc and Ferrari have struck on a formula that works.
“Through this creative process,” said Montblanc CEO Nicolas Baretzki, “we applied the design vision of Ferrari to an object that is not a car, seamlessly merging our respective know-hows. The new creation balances the aesthetics of one of Ferrari’s latest automobiles, the Daytona SP3, with the engineering of Montblanc writing instruments to achieve a perfect equilibrium both aesthetically and functionally.”
What Montblanc came up with was the Montblanc Ferrari Stilema SP3, a luxury pen that uses Ferrari’s style, or “stilema,” and combines it with a novel, state-of-the-art filling system. With the help of Ferrari’s chief design officer, Flavio Manzoni, Montblanc explored the proportions, aerodynamics, and architecture of the Daytona SP3 and how it might be represented in a fountain pen.
“It was a fascinating design challenge to translate the proportions and fluidity of the Daytona SP3, ideally contoured for dynamic performance and incredible speeds, to a writing instrument without sacrificing on the quality of the writing experience,” Manzoni said. “Our focus was not only on fluidity of the form but also of function, emphasising the exceptional sensation of holding a high-calibre fountain pen. Not only is the ink fluid, but the pen supports the rapid movements of the hand as it writes, allowing thoughts to flow unimpeded.”
Ferrari’s approach to the design was to break down the typical monolithic design of fountain pens. That proved difficult in that fountain pens have that design for functional reasons. Splitting the pen to insert a “blade” that would reflect the styling of the SP3 necessitated creating a new filling mechanism. Said mechanism can be viewed by pulling back the blade. The blade acts as a “drawer,” which you open to fill the pen. When you close it, the pen can write.
The pen is made of titanium and is designed to represent the way the nose of the Ferrari Daytona SP3’s nose slices through the air. The lined accents of the pen on the barrel and the gripping section represent the car’s horizontal fins. The nib of the pen is made of 18-karat white gold, sis the Montblanc emblem on the cap crown. Montblanc is restricting the production of the Stilema to just 599 pieces, each of which will sell for AUD$27,000 (AUD$40,000) and will only be available upon special arrangement.
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