A legend born in 1924, the Meisterstück celebrates its 90th birthday this year and Montblanc has launched a new limited edition Meisterstück collection to commemorate this incredible milestone.

The Meisterstück collection features a unique selection of sensual leather goods, meticulously crafted timepieces, refined jewellery and, of course, a new Meisterstück writing instrument collection that is the highlight of the collection.

Together with this collection, Montblanc has also initiated a new project where the brand collected 90 facts about the Meisterstück that are shared throughout the year 2014. To date, 60 facts have been posted on the Montblanc Facebook page and official website.

Here, we've picked 10 of the most interesting facts about the Meisterstück to deepen your fascination with this icon.

• The name Montblanc is named based on the famous Mont Blanc mountain in Germany. Each Meisterstück pen has the number 4810 engraved on the nibs to represent the height of the Mont Blanc mountain, while the white snowcap, which adorns every Meisterstück cap,  symbolises the peak of the mountain with its six glacier valleys.
  
  
• In addition to the fountain pen, the Montblanc Meisterstück is also available as a rollerball, ballpoint pen, fineliner, mechanical pencil and a document marker. This year, the limited edition pen comes in a special gift box with a 1924 replica sleeve.

• On each Montblanc Meisterstück pen, there is a tiny number engraved on the clip ring. It is an individual series number known as a "Quo vadis" (Where are you going?) number. This number gives every Meisterstück its own identity.
  
  
• Every Montblanc Meisterstück nib is crafted from solid gold: 18-carat gold (Au750) is used for the 149 Fountain Pen and Meisterstück Solitaire writing instruments, and 14-carat gold (Au585) for the nibs of the Meisterstück Le Grand, Classique or Hommag.

• Did you know that every single Montblanc Meisterstück nib has to undergo a handwriting test? Montblanc's specially trained craftsmen would hear or feel it if a nib didn’t write smoothly through drawing waves and eights on a piece of paper.
  
  
• No matter where you buy your Montblanc Meisterstück – from Paris to Shanghai to New York and Kuala Lumpur – it was, like all Montblanc writing instruments, crafted in the Montblanc Writing Instrument Manufacture in Hamburg, Germany by approximately 600 passionate master craftsmen.

• Every Montblanc Meisterstück nib is made of solid gold, which is in fact a very expensive precious metal. That is why Montblanc recycles the excess gold by installing an exhaust system at this special working station to capture the gold dust scattered during the grinding process.
  
  
• In order to provide the perfect writing experience, the Montblanc Meisterstück gold nib must guarantee an unchanging form while remaining elastic and flexible. To attain this, a very special rolling process called, Strakverlauf, is necessary to give the gold band a conical contour. When the gold nibs are cut out of this band, the thickest part is at the tip of the nib.

• Did you know that Montblanc offers a Bespoke Nib Service in selected boutiques, where experts are able to analyse, with extreme accuracy, individual handwriting to determine the one nib that will ideally suit a personʼs writing style? The Montblanc Bespoke Nib can then be created by Montblancʼs master craftsmen as a one-of-a-kind commission.
  
  
• Every Montblanc Meisterstück nib has a tip made of iridium, one of the hardest materials and it is even rarer than gold or platinum. If the nib tip were just made of gold, it would be too soft and quickly “written away”.
  
  

(Photos courtesy of Monblanc)

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