Flaunt your handwriting as you indulge in these luxury pens

In an age when birthday wishes are sent via WhatsApp recordings across continents and 'you' becomes 'u' in SMS language, writing may soon become a forgotten art.

Writing with pen and paper gives Anil Dharker, author, columnist and Founder of Literature Live! the Mumbai International Literary Festival, more time to collect his thoughts. “Many older writers, even when typewriters were available, used paper and pen because it gave them a little more time to think. And if you have a good pen, handwriting looks great on paper. There's joy in filling a pen with ink and seeing the results on a white sheet of paper. Holding a nice solid pen has its own charm. 

Parimal Shroff, Advocate, Solicitor and Attorney, is very much a pen-and-paper person too. “As a lawyer, I come across stranger-than-fiction facts; I deal with commercial disputes, constitutional problems, corporate matters and family differences—there are so many stories. I put them down, so one day I can write about my experiences. I also make a note of things I read—a line of poetry, perhaps; I note down couplets and in between my appointments, I peep into my diary to read them, it gives me immense joy.”

“My dad gave me my first pen—a maroon Sheaffer pen,” shares Anil Dharker. “In my excitement, I tried to fill it with ink and a drop fell on the white silk lining of the box. I used the pen for years. It was considered a lucky pen, many inlcuding my sister would borrow it for their exams.” 
For those still smitten by inkpots and nibs, let these pen-makers indulge you!

Montblanc

Paying tribute to one of the greatest icons of literary history—Leo Tolstoy—this Limited Edition Leo Tolstoy pen is inspired by Yasnaya Polyana, the home in which the writer was born and lived with his family. The shape of the cap’s top is defined by the characteristic pillars at the entrance of the estate. The hammered silver-plated barrel case is handcrafted and symbolises Tolstoy’s philosophy of working the land with his hands. Engraved with the author’s signature, the dark grey and blue marbled resin caps with platinum-plated fittings mirror the colours on the covers of his first major works and the colours of his study. This 9,000-limited-edition fountain pen has a rodium-plated solid gold nib that bears the Tolstoy family’s aristocratic coat-of-arms. 

Montegrappa

Inspired by the distillate ‘grappa’, the Grappa Pen pays homage to Bassano del Grappa—one of the major producers of grappa and Montegrappa’s home town.Both, the historic traditions of grappa distilling and the aesthetic of steampunk have influenced the design of this pen. Its cap and barrel is made from materials reminiscent of the distilling vessels—stainless steel, brass and copper—with a pocket clip that recalls the copper tubing used in the distilling process. Inserted into the top of the cap, beneath a filigree-cut octagonal grid recalling Montegrappa’s eight-sided symbol, is a disc made of cork as used in a grappa bottle top. Having been dipped in aged grappa, the cork emanates its scent. The 18-carat gold duotone nib is embellished with a bunch of grapes on the vine. 

Lamy

Leveraging the minimalist and sleek designs of the Bauhaus era, the Lamy 2000 is a combination of black and silver. Made from lightweight Makrolon and fiber glass, the design follows the Bauhaus philosophy of ‘form follows function’.The pen’s barrel and cap have a brushed matte texture that resists fingerprints and provides a secure grip. The texture also helps make the seams, where the filler knob and barrel meet, virtually invisible. The clip, made from a solid billet of stainless steel, is rigid, but internally spring-suspended so that it can open to grip even the thickest jacket pockets.