A descendant of the quill

When Emile Benjamin left J-Crew to become Assistant Manager of Fahrney’s Pens in Washington DC, he couldn’t quite figure out, initially, what motivated a customer to spend $4,500 on a David Oscarson pen, let alone the company’s ability to pay salaries and open a store front, on just the sale of pens. But as time went on, it became apparent to him that these pens were not just mere writing instruments—they had somehow transcended their functional use into becoming works of art desired by pen collectors across the United States.

“I saw a customer drop $9,000 on a Caran d’ ache pen,” Benjamin says. “And even though we do not sell $9,000 pens every day, the sale is still quite remarkable.”

The demand for limited-edition pens, a new product in the super-luxury goods market, is growing rapidly in the United States thanks in part to companies such as Montblanc, whose effective marketing efforts, have led to the spread of brand recognition and increased sales through out the U.S., European, and Asian Markets. Limited-edition pens, which come in ballpoint and fountain, are desired for a variety of reasons, with functionality not being a key reason among them.

The buzz all started when Montblanc introduced a ‘writers series’ line of pens during the 1990’s that celebrated the literary accomplishments of a 20^th century writer. In 1992 Montblanc launched a $600 limited edition ‘Hemingway’ pen, which came about when Montblanc purchased the license to use Hemingway’s name and signature from Hemingway Ltd, a company that was formed by Hemingway’s sons, Patrick, Gregory, and John. Even though Hemingway himself never used a Montblanc pen to write his novels—they were written in pencil, the 1930’s designed pen of an orange body and black cap, bearing the signature of Hemingway became a well sought after pen among collectors, and the demand for this pen remains strong today.

“Not everyone liked the orange and black style of the Hemingway pen when it first came out,” Benjamin says. “Some of my customers said that the design and color scheme of the pen made it look ugly, and refused to buy it.”

But when pen aficionados realized that Montblanc had only made a limited amount of these pens, demand grew, and one can only acquire the Hemingway pen today both in fountain and ballpoint, in ‘pre-own’ condition.

“Eighty percent of my customers who buy Montblanc are lawyers who wear the pen as a sort of status symbol,” Benjamin says. “They know Montblanc has a reputation for quality, and they also want a pen that is comfortable to write with.”

At Curtis Drapper Tobacco, a refuge for cigar smokers in Washington DC, tobacconist John Anderson lets his customers sign their credit card receipts with a limited edition

ball point Montblanc pen, as part of the store’s luxury experience.

“In the Montblanc writer’s series, I own a Hemingway, Alexander Dumas, and an Edgar Allan Poe,” Anderson says. “And even though I own some fountain pens, I won’t by them anymore because they are not as functional for me.”

Anderson says that if he allowed his customers to sign their credit card receipts with a limited edition fountain pen, then a beginning user could destroy the nib of the pen by bearing down as they would with a ballpoint. The nib is the part of the pen, which gets applied to paper in order to deposit ink. And it also represents the difference in price and writing quality between a good fountain pen and an average one.

“The steel nib was the biggest factor me when looking for a fountain pen to buy,” says Zeke Williams, a foreign exchange consultant at Travelex Global Business Payments.

“The nib on my Rebecca Moss fountain pen is smooth and yet strong enough that I can let others write with it and not worry about them damaging the nib.”

Zeke says that although functionality ranked high on the scale of his desire to own a Rebecca Moss, his main reason for writing with a fountain pen was that it was timeless art form lost in the fast paced world of a throw away culture.

But in examining the sustainability of the sale of limited edition pens in a down economy, Benjamin says that at Fahrney’s internet and catalogue sales drive the business, with the store being ranked as number three in terms of sales, but each revenue stream is pulling its weight.

“Of course sales are down due to the recession, but we are still doing pretty well because we haven’t had to lay anybody off,” Benjamin says.

The sale of limited edition pens continues to trend upwards thanks in part to companies such as Montblanc, Cartier, Parker and Delta. Montblanc plans to issue limited edition pens beyond its home territory of Europe to the American (its largest market) and Asian market.