It’s been 100 years since ink was first spilled on Montblanc’s Meisterstück, the fountain pen wielded by Nelson Mandela, Yoko Ono, Presidents Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy, and others.
To mark the centenary of this luxury instrument, the German luxury house took over Los Angeles’ Paramour Estate (former home of silent film star Antonio Moreno) for a star-studded evening to launch a new global campaign designed by Wes Anderson – with a red carpet inspired by the alpine setting of the short film.
Although the Oscar-winning filmmaker was absent (he was busy filming in Berlin), campaign co-stars Jason Schwartzman and Rupert Friend were on hand for a sit-down dinner alongside guests Adrien Brody, Maude Apatow, Emma Roberts (who requested a custom sketch from on-site artist Kevin Zych), Simu Liu (who was seen peeking inside the hilltop mansion’s speakeasy), Kiernan Shipka, Waris Ahluwalia, Dylan Sprouse , Laura Harrier, Maya Erskine and Callum Turner.
The evening included the unveiling of a new comedy film from Anderson’s Montblanc campaign, in which the director stars alongside Schwartzman and Friend.
Participants also included Korean star and Montblanc brand designer Lee Jinuk, Chinese actor and global brand ambassador Jing Boran, model-musician Lucky Blue Smith, French football superstar Zinedine Zidane, model Stella Maxwell and others alongside VIP friends of the brand. On the menu: Bavarian pretzels, spring lobster salads with cucumber shavings and golden beets, filet mignon with English pears and French carrots, and pistachio financier topped with a dome of passion fruit garnish and mango.
And it wouldn’t have been a proper birthday party without a serenade from an EGOT winner. On a stage decorated with Swiss chalet-inspired decor and two large screens showing the snow-capped peak of Mont Blanc in the Alps, John Legend sang “Happy Birthday” to the centenarian honoree as part of an intimate set that included covers from Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”, The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” and his hit “All of Me”, to name a few. Legend told the crowd that he once visited the Paramour estate to film a Christmas video. “I’ll always associate this place with fake snow,” he joked.
Montblanc Meisterstück gold-plated fountain pen
The seated dinner was capped off with an after-party, where other influencers and insider guests arrived to enjoy vegan cauliflower-crusted pizzas, cheeseburger sliders, and signature cocktails with Calamigos tequila .
It takes at least 35 steps to forge the rhodium-encrusted nib of the Montblanc Meisterstück using handmade 14- or 18-karat gold rings. It is finished with the signature engraving “4810” representing the height in meters of…
