Diamonds, dragons on European pens
Diamonds, dragons on European pens
By Ati Nurbaiti
JAKARTA (JP): A pen that doesn't conk out when you're in the
middle of signing something important is all the average writer
wants; but when pens come beautifully engraved, in shiny cases
and priced at millions of rupiah, there must be something more to
it.
These were featured in a display of French, German and Italian
pens from the respective companies of Waterman, Mont Blanc and
Montegrappa. The event which began Thursday and will last through
today is held at the atrium of Plaza Indonesia.
But on second thoughts, what would be the point of promoting
such expensive items to a nation notoriously lazy about letter
writing? It is the keyboard that caters to us most of the day.
Apart from scribbling notepads full of seminar notes, "Our
targets are executives who will mainly use them for signing," was
an apt remark by one of the marketing executives.
Promotion targets are also collectors, said other marketing
executives; now this makes more sense, as carrying around a
diamond-studded pen of Rp 388 million (US$175.89) may bring
unease instead of pride. That's right -- one pen and 4,810 tiny
diamonds.
This figure reflects the height of the Mont Blanc mountain
from which the German factory in Hamburg takes its name.
Then, highlighting the importance of affluent Asian consumers
is a pen featuring a dragon figure in gold, silver and red rubies
on a Montegrappa pen -- there are only 100 pieces of the gold
version and 1,912 in silver. The design celebrates the coming
Chinese New Year, Imlek.
"The exact price is yet to be determined but it would be at
least Rp 10 million," said M.F. Massie of the distributor, PT Ina
Era Pena.
Regardless of how much people use pens, it is prestige and a
sense of things beautiful among potential buyers that has
encouraged confident promotions here of various items of high
value.
So confident, that part of the pens were borrowed straight
after a display in Austria.
A British graphologist, Ness Shirley, brings excitement to the
event. She does readings on visitors' handwriting and reveals
interesting points about the writers' personality.
The marketing people said the main aim of the display is
mainly to introduce the items before eventually hooking buyers;
but organizers estimate there are already around 20 collectors
here.
"There are at least eight collectors here who own our pens,"
said Emiliana Nursanti of PT Sumaco Wahana Utama, which
represents Mont Blanc here.
"A governor bought a Waterman for Rp 1.8 million," said
Agustine, Waterman's representative.
The display was opened in grand fashion last Thursday by Mrs.
Maud Girard and Mrs. Karin Seeman, wives of the French and German
ambassadors respectively.
Shoppers watched from the upper floors, perhaps wondered what
the big fuss about pens was: there was even canned applause
together with taped music blared all over the nearby department
store as the diamond-studded pen was revealed by the drawing of a
curtain, the "Solitaire Royal" pen.
Nursanti of Mont Blanc, the manufacturer, said such an open
display would not be held in other countries like Hong Kong, no
matter how affluent buyers are.
Hong Kong buyers are "mature," she said. The last display of
valuable pens in Hong Kong was held behind locked doors.
"Visitors first make an appointment to see the display, but
here nobody will come if we lock the items up," Nursanti added.
Apart from the diamonds and dragon pens, the rest of the
collection, the prices which range from Rp 75,000 to Rp 30
million, are also individually exquisite which dates back to 100
years ago.
Teachers
No less interesting is the background of the inventors: some
were teachers, that rare class of people who preserve writing for
the sake of writing.
Some of us may still remember our first instructions in using
our pencils, and how we regarded our teachers' writing, our first
exposure to the magic of the printed word, as the best.
These teachers, we are told, wanted to produce the perfect
tool for the art of writing. The story of Waterman is rather
different; he was an insurance broker who lost a contract on
account of the failure of his pen. In an effort to write his
signature, the pen splattered ink all over the contract.
Montegrappa says that pens were among the vital tools of the
army in World War I as they remedied homesickness through letter
writing.
So, although we may have no intention of buying any of the
pens, we may be inspired by the devotion of the craftsmen
designing a single pen which can take almost one year. We might
be encouraged to improve on our scribbling, and who knows, maybe
write a few letters.