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With the Eternal Bird, Montegrappa returns to the "industry high point" of the mid-1990s! A time when a limited edition wasn't an edition unless it's weight was measured in pounds, not ounces. A time when an overlay wasn't an overlay unless it had three, count 'em three dimensions. The Eternal Bird steps right up and holds it's own with the likes of their early editions, the Dragon, the Luxor, and the Aphrodite.
As with that landmark pen, the Eternal Bird is constructed with a celluloid cap and barrel, and is piston fill, with an 18K nib. The real standout for this pen, is of course, the overlay. The Eternal Bird is available in three versions, 1912 pieces in sterling silver, (with 500 matching rollerball versions made) as well as 100 pieces in solid 18K gold. Oh, I said three, right? You could also be one of the ten lucky folks to pick up one of the solid 18K gold versions accented with diamonds... As you can see, we're reviewing the sterling silver version! The silver might not have the same warmth of the gold one, and I think a warmer metal would have worked better with the brilliant red of the underlying celluloid, but the silver version is impressive enough in it's own right. The overlay is die cast in very deep relief, so you have a three dimensional effect that gives the overlay a lot of light and shadow to begin with. Add to this the level of detail present in the casting, and you have an overlay that works quite well as a miniature sculpture surrounding the cap and barrel.
In fact, I was surprised by the nib on this pen. It's quite good! Flexible, in fact. Now, I'm not sure that there will be many of us rushing out to pick one up as a daily user, and at just over three and a half ounces, I'm not going to suggest that this would be a particularly comfortable pen with which to do much long term writing. However, it is a nice nib! For what that's worth. The fact is, this pen is likely going to find itself tucked away in a display cabinet at best, or maybe more likely, a bank deposit box, as part of someone's "investment collection". I won't get into the wisdom of modern LE pens as investments in general here, nor even the investment potential of this particular limited edition. Let's just leave it at the fact that Montegrappa have managed to produce a pen that fully lives up to the original Dragon in both it's concept and it's execution!
The Eternal Bird is being made in an edition of 1912 fountain pens, and 500 rollerballs in sterling silver, 100 fountain pens in 18K gold, and 10 Fountain pens in 18K gold with diamond accents. A matching inkwell is available in both sterling silver and 18K gold, made from Madagascar rock crystal. Copyright 2005 William Riepl All images copyright 2005 William Riepl
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Not
unexpected, as Montegrappa brought back the same artist that created
the Dragon back in 1995. In Chinese mythology, the dragon is commonly
paired off with the Pheonix, the "eternal bird". This pen
is definitely a perfect match for the Montegrappa Dragon of 1995!
The
figures of the phoenix are rendered with great detail, the feathers
especially come across as very well done. Each bird's eye is set with
a ruby, which ties the overlay into the underlying barrel color nicely.
While the overlay is thick, it's not so ungainly that the pen
couldn't be actually used if you so desired.
