OCEANOGRAPHIC MUSEUM

100 years from foundation od Oceanographic Museum inthe Principality of Monaco

Limited Edition
100 fountain pens

Montecarlo - Museo Oceanografico

The famous Oceanographic Museum of Monte Carlo was founded by Prince Albert I, the Oceanography Prince, and had been directed for many years by J.Y.Cousteau.
The beautiful neoclassical building, which stands right above the seaside on the Monaco Rock, a 80 m high cliff, opened to the public on March 29th 1910.
The Museum includes scientific laboratories and many rooms open to visitors, with research boats models, instruments and oceanographic tools, historical boats, submarines, old sounders and great-depth traps. An entire floor is dedicated to the famous aquarium with beautiful reconstructions of marine landscapes with living fishes and tropical corals.

For the 100 years of the Oceanographic Museum and upon request of the Museum Foundation, Visconti has shaped a brand new fountain pen in limited edition to 100 pieces, in ivory-coloured resin with scrimshaw engravings. Visconti was honoured of offer the fountain pen n. 000/100 to Prince Albert II, who is fond of writing instruments and has signed with this pen all the documents and acts during the event inside the Oceanographic Museum Library – at the presence of Princess Caroline of Monaco and the highest personalities of the Principality. Scrimshaw is the technique of engraving resin with a very sharp cutter thus creating a decorative pattern. The here shaped groves are then filled in with copperplate printing ink and left drying for at least three days. At the end the surface is finely smoothed till the design appears. Scrimshaw was anciently used to decorate walking sticks, especially in ivory, collection knife handles and rifle stocks. In this moment Visconti is the only company in the world using this technique for its production.

The Oceanographic Museum fountain pen

The pen is realized in a special ivory-coloured resin with scrimshaw engravings, picturing the majestic building that hosts the museum and some marine views on the shaft, while on the cap we can see the famous sperm whale that is hosted in the Museum exhibition hall, and the nymph that appeared on the medal that was engraved by the Museum first opening in 1910.

The light pale resin, the sepia decoration and the vermeil trims make this pen a precious and classy object.

23 Kt palladium Dreamtouch nib - available as EF, F, M, B, and Stub (1.3)
Double reservoir filling system.

A prestigious briarwood box contains the fountain pen and a matching precious crystal desk inkwell.

A part of the Museum sales revenue will be provided to the Association which is part of Prince Albert II Foundation, that endorses nature and environmental protection and promotion.