MSNBC.com
The Write Stuff
Newsweek
Feb. 21 issue - The pen just might be mightier than the BlackBerry. Just ask the growing number of executives who are buying handmade luxury fountain pens. Indeed, the premium-pen market is the only segment of the writing-instrument industry that's growing these days, according to British analyst Mintel. Why? Because the ubiquity of instant- and text-messaging has made handwriting a memo, well, special. Enterprise found a few sublime tools for those rare occasions:
Montblanc: At the top of the heap stands the Boheme Royal, sprinkled with 1,430 cut diamonds and weighing in at 15 carats ($150,000; montblanc.com).
Conway Stewart: The new Centenary, hand-enameled with colorful tiles, started life as a solid-gold bar (about $18,700; conwaystewart.com).
Grayson Tighe: Contact the designer to create a one-of-a-kind titanium-and-fossil-mammoth-ivory pen (from $4,000; tighepen.com).—Sana Butler
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