Montblanc’s first fountain pen series, the Rouge et Noir, is back — and it’s sexier than ever.
An advertisement for the original Montblanc Rouge et Noir fountain pen series.
When a merchant, engineer and entrepreneur teamed up in 1906 to combine their expertise, they created a revolutionary writing instrument that eventually led to the birth of a legend three years later—the Montblanc Rouge et Noir fountain pen series. With a black ebonite body and a red cap, the Rouge et Noir was the maison’s first product line and has now been reinvented in celebration of its 110th anniversary.
The new Montblanc Heritage Collection Rouge & Noir maintains the same vintage vibe of its predecessor, but has a sleeker silhouette and modern piston technology. A striking serpent motif is another added feature, and is seen throughout the entire collection wrapped around the top of the pen and snaking down the cap as a clip. Inspired by its popularity in the design of art nouveau artists during the time of the original Rouge et Noir, the serpent motif evokes desire, power and mystery. It also represents rebirth and renewal, which is extremely fitting as the maison revisits its early pioneering spirit and revamps one of its first creations.
Combining form and function for a more luxurious writing experience are two ranges in the Heritage Collection: the Special Edition and Limited Edition 1906. The Rouge & Noir Special Edition bears Montblanc’s signature off-white snowcap on its crown with an added coral precious resin embedding. The 1920s-inspired serpent clip on the Special Edition is stunning with its green eyes, and went through a special galvanic and striping process to achieve its patina coating. Demonstrating the maison’s attention to detail, each pen also has a serpent head motif intricately engraved on its rhodium-plated Au585 gold nib.
Every writing instrument in the Rouge & Noir series comes with a serpent head engraved on its nib, as seen here on the Limited Edition 1906.
The Rouge & Noir Special Edition comes in precious black resin with lacquer or vivid coral resin with lacquer.
The eyes on the serpent of the Heritage Rouge & Noir Limited Edition solid red gold cufflinks come in ruby, sapphire or emerald. Each design is limited to just three pieces each.
The most exclusive of the Rouge & Noir series, the Ultimate Serpent Limited Edition 1, is worth €1.2m.
From left: The serpent motif is seen throughout the entire collection, from the Serpent Limited Edition 110 to the Royal Serpent Limited Edition 10, to the Imperial Serpent Limited Edition 3.
Setting the Limited Edition 1906 apart from the Special Edition is the use of ebonite, a material containing natural rubber with sulphur and linseed oil, first used in an early 1909 model. Still traditionally manufactured, the ebonite gives off a unique scent produced by the sulphur, giving users a sensorial experience similar to that in the old days. Again, the serpent appears with its body as the clip adorned with precious ruby eyes, and engraved on the rhodium-plated Au750 gold nib.
To add even more exclusivity to the luxurious Heritage Collection, the Montblanc Atelier showcases its metiers d’art by combining the finest stone-cutting, gem-setting, engraving and gold nib‑crafting in a collection of extremely limited high jewellery writing instruments.
Of the four designs in the high artistry Rouge & Noir series, the most exclusive is the Ultimate Serpent Limited Edition 1, retailing at €1.2m, with only one piece available worldwide. Crowned with an approx 6,15-carat IF grade Montblanc Diamond, the body of the instrument is entwined with a serpent made from a single piece of Au750 rose gold. With 99g of gold making up more than half its weight, the Ultimate Serpent Limited Edition 1 embodies the most precious metals used in any Montblanc fountain pen. Carefully set with 15.34 carat of dark blue sapphires and 153 individually-cut geometric diamonds, the extravagant creation is literally one of a kind.
Other high artistry designs include the Imperial Serpent Limited Edition 3 which features a hand-engraved snakeskin design in grey ruthenium finish; the Royal Serpent Limited Edition 10 with a grey PVD-coated snakeskin motif and solid white gold hardware; and the Serpent Limited Edition 110 which has a serpent clip with a flexible tongue. As indicated by their names, these creations each have only three, 10 and 110 pieces available, respectively.
To complement the exquisite Rouge & Noir writing instruments, the Montblanc Heritage Collection will be introducing a complementary fine stationery collection with the first piece being a black leather notebook embossed with spiralling serpents. Apart from this, a serpent-themed assortment of cufflinks, tie bar and bracelet have been designed to pair with the various Rouge & Noir pieces like a match made in heaven.