Since 2009, Montblanc’s Great Characters series has been paying homage to those whose lives and works have truly made a lasting impact. This time the German brand turned its attention to one of the most famous band of all time, The Beatles.
Formed in Liverpool in 1960, they debuted with their first single “Love me do” in October 1962 and immediately became an institution thanks to their explorations and mix of different music styles, combined with unconventional recording techniques and use of music videos. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential act of the rock era. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as “Beatlemania” and then, as their music grew in sophistication, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the four boys came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideas shared by the counterculture of the 1960s.
The Great Characters The Beatles collection is available in three variations: the Special Edition available as a Fountain Pen, Rollerball and Ballpoint Pen, the Limited Edition 1969 available in Fountain Pen and Rollerball and the Limited Edition Fountain Pen 88.
The Special Edition
The Special Edition is a tribute to the 50th birthday of one of the Beatles earliest albums, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. Inspired by the album, the Special Edition Pens with its bright multi-colored striped cap and barrel evoke the color cues from the outfits The Beatles wore on the cover, and for the first time in its 112-year history Montblanc has developed a multi-colour stripe, with a 10-step lacquering process that results in a perfectly sized and positioned pattern.
An ode to the legendary Abbey Road studio, the shape of the cap is designed to resemble a microphone, while the cone is crafted to look like the button on the mixing table from the recording studio. The clip features four iconic moustaches, a reference to the moustaches each Beatle wore in some of their most famous portraits.
The famous Apple logo used on so many historic vinyls was the inspiration for the pattern engraved on the handcrafted Au750 solid gold, ruthenium-coated nib.
The Limited Edition 1969
The second variation, The Beatles Limited Edition 1969, is based on the album “Abbey Road” with meaningful symbols on the white lacquered body of the pen. Alongside the peace symbol on the cap and the silhouette of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road, the cap also refers to the “LMW 28 IF” license plate of the VW depicted on the album’s cover. The Union Jack symbol on the barrel references “Her Majesty” song from Abbey road Album. Come Together and Love Love Love refer to song “She Loves you”.
The writing instrument silhouette is shaped like a “tube microphone” of the Beatles Era and the cone is “made” of buttons of a sound mixing console. The Pen also features the four Beatles signatures. The number 12 in the background is in reference to “Abbey Road” being the 12th UK studio album released by The Beatles.
The moustache designed clip, the recording microphone cone and other fittings are ruthenium coated, and the Montblanc emblem in black and white precious resin crowns the cap top.
The handcrafted two-colour Au750 gold nib is engraved with the famous Apple logo in honor of the music company Apple Corps ltd. founded by the Beatles.
In reference to the release date of “Abbey Road”, the last album the band recorded together, the Edition is limited to 1969 pieces. On the headquarter’s rooftop the band performed what was their last public show, in occasion of the “making of” their final videoclip “Let it be” in January 1969.
The Limited Edition 88
The Beatles Limited Edition 88 celebrates “The Beatles” mark on music history with its limitation to 88 pieces in memory of the year The Beatles were introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1988).
Beatlemania really rose to a fever pitch when the band crossed the pond and arrived in the United States. The Beatles Limited Edition 88 pays tribute to that breakthrough by showcasing a British flag fittingly topped with a crown, a guitar, the Beatles’ signatures and portraits, the Apple Records label, and three bold words, “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”. The words were taken from the cover of the Daily Mirror newspaper, which printed “Yeah, Yeah, USA” to announce the long-awaited arrival of the Beatles in America in 1964. The same design detail is also reflected on the Au750 solid gold nib.
The Au750 solid champagne gold skeletonized overlay on cap and barrel features lacquer inlays, a clip with four charming mustaches, a microphone-shaped cap top and the mixing table button that inspired the cone.
Launch 2017
Special Edition
Fountain Pen 1969
Rollerball 1969
Fountain Pen 88
