Introduction

The List is, to the best of our knowledge, the most complete and accurate as possible at the date of writing. We have consulted many sources from Europe and the USA, but there may be Limited edition pens made in countries such as China, India, Argentina, Russia, Taiwan, that have escaped our attention. We are also missing a few pictures and facts. We welcome any additional information that would help us to complete the list for the next edition, in the year 2000.

The Prices.

The prices indicated in our list are the “list prices” or “ recommended retail prices” at the time of the introduction on the market. These prices may vary from one country to another, according to the marketing policy of manufacturers and distributors. Since the U.S. market is the dominant market in pen sales, we have given, whenever possible, the list price in U.S.$, in the U.S. market. For European pens the price indicated in (Euros) is the list price in the country of origin,when know to us. For the other pens, the Euro price is the equivalent in Euro's of the price in us$ on the U.S. market, at the rating at the date of writing.

Market Value.

One of the many good reasons to market a Limited Edition, is to create an artificial rarity that will reflect on the price, and that should transform the pen into a sound investment.

 A mint in box, unusual, virgin pen, with its birth certificates will always be worth more than an used pen, be it a Limited Edition, or an Unlimited Edition. The values are meant to increase with time, but there are so many factors which influences the markets, that it is next to impossible to indicate significant market values for most of the pens in the list. Furthermore, most of these pens are of  recent manufacture and it is too early to see if their value will go up, or down, or stabilize.

The market values can also vary from country to country, if only because the list prices vary, and it is greatly influenced by the notoriety of the manufacturer. We have left a blank space on the pen charts, under the heading "Collection Value"; the readers are invited to fill this space according to their own informations.

The authors assume no responsability for financial loss or gain based on the use of this book.

The Production Figures.

The production figures mentioned are those advertised by the manufacturers or specified by specialist publications. During our inquiries we encountered a few contradictory figures, given by equally reliable sources; and the answers we managed to get from manufacturers, distributors and retailers only added to the mystery, as if the information was itself limited, or considered as irrelevant; sometimes the official sources consulted stated flatly that “ this pen does not exist “?.We were unable to clarify these few confused informations, at the time of publication. Again, we welcome any additional informations or corrections.

Limited Editions.

A personal view

By Marc Van der Stricht.

What is the best way to react to a less and less limited choice of limited editions, which are becoming more and more off-limits than ever for pen lovers and collectors?

All those pens: clothed in rare and precious materials and golden trim, sheathed in historical symbolism armed with numbered certificates, protected by sumptuous packaging  and aimed directly at our most vulnerable points.

The marketing of these dream creatures makes them collectibles rather than writing instruments. Who would dare to displace the factory air still lingering within them with potentially corrosive ink? To leave fingerprints all over their pristine bodies?

The most renowned editions are already steeped in legend whose intoxicating auras exalt the exotic celluloids, dusky ebonite and gold and silver filigree. One hears rumors that it is still possible to find the unfindable at the Beirut Airport shop or that it can be acquired from a Hong Kong pen authority….

Some pens are reserved only for specific market; others are mysteriously absent from catalogs; still others are subject to restricted sales. To snare them one has to be plugged in to a network of international scope.

A pen with a lost or misplaced certificate of authenticity automatically becomes suspect.

It isn’t enough to buy just one. You need at least three: one to write with, one to save and one for future resale.

My Own Experience (I)

Since I consider myself a pen “user” as opposed to a “collector” (I don’t have a “collection”, I have a “supply”.), I don’t really feel I am the target of these Limited Editions, more costly than other pens but no better at writing. Besides, would I ever dare to really use an exceptionally rare and precious pen without thinking twice? Perhaps the pen itself, only too aware of its prestige and exclusivity, might of its own volition refuse to lend itself to frequent use. If I didn’t dare to use it, it would never really be “my” pen; I would not be its master, only its caretaker.

I Once fell violently in love with a green Omas I saw in a store window in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. I had no idea it was one of those formidable Limited Editions. Its indescribable green color was irresistible. I tried it: it was supernaturally light and soft. The salesman told me it was an Italia 90 of which only 200 had been made, but I didn’t pay too much attention. I convinced my wife to surprise me with it, along with a bottle of matching green ink. The ink was brilliant, very fluid almost oily, like liquid grass.

