Lot 1099
MONTBLANC: Rare No. 10 Octogonal 14K Solid Gold Propelling Pencil, c.1926
16 June 2015, 10:00 PDT
San FranciscoSold for US$4,375 inc. premium
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MONTBLANC: Rare No. 10 Octogonal 14K Solid Gold Propelling Pencil, c.1926
Octagonal No. 10 propelling pencil, 14K solid gold, meander and wave chased pattern, domed top with white enamel star, huge size (133mm). Excellent condition. Wallrafen and Rösler give this pencil a scarcity index of 11 (on a scale of 1-12), estimating that up to ten examples survive. One can scarcely imagine an example in finer condition than this immaculate specimen.
Jens Rösler comments:
"This incredibly rare pencil was discovered in an old cigar box in my grandmother's cellar. My grandmother, Annemarie Rösler (daughter of Montblanc founder C.J. Voss), told me that several gold pencils were given to her father as payment during the economic crisis of 1929-1931, when Montblanc was struggling to save money. After the Second World War, many of these "salary" pencils were exchanged for butter on the black market. One gold pencil was equivalent to 1 kg of butter, enough to survive for one week! Solid gold Montblanc pencils from that time are extremely rare in any condition. This example is in mint condition, and may be the best one in existence. Over the past 20 years I know of just two others that have been sold at auction, neither of which were flawless."
Provenance: From the Jens Rösler Montblanc Collection.
-Wallrafen, Stefan & Jens Rösler. Collectible Stars I: Montblanc 1908-1947. [Cologne: 2014], pp. 160-161. The present lot is the actual example pictured in the book.
Jens Rösler comments:
"This incredibly rare pencil was discovered in an old cigar box in my grandmother's cellar. My grandmother, Annemarie Rösler (daughter of Montblanc founder C.J. Voss), told me that several gold pencils were given to her father as payment during the economic crisis of 1929-1931, when Montblanc was struggling to save money. After the Second World War, many of these "salary" pencils were exchanged for butter on the black market. One gold pencil was equivalent to 1 kg of butter, enough to survive for one week! Solid gold Montblanc pencils from that time are extremely rare in any condition. This example is in mint condition, and may be the best one in existence. Over the past 20 years I know of just two others that have been sold at auction, neither of which were flawless."
Provenance: From the Jens Rösler Montblanc Collection.
-Wallrafen, Stefan & Jens Rösler. Collectible Stars I: Montblanc 1908-1947. [Cologne: 2014], pp. 160-161. The present lot is the actual example pictured in the book.