Pen pervert

As an owner of several Montblanc & Cross pens, it is fair to say that I have both a pen fetish and a pathological fear of losing them (for reasons of sentimentality rather than vanity). The Montblancs look classy and have the cachet, but for writing they are totally outclassed by my brace of Crosses.

In Beijing, there were stacks of fake Montblancs to be had, and the level of replication was impressive. The nibs of the fountain pens even sported '4810' - the height of Mont Blanc, and the refills were also fakes. Any drawbacks? Well, apart from the fact that they were not the real deal, there were no drawbacks. In fact, they were more robust than genuine Montblancs (MB have been cutting corners for the last 10-15 years - tales abound of dodgy nibs, shattered housings, etc), and you can of course fit a genuine MB refill if you wish (I get mine from the MB store in HK airport as that's the cheapest source I have access to).

The quality test is simple. Drop an MB and a Cross on a wooden floor. The MB will crack or shatter, while the Cross will do it's damndest to go straight through the plank.

But here's what I really, really want. But at a price of $2500-3000, i'll just keep it on my 'wet dream' fantasy list instead.

Hoping: that my gear is safely shipped from Taipei & Seoul back to London, and that my nephew Asad likes his new gadget