Some time later, I learned that 5.000 of them had been produced, not 200, but it didn’t matter. When the bottle of green ink was empty, I went to get more only to learn that it had been produced only during the year 1990. I finally found one other bottle at Mora’s in Paris and I use it sparingly. I can not imagine any other color ink in this pen. I’m trapped.

How Many Are There?

A predetermined number of  pens at time of issue is of course the main characteristic of the Limited Edition. I suppose the quantity chosen is the result of market research. I it can represent things like a symbolic number (e.g., anniversary date, year of company founding, or the height of  The  Montblanc).

Sometimes the quantity is limited by physical conditions such as a limited supply of a certain material or smallscale manual production.

Some editions are only expressed in total figures, such as the Cross 150^th Anniversary which includes three instruments in two choices of finish, totalling 10.000 in all. We don’t know how many of each instrument and finish exist.

Other editions, like the Aurora 75^th Anniversary Vermeil , are “double” editions: 1.919 for Italy and 1.919 for the rest of the world, or a total of 3.838 in all.

There are  also editions whose quantities are not determined in advance, but which are produced over a limited time span, such as Montegrappa’s annual editions ( perhaps 2.000-2.500 per year) or the Omas Colombo II (produced only from 1992 to 1994).

Some editions are so limited that they are only made on request, like the Omas Almirante (with a maximun of 30 units.)

And, there are quasi-Limited Editions like Montblanc’s Ramses II, with distribution restricted only to certain stores.

Most Limited Edition pens are individually numbered, for example: 0026/10000 (N°26 of 10.000). There are some 0000/0000s like the Pelikan 1931 displayed in Lyon. These are prototypes, not for sale. In ilburg I saw an E.E. Ercolessi with no number; it too was a prototype.

Then again, the Delta Astra is not a Limited Edition at all, but each pen is numbered neverthless.

Of course it’s terribly chic to have all the versions available in the Limited Edition, each with the identical number!

My Own Experience (II).

In 1993, when the Omas Galileo Galilei came on the market, I knew in a flash it was one of the most beautiful pen in the world. Alas, I couldn’t persuade anyone to give it to me for Christmas, or for my birthday, or in 1994, or in 1995. There were 4.692 made and I had no doubt whatsoever that fate had reserved one for me. But events in support of this inner conviction were slow in materializing and day by day I could feel almost physically all around me , each pen being sold off one by one to someone else.

The suspense became unbearable, until a few months ago, when the favorable conditions I had been hoping for finally converged.

I had the choice of a Galileo with fine or medium nib. They both wrote equally well. With the greatest of care I compared the black and white marbling and I finally chose the medium.

Now I realize I should have bought them both. Maybe it’s not too late.

Who Started It All.

Pen historians are in agreement that Parker was the first to launch a Limited Edition in 1965 with its 75 Spanish Treasure Fleet. The extraordinary story of this Limited Edition was told in advertising of the time. Here are the details.

On the morning of july 30, 1715, the Spanish fleet which each year brought back treasures of gold and silver from America to Philippe V, King of Spain, left Veracruz. During the night, as it sailed along off the Florida coast,  a powerful hurricane struck. The 11 galleons were dashed upon the reefs and all but one went down. Over 1.000 men and 14 million dollars worth of treasure were lost.

The Spaniards (and the pirates of Bahamas) succeeded in salvaging part of the treasure. The rest remained on the ocean floor for 250 years, until the arrival upon the scene of Kip Wagner.

Kip Wagner was somewhat of an amateur antique dealer. One day while he was walking along the shoreline of Vero Beach, he found a silver coin struck with the Spanish coat of arms, which a hurricane had deposited in  the sand the night before . This discovery would change Kip Wagner’s life : he was to become the greatest treasure hunter since 1687.

Kip Wagner assembled and studied all the available documents concerning the period the Spanish  fleet had been active and the aera where it had disappeared. The silver coin he had found was from Mexico.

Armed with an old mine detector, he continued to explore the beach. He found other coins, cannon balls, boat nails, and a gold ring set with diamonds. He rented an airplane and a glass-bottomed boat. At the bottom of the sea he found cannons covered in marine growth and mussels. He decided to organize a good team and to request authorization to salvage. The State of Florida accorded the finder of treasure 75% share for himself.

