The Visit to Montblanc Headquarters Pen Studio

Montblanc, based in Hamburg, Germany, has more than 1,000 employees. If you have the opportunity to visit Hamburg, you should make an appointment to visit the manual pen production studio at Montblanc headquarters to learn more about this world-renowned brand.

·Art Gallery

Montblanc originated from the art of writing and therefore believes that it has a special responsibility to support culture and art. At the avant-garde art exhibition held at the Montblanc headquarters in Hamburg each autumn, many unique collections are created, where you can enjoy these exhibits. All exhibits are presented in museums or galleries. Each piece of art has a Montblanc hexagonal white star element that is displayed throughout the production or administrative area of Montblanc.

·Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award

Since 1992, Montblanc has been honored to invest time, energy and money to fund these artists to complete their creations. This special award funded by the Montblanc Cultural Foundation is held in 10 countries in Europe, the US and Asia.

·Museum

Montblanc built a museum at its headquarters to let people know more about its historical value as opposed to its commercial value. On the right side of the entrance, people can learn about the history of Montblanc:

Montblanc was founded in 1906. Unlike other luxury brands such as Cartier, Tiffany, Hermes, etc., the formation of the Montblanc brand is not influenced by personal character.

Montblanc's core competitiveness stems from the ink pen. In 1906, two German entrepreneurs, August Eberstein and Alfred Nehemias, traveled to the United Kingdom and the United States. There, they were deeply attracted by a new invention: a writing instrument with its own ink container that eliminates the need to retrieve ink from the ink bottle. It is the prototype of the ink pen.

The legend of the name of Montblanc:

1. Aura of light: Europe's famous mountain peak Mont Blanc is tall and straight, its mountain is black, the top of the mountain is white, which is similar to the ink pen.

2. A romantic: Mont Blanc is the highest peak of the Alps which means top quality.

In 1924, the classic in the writing instrument, the Meisterstück ink pen, came into the market. Up till now, it is still the embodiment of the perfect combination of perfect design, ergonomics and writing culture (as a permanent exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York). Meisterstück is the brand's most prestigious range of writing instruments.

From 1930 onwards, Montblanc began to engrave the number 4810 (the height of the Swiss Mont Blanc) at the key position of the ink pen— at the nib.

The left and right side windows have exquisite exhibits showing the development history of Montblanc.

Visiting the manufacturing room

Technical training workshop: The training of processing technicians is carried out in the training workshop. There are about a dozen trainees there, each of whom has to undergo training for three and a half years. All trainees are trained according to the company's requirement, which means that once they have completed an intensive training course with relevant experience and expertise, they will be accepted as full-time employees immediately. The company relies on professional skills, but it’s difficult to find the talents who possess relevant skills in the job market.

Equipment Manufacturing Department: This is where all the equipment, such as punch machines, grinders, and necessary equipment for producing the nib, for the assembly is manufactured. This department is also affectionately called the "fire brigade." Once the injection molding, surface engineering or machine in the production plant fails, the equipment manufacturing department will immediately receive a notice and try to eliminate the fault as soon as possible to prevent the machine from being out of service for too long.

Plug-in mold department: This is where the precious resin is processed into exterior and interior trim, and it is the key of Montblanc's renowned high gloss. As we can see, the trims include the ink guide, the pen ring, the ink bladder, and the cap. You may not know before that the composition of the material is a strictly conservative secret of Montblanc. At the entrance you can see the containers containing the applied material samples used in the production process.

Pen mouth manufacturing department: the key position of the ink pen - the finishing work of the nib is carried out here. For the owner of the ink pen, the most important decision is made in the production of the gold nib. The job here is to determine the characteristics of the gold nib and get life, in other words, no two gold nibs are exactly the same.

In front of the entrance area of the nib manufacturing department, are a series of display cases through which you can learn the main steps of nib manufacturing.

Assembly line

Display stand: The Montblanc Meisterstück series has to go through dozens of processes. Each Meisterstück and Meisterstück Solitaire series corresponds to a code that will be laser engraved on the pen holder. All ink pens must pass 100% firmness testing, surface testing and functional control testing. Information such as the date of assembly of the writing instrument, the attribution of the workshop, etc. will be permanently reflected in the code. The final process is to check the registration number on each writing instrument, the pen holder, and the package.

Master Craft Workshop:

The word "master" contains the connotation of superb skills and accurately interprets the miracles in the master workshop. The workshop was created in 1997. Today it has a team of nearly a hundred people, creating a “writing treasure” in a 1000 square meter area.

While providing the consumers and guests the chance to experience the Montblanc brand style, the workshop also allows for the production of small-scale versions of high-quality writing instruments.

Equipment manufacturers have developed the necessary equipment to make these special versions. Starting from the overall concept, the designer creates personalized details in the production based on the characteristics of the person who gave the limited edition its name. Design engineers use 3D software to turn design sketches into technical data. Then they used rapid prototyping techniques to detect the feasibility and appearance of the new version.

Engineers and goldsmiths of the precision instrument are engaged in the creation of exquisite surfaces. Mosaicists of the high-quality gemstone are responsible for decorating these “writing treasure” with gems and diamonds. Only the nibs are still manufactured in the nib factory, and all the delicate resin is manufactured in the injection molding department. Along the architecture of the Master Crafts workshop, you can observe the craftsman's manufacturing process at every step. We will step into the showroom later, where we will see some of the most fascinating works.

Showroom:

As you enter the showroom, you can see the limited edition, which is different from the retail series and Patron of Art, to experience more detail of the masterpiece.

*All ink pens shown here are samples, not part of the commodity. At the same time, all visitors are required to wear gloves before touching the exhibits.

Three different categories of products are produced in artisan workshops:

1. Patron of Art 4810 & 888

2. Retail version. Different limited editions are produced in different countries. For example, Winston Churchill (UK) - this writing instrument was limited to 53 because Churchill was awarded the title in 1953. Each retail limited edition is available in quantities ranging from 50 to 150.

3. Private custom series (unique works, which are available in quantities of one, three, and some 10 to 20).

The molding of each product goes through a long process. It usually takes 6 months from the first design draft to the first model.

The Master Crafts Workshop is basically a large workshop consisting of small workshops. From design, production to assembly, packaging of the writing instruments, all the steps in the processing flow are reflected here. Therefore, it can meet the special requirements for the limited edition.