Nancy Olson

Once you’ve written with a high-quality writing instrument, there is no going back to the average pen. The feel of a well-made pen in the hand and the smoothness of its stroke on the page is a tangible luxury. For those seeking a fine writing instrument, here are six key features to consider. Look for […]

Hand-turned resin in cool marble or warm tobacco tones and jewelry-quality filigree combine to create the first collection of Cuervo y Sobrinos pens. Introduced this spring, the fountain and roller ball pens are the Switzerland-based company’s first foray into the world of luxury writing instruments. Three layers of resin are used to ensure a depth […]

Swiss luxury brand Caran d’Ache pays tribute to the famous authors who traversed Lake Geneva with its Secret Journey trilogy writing instruments. Secret Journey I, which was introduced earlier this year, is an homage to Voltaire, and the newest, Secret Journey II, is dedicated to François-René de Chateaubriand. The latest introduction is a black-lacquer body […]

The Scheufele family, owners of the Swiss watch and jewelry brand Chopard, has collaborated with opera star José Carreras on a collection of writing instruments. This is the second partnership with opera star: Chopard created a limited-edition watch collection honoring Carreras in 1996. The José Carreras writing instruments pay homage to the architectural style of […]

A new design for challenging times, S.T. Dupont’s Defi, which in French means challenge, invites us to redefine our concept of luxury pens. Completely different from anything S. T. Dupont has offered in the past, the pens have a sleek composite-carbon fiber body that is accented with palladium-finished metal, giving it an aerodynamic aesthetic that is masculine […]

The one-of-a-kind David Oscarson Jacques de Molay pen (636.458.4345, http://www.davidoscarson.com) is named for the last grand master of the Knights Templar, a Christian military order that fought in the Crusades. In 1307, France’s King Philip IV, who was deeply in debt to the order, had de Molay and his fellow knights arrested on charges of […]

The 450-plus gemstones on the barrel of the Curtis Australia Wildlife Warriors Gold Warrior fountain pen (+61.3.5152.1089, http://www.curtisaustralia.com) form a landscape for various animals depicted in solid-gold relief. The crocodile, koala, kangaroo, tiger, and elephant—some of them indigenous Australian creatures, some of them animals the wildlife-protection organization Wildlife Warriors works to save overseas—appear against sapphire […]

The Montegrappa Paulo Coelho pen (866.854.1674, http://www.montegrappa.com) is a tribute to the acclaimed Brazilian author of The Pilgrimage, a 1987 novel based on his experience walking the approximately 500-mile journey from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. References to the book include the engraving of a compass on the pen’s cap crown […]

Every detail of the Caran d’Ache 1010 (718.482.7500, http://www.carandache?.com)—from the tiny screw at the top of the clip to the multidimensional gold overlay of gear wheels and bridges—is intended to evoke a timepiece and thus Switzerland, the pen-making brand’s homeland. The pen, made of 18-karat gold and limited to 10 pieces, is priced at $120,000. […]

Pen maker Montblanc was founded in Hamburg, Germany, in 1906, the same year that jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels opened in Paris’ Place Vendôme. In December 2006, the two brands celebrated their combined two centuries of creating luxury accessories by introducing the Mystery Masterpiece pen. The white-gold fountain pen features a heavily jeweled overlay, designed […]