The team worked for over 10 years, developing special equipment to clear the sand and mud covering the wrecks.

Each day of work produced results : gold ducats, thousands of silver coins, « new » Chinese K’ang Hsi porcelain ( never used in 250 years). Kip Wagner evaluated the find at more than a million dollars.

The Parker Pen Company of Janesville, USA, bought a quantity of silver coins to make the 75 Spanish Treasure Fleet pens, all of which were produced in a matter of only a few days.

Each 75 Spanish Treasure Fleet came with a certificate signed by Kip Wagner and a notary public confirming that the pen was made of silver culled from the treasure of the Spanish fleet that went down in 1715 along the Florida coast.

4.821 pens were produced ; they sold for $75, or triple the price of the pens in the regular Parker 75 series, which were almost identical. (note : The parker 75 was designed by Kenneth Parker to recapture the deluxe pen market. It was of solid silver in the famous crosshatch design. The Arrow Park factory made over 11 million of them (between 1965 and 1981.)

Why Limit ?

There are many good reasons for a company to purposely limit production of a model.

One of the best reasons is the opportunity to show it can exceed the standards of even its best regular models.

Free of technical and commercial constraints imposed by the regular lines, styles exceptional in design and/or materials can be created and put on sale in small quantities in the best stores. Remember that Georges Parker said if you make something better than others there will always be someone to buy it. How true!

Another reason, which goes hand in hand with that idea, is creation of an « instant collectible », a rare and precious object specifically destined for collectors, and of which the monetary value will increase with time . The pen thus additionally becomes an investment (as long as it is scrupulously preserved in its original condition with all its documentation intact).

Technical limitations come into play as well : availability of only a small amount of historic metal (Parker) or vintage celluloid (Visconti), or precious wood (Omas, Ferrari de Varese); wearing out of a complicated sculpted casing mold ( Montegrappa ) ; difficulty of handwork requiring demanding qualifications (Namik).There are also some specific reasons ; for example, commemoration of historic or current events. There are firms and organizations which have limited lines made for their own clients, supporters or guests.

If it indeed seems Parker began with the 75 Spanish Treasure Fleet in 1965, few other brands followed suit, until in 1992 Montblanc came out with the Lorenzo de Medici. This event revived the phenomenon to the point that today almost every brand has Limited Editions.

There are  certainly pens which have been produced in very small quantities, without ever having been called Limited Editions, either because their production quantities were uncertain at the start or the production was private or temporary in nature . These pens are no less rare or interesting.

My Own Experience (III).

When the new Parker Duofold Mandarin Yellow was announced in Plumes Magazine,

I experienced conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it was obviously a marketing ploy – 10.000 total units, only a few dozen for our country ( Belgium ), double the price of the regular Duofold and , to top it all off,

the point in medium only.

On the other hand, this was the unexpected chance to acquire a legendary Mandarin Yellow Duofold, new, guaranteed, not used or discolored, not bent or cracked, and cheaper than a vintage yellow Duofold in perfect condition. Graced with another convergence of favorable conditions, I fell into the marketing trap.

What I had not foreseen was that the presence of this new Mandarin Yellow Duofold would create in me the urgent need to have a vintage one as well. And that once again favorable conditions would converge to expose me to the possibility of acquiring one ( which I did, at a sacrificial cost which is blanked from my memory). You see, it is foolhardy to believe that buying « the » pen will put an end to the problem.

Limited to What Point ?

Many brands, Montblanc and Montegrappa, for instance, affirm that the instruments used for the hand production of certain of their most precious and costly designs will be destroyed once the designated number of pens is reached, and that there will never be any more made.

This is a self-set limit ; it is not imposed as, for exemple in the case of exhaustion of the stock of a specific material.

In some cases the manufacturer probably could produce more pens but marketing strategy has determined otherwise.

What would happen if, for some extraordinary reason, I broke – no, I mean my Nettuno Superba 231/911 somehow got broken ? Could it be replaced by another piece with the same number ?

Since all these pens are covered by solid guarantees, the manufacturers, before destroying the special manufacturing instruments, amass a supply of unnumbered replacement parts for just that purpose.

