Homage to Homer | Does it really have the inspiration, or a quick buck?
Themed fountain pens are a certainly a thing that attract certain groups of collectors or enthusiasts in a certain vibe or story, and the Writers Series is definitely the house’s most popular line of themed instrument. Let’s take a look at how they interpret the Greek poet Homer in the 2018 Writers Edition Homage to Homer.
The presentation
Similar to other Writers Editions, the Homer comes in a larger display box with the stylized portrait or you can say sculptures of the man himself, with the accompanying blue ink in the background named Homer’s Blue respectively.
The outer case slide open revealing a book-like box, and I’d say these make amazing display piece on your bookshelf, similar to other luxury brands doing book boxes for their goods.
The box opens up revealing the pen in plastic wrapping and the other materials hidden in the sleeve of the cover. The booklet provides a lot of information on the inspiration and research done to create the design of the pen, plus you have extra photos of the rollerball and ballpoint versions to look at.
The pen
The Homer is among the few Writers Editions that is made based on the 149-size, the others being Hemmingway and Alexander Dumas. It is among the more “subtle” designs from Montblancs lately in regards to limited edition pens, and I do like it for that.
The pen is made of black resin with matte and glossy finish in conjunction, and there are elements calling back to the greek-themed thing that’s going with it. Metal details are rose gold plated to mimic pure copper, and greek key motifs are laser etched on the cap bands and the piston band as well.
The clip is said to be designed after Achilles’ spear, simple, but effective, and it’s not like people are going to clip this heavy pen on their shirt pocket or anything.
The barrel is definitely the main attraction of the Homer, with the Trojan horse head embedded along the pen. It’s definitely big, but because of the matte black it’s not too in your face screaming Hommerrrrr. Another neat detail is that when capped, the spear clip and the top of the horse head will always line up, making it looks as a solid whole.
As I mentioned before, this one is based on the 149-size, so it does come with a big nib to fit - 18k rosegold plated, with the “Achilles helmet” engraved in the center, along with the brand’s 4810 and the year 2018 of the release.
As any other Montblancs, it writes firmly and consistently, with a bit of give on the downstrokes. The piston filler gives you a huge ink capacity, and the whole pen sits nicely in the hand, which makes it a really solid instrument for long hours of writing.
Final words
I used to shy away from the more “limited” offerings from luxury pen brands as they commend a larger price tag, plus the availability is definitely something to consider. As a pen, it is one of the better looking ones which write well and has that presence when you’re holding it in the hand. As a Montblanc, it is not the most beautiful ones, but for my personal preference, if I am not a 146 fanboy in and out I might go for this one for my personal collection, as it is a more interesting looking 149 :)
What do you guys think? Let me know your thoughts.
Oh, and there is another Homer with an F nib for sale, head over to instagram and hit me up @awritingguy or give me an email to awritingguy@gmail.com for inquiry. Worldwide shipping included ;)
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