History of Montegrappa

Montegrappa was founded under the slogan "Manifattura pennini d'oro e penne stilografiche" ("Maker of gold nibs and fountain pens") in 1912 by Edwige Hoffman and Heinrich Helm. Its products are still manufactured in the original factory on the river Brenta, in Bassano del Grappa—near Vicenza, in the North-East of Italy.

It would therefore be more correct to refer to it with the Elmo name, used also for some models, since the use of the Montegrappa brand, with which it is now universally known, only occurs much later. Moreover, as the name testifies, the company initially produce only pen nibs, so it is at least arguable the claim to qualify itself as the first Italian manufacturer of fountain pens since the production of the latter did not start until the beginning of the 1920s.

The initial production of Montegrappa were hard rubber pens produced with an eyedropper filling system. In this period two different lines were produced: a safety pen with a design very similar to the German production of the same time (with rounded cap and barrel end); and, a range of fountain pens that imitated the style of the Waterman 42 (with flat cap and barrel end).

In 1922, the company acquired the building in Via Ca 'Erizzo in Bassano, Veneto, later expanded and renovated, that is still the headquarters of the company today.

In 1925 the company was bought by Alessandro Marzotto and Domenico Manea, and in the following year it was renamed as the "Industria Pennini Oro e Penne Stilografiche Elmo", which acronym, I.P.O.P.S.E., was marked on the nibs until the first half of the '30s. Despite the new ownership, Heinrich Helm, continued to be the production director, providing a vital contribution to the success of the company.

Between the late '20s and early '30s the first celluloid models were introduced. The first were equipped with a button filler but later also a lever filler was used. Initially these were produced in parallel to the hard rubber models and eventually replaced them. Moreover, the production was also differentiated, using the Elmo brand to mark the low end economic pens, while the Montegrappa brand was used for the top level pens.

In 1935 an interesting line of faceted pens was created, characterized by a great variety of celluloid colors. The style of these pens was of a similar design to other main Italian producers. At this same period a further differentiation began as to the Montegrappa brand was added the Montegrappa Extra brand, reserved for the more high-end pens, while in the low end range the Ducale was added to the Elmo line.

The '30s were a period of great activity for Montegrappa, which in addition to creating its own models, became a major production company for others brands, building pens for a wide variety of companies. Among these Letizia Iacopini, in the book "La storia della stilografica in Italia", names a few of these: Aquila, Astoria, Atlantica, Caesar, Contessa, Dacis AVR, Domino, Duchessa, Montenero, Pilus, Titanus, Vulcan-Saturnia, Zenith.

In the late 1930's, following the trend of pens capable of showing the ink level, Montegrappa started to use the piston filler system and produced a new line of celluloid pens with a transparent section. Also, in this period, the effects of World War II began to be felt, and some models, equipped with metal trim and chrome steel nibs, began to appear.

During the First World War, Bassano was a centre of military operations. Among the many soldiers who used the company's pens (Elmo at that time) for their correspondence were two celebrated 20th Century writers, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos, who had both volunteered for service as ambulance drivers.

Montegrappa HQ in Bassano

After the war, production resumed with a stylistic renewal of the entire production range, moving, as was the case for virtually all the Italian manufacturers, to tapered lines with a classic torpedo shape. The new pens were identified by a three digit numerical code, whose meaning has not been fully clarified, excepted for the fact that the number of decimal indicated the filling system, and the unit the pen dimension. The hundreds digit usually stood for the model type, but the same number was used for many different models, so its meaning is not clear to date.

In the postwar period the 200, 300 e 400 series were produced. In 1946, a fire partially destroyed the buildings, with negative effects: the celluloid pens production was destroyed and Montegrappa focused on the production of metal overlays and in the use of injection plastic for pens.

In 1947 the company suffered further renaming as "Elmo - Montegrappa s.n.c." and in 1951 became the "Fabbrica Penne Stilografiche Elmo Montegrappa s.r.l.".

The production of the '1950s saw the gradual replacement of celluloid with injection plastic/acrylic models and celluloid was mainly used for the production of pens in pearl or ivory colours, then widely used as gifts for First Communion. During this period the move to cartridge filler production was made.

Over the last 20 years, Montegrappa consolidated its position as a main manufacturer of luxury pens, having produced a continuous flow of special and limited editions, commemorating events, places and people. Among the themes enshrined in the Montegrappa ranges the following are some of the highlights: the Copa América, the city of St Moritz, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Formula One legend Ayrton Senna and many more. More recently, Montegrappa has launched a series of pens that homage to leading figures of its first century, the "Icons" series honouring Muhammad Ali,  Bruce Lee, Frank Sinatra et al.

In 2001 the company was purchased by the Richemont Group and was subsequently sold to the original owners, the Aquila family in 2009.