Limited Editions are allocated by country, creating yet another set of limitations. Quotas are negociated and fixed. (Of 10.000 Parker Mandarin Yellow Duofolds, only 80 were destined for Belgium, 868 for France, and 3000 for the U.S.).

Accessories.

Some six years ago, I was in Florence, and saw and admired the brand new Aurora Colombus

( 1.492 units). I was astonished to see it had a companion inkwell filled with sand. A Mr Verona explained to me that the sand came from the beach on the island of San Salvador, where Columbus reportedly touched down 500 years before. In the sand were three gold nuggets symbolizing the three caravels of the celebrate navigator.

I didn’t have the heart to tell Mr Verona that I had just read in National Geographic an in-depth article concluding that Columbus’first landing had been not on San Salvador, but on Samana Cay, another island some 100 km to the southeast. After all, isn’t the idea far more important than the authenticity of the sand ?

Once, at the home of a experienced collector, I had occasion to enjoy viewing, in its original box, a Japanese pen sheathed in white leather with the ends perched on little props draped with dark blue silk. In a swirl of the silk, lay an inkwell whose cap was sealed with wax. I thought to myself why not seal the pen cap and filling mechanism as well ? the seals would be broken only in the presence of an official representative of the manufacturer, who would be required to write on the pen’s documents the date and circonstances of this ceremony.

The most extraordinary pen setting I have seen is the one surrounding the Montegrappa Luxor. It is a veritable Egyptian temple with statue and canopic jar in labradorite. I felt templed to kneel before taking the  pen in my hand, maybe even to make a sacrifice beforehand, such as burning an old celluloid pen…

Enough. I’m getting carried away- propelled by impatience- because I know that the conditions favorable to my acquisition of all these fabulous writing instruments are nowhere near converging.

 Choice.

Not being in a position to acquire everything, one has to choose. One can remain faithful to a single brand ; concentrate on pens in precious metals ( more durable than their celluloid counterparts) ; decide that beyond a certain number produced, it’s no longer as limited Edition ; stick with a specific line or a special theme.

Some people prefer pens of original design rather than those based on existing lines                      

The demanding user will avoid certain models which are as uncomfortable to hold as they are spectacular to behold. The choice of point widths is often very limited in the Limited Editions

( more so than regular lines). Choice can also be limited by availability. There are brands that are not imported here and among those that are available some models may not be available because distribution is private or local. It could be that they are reserved for priority markets ( e.g.USA, Far East , or that the market is very restricted as in the case of the yellow Omas Ferrari 456 GT- 1.500 rollerballs made – or the Omas reserved only for the Club Internazionale della Stilografica Armando Simoni.

It is in this realm that international networks are important, for without them private models can go unperceived and you might believe, erroneously, that your collection is complete.

Finally, there are prototypes, sometimes only one, like the splendid Montegrappa Special Reserve in pearlized white celluloid. Because of its oversensitivity to ink stains, the white material was dropped in favor of red which became the final choice for the production model.

Monetary Value.

A famous story tells of how Scrooge Mc Duck used part of his fortune to collect all 1 cent pieces dated 1916 .

Having done so, he had them loaded into an airplane and dropped into the ocean – all  except one.

Later, Scrooge put this single cent, by then considered priceless, up for sale. But unfortunately there was only one person in the world rich enough to buy it – Scrooge himself.

This story shows the importance of rarity in determining monetary value. The surviving coin had no other quality to recommend it.

Happily, Limited Edition pens, though not quite  are rare as this single coin, do have a variety of qualities : commemorative, esthetic, technical, precious, rare, relative to regular models, etc, - qualities which in combination make Limited Editions more desirable than unlimited-line pens. Their prestige undoubtedly enhances the manufacturer’s name.

In spite of all, consideration of the monetary value of Limited Editions is unavoidable. Are they a good investment ? It is better not to use them for fear of diminishing their value ? Should you throw yourself wantonly at every new Limited Edition that's announced or sit tight until you can try one or observe how it moves in the market before committing yourself ?

Well, I’m not the person to answer these questions. There do exist in USA, England, Germany, Italy, and other countries, publications of all kinds, including sales catalogs and value guides, which permit the « specullector » to study the international market and watch and see which editions rise, peak or float…

(Translate in English by Joann Geschlecht.)