Page 64 - PROTAGONIST 114

PROTAGONIST / MEMORABLE ENTERPRISES

Singapore. Here is an article in which the values of the past meet gy ensures the clip can be opened without damaging the stones.”)
modernity, where the various arts (design, engraving, gem cutting But, in this series of pens, everything is an achievement: from the
and stone setting) not only come together, but go beyond their lim- pavé of blue sapphires to the engraving of the face of the Carthag-
its. And they yield outstanding results. In this pen-tribute, the crafts- inian goddess Baal’Hammon on the nib. This fountain pen is with-
men have ‘represented’ the account of what history would come to out a doubt a tribute that General Hannibal, with his indomitable
know as the Second Punic War, and the most iconic image of that spirit, utterly incapable of settling for the easy option, would sure-
campaign was surely the elephants, ancestors of tanks, animals nev- ly have appreciated. And who knows if, when he was crossing the
er before seen south of the Alps, bringing shock and awe. Alps, the great leader ever trained his gaze on the highest peak,
See, through the fine working of diamonds, how the stylization of that Mont Blanc from which the Maison takes its name. Neither
the elephant’s head and trunk that adorn the cap of the unique Tito Livio nor any other historian has ever been able to say wheth-
example of the Limited Edition 1 becomes the distinctive feature er Hannibal passed by the foot of the great mountain or chose a
of this work of art (“it is one of the most sophisticated pen caps ev- more southerly route. But should we wish to fill in the gaps in this
er designed by Montblanc,” explains Henning-Koch. “Every sin- legendary enterprise and write those lines that history has stolen
gle gem was cut and positioned by hand, and advanced technolo- from us, we now have a writing tool worthy of the task...

Top of page, ‘The Battle of Zama’, painted by Roviale Spagnolo (1550). Right page, a pen from the limited edition of 86 pieces (86,000 soldiers
crossed the Alps with Hannibal), which privileges the craftsmanship in rose gold. The effect reproducing the leopard-skin
pattern on the cap was achieved using a highly sophisticated laser engraving technique. The elephant’s eyes are cognac-coloured diamonds.

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