Montblanc Bhoeme Je t’aime

I first caught on to this pen when Figboot introduced it on his YouTube channel 2 months ago, sometime in February 2021.

My jaw dropped as I did not know Montblanc made such intricately designed fountain pens.

I check out more videos by other YouTubers and pursued the internet to garner more knowledge and discovered that the Boheme has such a broad and extensive range. 

Some might say the mechanism is a pure gimmick, others might think it is cumbersome but all who had tried it agreed that for a Montblanc enthusiast, this pen is a must.

There is even a YouTube video of such a pen sent to a nib mister for up keeping and he was so impressed with it, he was on the lookout to purchase one.

And money is no object, you might even want to look for the Soulmakers 100 years 1906 limited edition Bhoeme fountain pen, released in 2006. Granite pattern resign, stainless steel cap with a dragged show cap logo and 43 facet floating snow cap diamond at the top.

https://youtu.be/7aj1VBjivbo

Hence, I kept this fountain pen at the back of my mind for future purchase.

On 29 April 2021, I was badly bitten by the Boheme bug when a renowned retailer offered a price that was too difficult for me to ignore. I called him to query, confirm on a mutually agreed price, made online payments within 15 minutes and that was that. The deal was done.

The pen arrived on 6 May 2021. 

First impression was... WHAT THE FxxK? You mean, I paid so much for this tiny piece the size of a Kaweco Sport!!!???

After the initial shock had subsided and I composed myself, I started to play with the mechanism. That was that, I was smitten.

The Heart Shape synthetic ruby color jewel, Je t’aime. It means love in French

Hold your horses. Where is the nib? Unlike the Pilot Vanishing Point. To make the nib magically appear, you will need to unwind the cap at the end of the barrel

Dual tone 14K gold nib

The end of the barrel uncaps to load the ink cartridge. Similar to loading the ammunition on a cannon

The rest of the bells and whistles

International warranty

Being a NOS (New Old Stock) from 2002 certain things was a tad tight but upon using it, it became silky smooth.

The pen did not write immediately after loading the Montblanc Le Petite Rose Burgandy ink cartridge. I was worried for a while but sitting at the back of my mind that this was an unused pen way back from 2002.

I remembered seeing one YouTube video on fountain pens that have difficulty writing and tried this method. I dipped into an inkwell for a few seconds to allow the nib and feed to get saturated with ink and then tried to write. I did but shopped after a few scribbles. I repeated the process a little longer this time. I wrote beautifully and as all Montblanc it preforms flawlessly until now.

My advise, get this pen. It has so much going for it.

This pen seized production in 2015, making it even more desirable.

More on the Montblanc Boheme range can be viewed on the blog below:

https://penstylo.blogspot.com/p/hr-display-block-margin-top-0_6.html

 

ASC Arco Bronze Celluloid

ASC (Armando Simoni Club) ASC was founded by Emmanuel Caltagirone.

The fountain pen collecting and craze by enthusiast in Europe did not go unnoticed and ASC was founded catering to Armando Simoni fans. The club gave birth to a publication meant to celebrate Italian fountain pens by creating a privileged group of collectors who deserves special attention and could have access to special pens which was not meant for the public and could not be purchased in stores.

The yearly clubs fees were rather high compared to other European Collectors Clubs but they justified the cost by the fact that they offered access to pens which could not be had otherwise.  

The first pen to be offered to club members was the OMAS extra Red Brick piston filler. The pens came in a limited run and numbered according to the members club enrollment number. Can you get more exclusive than that?

This pen is now highly sought after in the secondary market.

NOW coming to our current pen the ASC Gladiatore Medio Arco Bronze Celluliod.

It sure is a handful of a name for a pen. But is is most befitting. Elegant, eloquently designed and has a presence like no other pens. It is one of the rare pens that demands you to notice its presence. 

Why does this pen command an audience and make its presence felt? Well for one, the pen is made from celluliod. Celluliod due to its composition, is highly flammable, difficult and expensive to produce. The building blocks for celluliod are nitrocellulose, camphor, cotton, other agents and dye. The dye is used to produce the desired effect.

During its heyday, celluloid was used for photographic films, tennis balls, combs, guitar picks, dolls and much more.  

Initially sold under the OMAS brand as Arco Bronze Celluliod Paragon. The design remains relatively unchanged into its current evolution, ASC Gladiatore. 

OMAS (Officina Meccanica Armando Simoni) was founded in 1925 in Bologna, Italy by Armando Simoni. He was a visionary and far ahead of his peers in innovation and design creation. 

OMAS went into liquidation in 2016 and the remaining arco rods were purchased by ASC. Which explains why the design remained relatively unchanged. Well, if something is not broken, why fix it, right?

OMAS was revived in 2018 by its new owners Ancora.

Well this pen indeed has provident and a rich background of history.

The pen I purchased on 17 April 2021 has an added history as it was lost during transit in Memphis,  Tennessee on its way to Malaysia. I followed regularly with PenGallery on its status and even offered to write in to the courier company FedEx. Skipping a few heartbeats, the delay was worth it. I thank Mr. Lai for his relentless following up with the courier and grilling them.

You always remember a pen more when there is a story attached to it. 

The pen is utterly gorgeous. Breathtaking. Looks heavy but its actually very light. 

Without further ado. I present the Gladiatore

Gladiatore Medio Arco Bronze Celluliod 

The pen packaging looks like the pen has a floating effect. The scraps of arco celluloid provided is a nice touch

12 facets piston filler 

From this angle, you can faint looking at the pen

Closeup. No other pen looks like it

Even the side profile has a uniqueness to its arco design

The pen clip with the wheel is unique and fully functional. It is the smoothest clip I had ever used to fasten to my pocket. It literally glides into position

18K Gold nib. A dream to use and write effortlessly on the fist ink fill up