Top 10 Most Expensive Pens In The World

Writing pens have a long history. Humankind has invented so many of them that no pens collector can have a complete collection. The world’s most expensive pens are limited in number and those who possess them can be called really lucky. Here’s the list of these amazing pens that are not just writing instruments but a real obsession for the rich.

The Limited Edition Mystery Masterpiece, a joint creation between Mont blanc and Van Cleef & Arpels, is the most expensive writing pen ever created. Can you imagine, it costs $730,000! This amazing pen is truly a masterpiece of the jeweler's art. Each pen has 840 diamonds and more than 20 carats of gemstones set in a Van Cleef & Arpels patented "Mystery Setting" that conceals the stone settings. A groove is made on the culet, the bottom facet of the stone, which is then slid onto the threads of the lattice design so that the stones can be held in place side by side without any visible support. There are three variations, set either with rubies, sapphires or emeralds, and accented by diamonds. The three variations of these marvelous pens are limited to three releases each for a total of nine. The unique work took over a year and a half to create by skilled artisans.

Another most expensive pen in the world is La Modernista Diamonds. It was made by the Swiss company Caran d’Ache in 1999 in homage to Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), the most famous of Modernist architects. This amazing fountain pen was sold in Harrods, London, for $265,000, becoming the most expensive pen in GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS in 2001. La Modernista Diamonds is made of rhodium-coated solid silver components. It boasts of an 18-carat rhodium-coated gold nib and is set with a total of 5,072 Wesselton diamonds weighing in at 20-carats, as well as and 96 rubies totalling 32-carats. The pen was hand-made by master jeweler Robert Perron and it took him six months to complete this true masterpiece of writing instruments.

The Visconti brand is known for best quality, style and creativity. One of the most remarkable Visconti pens is Ripple H.R.H. Limited Edition fountain pen. Made of 18K white gold and diamonds and with two-tone 18K gold nib, it costs $57,000.00. It has double reservoir filling system and is sold in two variations – white gold and black. Another distinguished Visconti pen is the Forbidden City H.R.H. Limited Edition fountain Pen. Made of black resin, 18K gold and diamonds and boasting of Power Filler innovative filling system invented by Visconti, it is sold for $42,200.00.

Grayson Tighe Limited Edition fountain and rollerball pens are sold for a fair price of $22,000.00 - $24,000.00. They are 18K Gold Victorian Royalty executive custom made collectors pens. The Gold is meticulously Ornamental Turned. This is a very old practice of decorating lathe-turned objects with complex patterns that, being applied to metal, creates a visual display of life and light manipulation to the surface. The nib of Grayson Tighe fountain pens is custom hand-made in Germany with 18K yellow gold. It’s engraved with a specially designed Acanthus leaf, tipped with Iridium, and two toned with Rhodium. Grayson Tighe rollerball pens have an advanced refill that has a 1 Year cap-off time.

OMAS Limited Edition Pens are sold at the price of $16,500. These extraordinary pens celebrate Greek art. The Corinthian style votive monument erected by Lysicrates is skilfully recreated on the cap and the grandiose Laocoon sculpture dominates the barrel. The clip of the pen is one of the columns of the votive monument, a daring technical solution to give the pen as a whole that purity of line typical of classical art. The cap has a pure diamond set on the end of it, to remind us that rulers of old once wore diamonds as a symbol of their strength, courage and invincibility. The number of these writing is limited to 50 pieces.

David Oscarson Pens are another ‘tasty’ item for obsessed pens collectors. They are known for their matchless elegance and artistic mastery. The most expensive of them is Pierrot White Fountain Pen that costs about $4,900. Through Pierrot White Fountain Pen, David Oscarson has introduced a unique collection representing the old world craftsmanship in an awesome range of designer pens. In fact, David Oscarson is the first pen making company to integrate five colors of hard enamel and three levels of Guilloché on each fountain pen, which is efficiently finished in Rhodium vermeil with natural backgrounds.

La Dona Menagerie Fountain Pen handcrafted by Cartier Pens belong to the most exquisite designer range of writing instruments. Their price is about $4,000. Cartier La Dona Menagerie is named after the 1940’s, cine star Maria Felix, who was also known as "La Doña- the Mexican Marilyn Monroe." It was on her request, the luxury jewelry designer Cartier customized an extraordinary crocodile necklace in gold. This astonishingly beautiful necklace inspired Cartier to design and develop 888 individually numbered fine pieces of La Doña pens, the second offering in the Menagerie Collection. Made of expensive materials, such as gold, peridot, citrin, Cartier pen has a gold-plated nib, which is carved with a crocodile head.

Each of the 1,929 luxurious New York Fifth Avenue rollerball and fountain pens hand-made by S. T. Dupont required around 160 hours of pristine supervision, which resulted in taupe- and brunette-colored lacquer fountain pens worth $2,400. These amazing pens are painstakingly embellished with a gold relief overlay, which features a central globe design. Each of these pens proudly narrates a story of cultural infusion that is truly depicted through these fine writing instruments. You can very well witness the artistic skills exhibited by S.T. Dupont through their art of lacquering and jewelry detailing, which is best visible in New York Fifth Avenue pens.

Another very expensive pen in the world is Pen of the Year 2008 manufactured by Graf von Faber-Castel Pens. The core feature of the Graf von Faber-Castell Custom Pens is wood in its noblest and most inspiring variations. And in Pen of the Year 2008 the outer layer of the barrel is made of carefully selected Indian satinwood. No fewer than 84 Satinwood rectangles are individually hand-made for the filigree herringbone pattern. This marvelous pen is crowned by a chessboard-facted citrine gemstone, platinized fittings and an 18-carat bicolour gold nib, carefully run in by hand. It comes in an exclusive wooden case with a beautiful brochure and a certificate for the pen collector. It’s price is $2,000.

And the last in the list of top 10 most expensive pens in the world with the price of $1,800 is Conway Stewart Westminster Teal Pen. British pen company Conway Stewart have released the latest version of this popular pen this time in teal enamel. The pen takes its design cues from the palace of Westminster with its Gothic style engraving on the cap and barrel. The small diamond-shaped recesses mimic the detail on the palace and the tiny oak leaves are a symbol of England. The teal color of course doesn't have anything to do with the Gothic style, it just looks cool. The pen is available in an edition of 100 fountain pen or rollerball writing modes.

The history of writing pens is not finished and who knows what top 10 most expensive pens will be next ten, thousand, hundred year.