In a world increasingly ruled by screens, the pen has become a deliberate indulgence. Writing by hand is no longer default behavior, but a choice that signals patience and a solemn refusal to rush.
Few brands understand this preference more than Montegrappa, Italy’s oldest manufacturer of fine writing instruments. Operating since 1912 from Bassano del Grappa, a medieval town in northeastern Italy tucked along the Brenta River, Montegrappa’s pens are still manufactured in their original factory.
“Handwriting is and always will be an expression of identity and emotion,” said Stephen Roussel, director of client relations for Abel Richard. Montegrappa entered a new chapter through an exclusive global retail partnership with Abel Richard boutiques; Roussel met with Crown & Caliber at the first boutique in Beverly Hills.
The Italian brand, which specializes in rollerball and fountain pens, has always attracted an eclectic clientele of actors, athletes, musicians, and popes. But one of its most formative encounters happened in 1918, when a 19-year-old Ernest Hemingway, then a volunteer ambulance driver for the American Red Cross, discovered Montegrappa just steps from his post. He wrote with an Elmo model, which remains in production today, a reminder that longevity is both practical and precious.
As quotidian communication has been reduced to swipes, taps, and the low percussion of keys; putting pen to paper has taken on a different weight. Once mandatory teaching in classrooms, writing by hand (much less cursive) is now an almost radical choice. It leaves behind not only words, but evidence of the person who wrote them.
“Montegrappa’s role is not simply to make pens but to preserve handwriting as a contemporary art form,” said Roussel.
The pens themselves are unapologetically tactile. Artisans engrave, enamel, and assemble each instrument by hand, prioritizing weight, balance, and feel while also creating, and encouraging spectacle.
The “Year Of” series demonstrates how Montegrappa sustains cultural traditions, translating mythology, astrology, and symbolism into objects meant to be used rather than admired at a distance. Conversely, the brand’s collaboration with Automobili Lamborghini extends that philosophy into another Italian obsession. The Automobili Lamborghini 60° collection, inspired by 1960s super sports car design, includes sixty fountain pens and sixty rollerballs rendered in six signature Lamborghini colors. Ultralight hexagonal bodies in aerospace-grade aluminum are coated in forged carbon fiber, with details like the flip-up red cage drawn directly from the marque’s automotive language.
For those inclined to go further, the Extra Custom program offers hand-painted or burin-engraved designs in precious metals, allowing the pen to become as personal as a signature. Prices range from just over a thousand dollars to nearly thirty thousand, depending on materials and ambition.
Our take: At the boutique via their pen configurator, I selected one of four customizable models, the Quattro Custom; Corcovado Montegrappite colorway, engraved initials, personalized clip. Fountain pens always feel significant; that became an obvious choice (versus rollerball or ballpoint) as did a 14K gold nib with a medium grade. If I so choose, I can also switch the cartridge and go old-fashioned with an ink well.
My Montegrappa lives on my desk, a daily reminder that these are not objects designed to be displayed and forgotten but used and enjoyed.
Montegrappa Quattro Custom pen from $1,270; montegrappa.com
