Montblanc Meisterstück Around the World in 80 Days Classique: A Fountain Pen Review

Introduction

Some pens are just tools. Others are miniature storytelling objects, and the Montblanc Meisterstück Around the World in 80 Days Classique fountain pen sits firmly in the second camp. Inspired by Jules Verne’s 1872 novel, it packs the book’s characters, moods, and settings into a slim, elegant Classique body. It is a genuinely enjoyable pen to use, and it is also home to one of the strangest design decisions we have seen on a themed pen in a long time.

The Story Behind the Pen

Jules Verne published Around the World in 80 Days in 1872, telling the story of Phileas Fogg, a precise, unflappable English gentleman who bets half his fortune, £20,000, that he can circle the globe in 80 days. Fogg is a wonderful protagonist: the composure of a detective and the nerve of an adventurer, partnered with Jean Passepartout, a warm and passionate French valet. The bet is made at the Reform Club in 1870s London, just after news arrives that India has been connected by rail, and losing means losing everything.

The 1870s context matters, too. The world was shrinking fast, with the transatlantic telegraph cable of 1866, the first American transcontinental railroad and the Suez Canal both completed in 1869, and inventions like elevators, ironclads, submarines, and torpedoes reshaping daily life. Verne captured that mix of excitement and unease, and Montblanc leans into it with this release.

Design and Materials: Coromandel Lacquer and Gold

The barrel is the heart of the pen. It uses a Coromandel lacquer over a brass base in a degraded anthracite finish, and it holds the light in a way that produces a glowing core of black, brown, and rich gold. It is strikingly beautiful and immediately evokes the India leg of the journey, where the story’s most emotional moments happen.

The cap, grip, and nib all gleam in gold, a nod to the long history of gold in Indian art and jewelry. The engravings on the cap pay homage to Princess Aouda’s jewelry and the patterns she might have worn, and the clip carries a red lacquer diamond suit, a reference to Fogg’s love of cards and to the themes of luck, strategy, and preparedness that run through the book.

Two practical cautions are worth knowing before buying. First, the gold grip is slick. There are helpful threads where fingers can anchor, plus a small flare at the bottom of the grip that stops fingers sliding onto the nib, so larger hands will find it comfortable, but anyone who dislikes slippery metal sections should think carefully. Second, cap and uncap with care: it is easy to scratch the grip, and while slight marks can be buffed out with Cape Cod cloth, repeated polishing risks wearing through the gold over time.

The Elephant on the Cap

The cap cartouche carries a profile rendering of Kiouni, the elephant Fogg buys for £2,000, a fortune at the time, to cross an incomplete stretch of Indian railway. In the book, Kiouni carries the party through the forest, helps rescue Princess Aouda from a funeral pyre, and is eventually given away to their guide in one of the most touching scenes in the story.

Of everything on this pen, this is the detail that lands hardest. The elephant rendered in profile on the cap captures the loyalty and warmth of one of the book’s best characters, and it transforms the pen from a generic luxury object into something with real emotional weight.

The Nib: Lovely Writer, Wrong Story

Here is the glaring problem. The 18k gold Classique nib is engraved with a hot air balloon, and there is no hot air balloon in Around the World in 80 Days. Not one. The idea first appeared in the 1956 film adaptation, and Montblanc appears to have taken its imagery from the movie rather than the novel. It is a curious miss for a pen built entirely around a book, and it does produce a small chuckle every time you notice it.

That said, the writing experience itself is genuinely excellent. The Classique nib is smooth and pleasant rather than soft or bouncy, and it is a joy to use. At 23g with near-perfect balance, the pen is slender and elegant in the hand, easy to guide, and far from bulky. Posting is technically possible but not recommended, since the lacquer is too beautiful to risk scratching.

Things to Consider Before Buying

This pen writes beautifully, but it lives best as a desk pen. It is a pen to keep safe when not in use, not one to toss in a bag, and its craftsmanship feels substantial enough to last several lifetimes with reasonable care. If you love the story, the barrel lacquer, the Aouda-inspired engravings, the diamond-suit clip, and Kiouni on the cap will transport you back to the novel every time you write. If you dislike bling, the sheer amount of gold is a lot, and the balloon engraving may bother you more every time you see it.

The book itself is worth a quick read before buying, too. It is a short, enjoyable novel about staying calm, treating obstacles as problems to solve, and using reason to chart a path through the impossible, and that spirit is exactly what this pen captures at its best.

Buying Advice

Buy this pen if you are a fan of Verne’s novel, a collector of themed Montblanc releases, or someone who wants a slim, beautifully finished writer that feels like an heirloom. Skip it if you prefer understated pens, grippy sections, or story details that hold up under scrutiny. The balloon engraving is a real flaw in an otherwise pitch-perfect theme, but the Coromandel lacquer, the gold work, and the elephant cartouche more than carry the pen’s appeal for anyone who connects with the story.

Conclusion

The Montblanc Meisterstück Around the World in 80 Days Classique is a gorgeous, well-balanced fountain pen with real storytelling soul, marred only by a nib engraving borrowed from the wrong source. For readers and pen lovers who know the book, that flaw becomes part of its charm, and everything else about the pen honors the adventure beautifully.