This is one of the oldest and time consuming artisanal techniques used by Montegrappa since 1912.
The pen's body and cap are the result of eight cyclical working phases that include heating, drawing and brushing of the parts, starting from a disc of silver or gold.
The final polishing is done by hand.
LOW RELIEF ENGRAVING
Montegrappa is bound to the refined art of low relief engraving, introduced in 1992 with the commemorative fountain pen for the Eightieth anniversary of the company's foundation.
The three-dimensional image is obtained by cutting the surface with tiny linear cuts of different depths and removing small quantities of metal.
This process produces a surface that is characteristically different in the way it reflects light from those generated by a mechanical pantograph engraver or any other means of generating a relief image.
This refined technique, sometimes referred to as "brocade turning", was originally developed in Switzerland in the mid 19th century.
In 1992, with the application of CAD/CAM system to low relief engine turning, the need to create a mechanical master pattern was removed virtually generating the three-dimensional surface.
The image is then transferred, using the CAM system, onto the surface of each piece.
Even after the introduction of these technologies, which permit aesthetic perfection, the more complex and laborious phase, and at the same time the more artistic one, remains the realisation of the drawing.
The difficulty lies in the fact that the image has to be engraved on a cylindrical surface.
Many times a single drawing takes up to months as any error can result in onerous consequences: matched to perfection, the meeting point where the engraving starts and ends can be sometimes difficult, even to an expert hand.
This advanced technology is exclusively used by Montegrappa and has made it famous for the innovative and imaginative application to its fine writing jewels.
HAND-ETCHING
This magnificent achievement begins with the artist's design, reduced exactly to the finished size.
The design is then transferred onto tracing paper that is fixed onto the smooth body of the pen.
The barrel is covered with a thin layer of chalk powder, which receives the lines when the design is traced once more.
The craftsman then outlines the design with a metal point to delicately engrave the surface.
The final engraving is made by hand with a burin, a small scalpel used by high specialised craftsmen to cut away a fine shaving from the metal surface, giving a two-dimensional impression to the image.
Finally, details are filled with gold, enhancing the work's value and elegance by providing a contrast between the various elements of the design.
DIE-CASTING
Die-casting is an ancient technique that dates from the 5th century, and in the course of the intervening years it has changed very little.
Used in jewellery since time immemorial, Montegrappa has employed this fascinating technique on its writing jewels for about ten years.
There are countless stages of workmanship in die-casting and a highly specialist knowledge of the subject is essential before venturing into this field.
This technique begins with a three-dimensional sculpture realized by hand.
The sculpture is then used as a model to create, through long and complex stages, every single piece which will decorate the pen's body.
Then the expert hands of skilled craftsmen finish the details with a burin.
The long process is completed with the stages of brushing and polishing.
VITROUS ENAMELLING
Enamel is a vitreous substance used since the 6th century B.C. in goldsmith's and silversmith's crafts as decorative material much appreciated for its color range and excellent conservation.
At first the enamel is applied in very thin layers on the surface surrounded by slightly oblique edges.
After this stage follows the firing until complete melting.
This process is repeated many times to obtain the required material thickness.
The surface is then smoothed and polished then covered with a transparent enamel that is also smoothed and polished to give to the writing instrument higher artistic value and charm.
COLD ENAMELLING
This special technique, used in jewellery and also to decorate watch dials, has been developed over some years using the catalysing properties of various polymers.
Cold enamelling can be formulated with all the best colours, in fact more colours than are discernable with the human eyes.
This exclusive technique enables a significant improvement in durability, clarity and brilliance, colour quality and range, with no disadvantages at all.
Although production of the raw enamel is a highly technical mechanised process, the craft of inlaying it into gold and
silver requires considerable practice to handle the thick sticky liquid, with a time limit on speed of inlaying because of the curing rate.
The finished product has a surface quality that is smooth and polished, slightly warm to the touch compared to the precious metal, and the transparent colours have a deep fire and brilliance, due to the underlying engine turning, which contrasts the clean solid opaque colours.
FRETWORK DESIGN
This technique was also invented to create pleasant color contrasts between the background material usually resin and celluloid and the precious metal covering.
Geometric or fantasy designs are traced with a computer aided fraise on deep-drawn tubes perforating the metal and so creating fretworks.
Once the fretwork is created the skilled hand of a craftsman is essential to finish each piece, in order to remove the fillings and to polish the fretwork.
THE QUALITY CONTROL
The quality control starts with the raw materials used to manufacture the various components and is aimed at establishing whether they correspond precisely to Montegrappa's specifications.
It continues at the production stage with specialized personnel controlling the technical and aesthetic aspects of the various half-finished components and of the completed writing instrument.
The writing blocks of fountain pens undergo a specific control process.
These components, specific of the brand, are tested individually before and after final assembly with elaborate writing tests in different situations.
BRUSH POLISHING
The brush polished finish is certainly one of the most traditional finishes.
It is totally hand made with the help of rotating brushes of different hardness and with abrasive pastes, thus resulting in perfectly glossy surfaces called "a specchio" as per Montegrappa's tradition.
As every hand made job brush polishing must be continuously "interpreted" and controlled and only highly experienced operators with a profound know-how are able to perform it.
