It’s been 100 years since ink first flowed through Montblanc’s Meisterstück, the fountain pen wielded by the likes of Nelson Mandela, Yoko Ono, Presidents Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy, and others.
To mark the luxe instrument‘s centennial, the German luxury house took over Los Angeles’ Paramour Estate (once the home of silent movie star Antonio Moreno) for a starry soirée to launch a new global campaign conceived by Wes Anderson — complete with a red carpet inspired by the short film’s alpine setting.
Though 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 seated 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 sneaking a peek inside the hilltop manse’s speakeasy), Kiernan Shipka, Waris Ahluwalia, Dylan Sprouse, Laura Harrier, Maya Erskine and Callum Turner.
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The night included an unspooling of a humorous new Montblanc campaign film by Anderson, in which the director stars with Schwartzman and Friend.
Attendees also included Korean star and Montblanc Mark Maker Lee Jinuk, Chinese actor and global brand ambassador Jing Boran, model-musician Lucky Blue Smith, French soccer superstar Zinedine Zidane, model Stella Maxwell, and others alongside VIP friends of the brand. On the menu were Bavarian pretzels, spring lobster salads with shaved cucumber and golden beets, filet mignon with English pears and French carrots, and a pistachio financier topped with a dome of passion fruit-mango filling.
And it wouldn’t have been a proper birthday bash without a serenade by an EGOT winner. On a stage decorated with a Swiss chalet-inspired backdrop and two large screens showing the snowy Mont Blanc peak in the Alps, John Legend sang “Happy Birthday” to the 100-year-old honoree as part of an intimate set that included covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” and the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” and his hit “All of Me,” to name a few. Legend told the crowd that he’d previously been to the Paramour Estate to film a Christmas video. “I’m always gonna associate this place with fake snow,” he joked.
Montblanc Meisterstück Gold-Plated Fountain Pen
Capping off the seated dinner was an after-party, where additional influencers and insider guests arrived to enjoy cauliflower-crusted vegan pizzas, cheeseburger sliders and signature cocktails with Calamigos tequila.
It takes at least 35 steps to forge the Montblanc Meisterstück’s rhodium-inlaid nib using handmade 14- or 18-karat gold bands. It’s finished with the signature “4810” engraving representing the height in meters of Mont Blanc mountain, and housed by a cigar-shaped black resin barrel and cap topped with the iconic inlaid white emblem.
Those in L.A. can try their hand at the $700-and-up writing instrument at the Montblanc Chalet pop-up in Beverly Hills (459 N Rodeo Dr.). From May 4 to July 31, guests can interact with a snowy scene inspired by the short film’s the Montblanc Observatory High-Mountain Library, explore the Meisterstück’s history, take calligraphy classes and more.
