Montegrappa Imperial Year of the Dragon Review: Sterling Silver Craftsmanship Meets Chinese Zodiac Art

Introduction

Zodiac-themed fountain pens show up every year, but the dragon is the animal most collectors wait for, and 2024’s wave of Year of the Dragon releases reflected that. The Montegrappa Imperial Year of the Dragon stands out in this crowd: a sterling silver cap and barrel, a full-body dragon engraving, and a limited run of just 333 units at roughly $3,500.

This review walks through the presentation, the engraving work, the parts and features, sizing, and writing performance, so you can decide whether it earns its place in a luxury collection.

Unboxing and Presentation

The pen arrives in a fairly large wooden box with a “Year of the Dragon” plaque on top. Inside you get a polishing cloth, and notably a custom user and care manual written specifically for this limited edition rather than a generic company booklet. That attention to detail is a nice touch at this price point.

The box also includes a bottle of Montegrappa Black Ink. One caution worth knowing: the sample bottle arrived with the ink fully wrapped in plastic and a small amount of leakage inside the packaging. The ink had reacted with the metal cap of the bottle, leaving blue swaths that would not come off and even lightly corroding the metal. It is a small, practical reminder of why metal-contact ink storage gets warned about so often.

The packaging also references a sibling release, the Regal Series Year of the Dragon, made from a scaly-looking material called Juma and retailing around $1,200, which gives buyers two very different entry points into the same theme.

Design and Engraving

The distinguishing feature here is the intricate engraving across the cap and barrel. Montegrappa describes it as a full-body tattoo engraving depicting a dragon with absolute power over the five elements of fire, wood, water, earth and metal, each represented by the imperial dragon’s five claws. The technique is called multi-axle etching, which rotates the pen as the engraving takes place, and the material is then brushed to a satin finish that smooths out any rough edges.

There is a lot going on in the artwork, but it does not feel over the top. It is the kind of design that rewards continued looking: a lotus flower is easy to miss at first, and there are circular indentations on the waves that are clearly intentional and repeated across the pen.

The flat cap top carries the Montegrappa logo, and the clip is set with a AAA-rated ruby, a stone grade representing roughly the top 10 percent for quality. The ruby is meant to symbolise a drop of the dragon’s blood, and the red pop against the silver is one of the nicer visual accents on the pen. The clip itself is rather stiff, though the ball mechanism on the end helps with thinner fabrics; thicker materials are tougher to maneuver.

At the end of the cap, a wide band carries the company name between two wavy bands, with “Made in Italy” and a hallmark on the back. The hallmark breaks down as star 2670 VI: the star indicates a hallmark issued after 1968, 2670 is the number assigned to Aquila, the owners of Montegrappa, and VI refers to Vicenza in the Veneto region, near Bassano del Grappa where Montegrappa is based.

Build, Weight and Filling System

The cap and barrel are sterling silver, and the pen comes in at over 70 grams. That sounds hefty, but it is not cumbersome. The weight feels substantive and well balanced, with the center of balance sitting slightly forward, so you feel the mass more toward the nib area than the back.

One practical caution: although the cap technically posts on the back, it is best not to post this pen. Metal-on-metal contact risks scratches and marks on the barrel.

The section is resin rather than silver, which is a sensible choice for comfort, with small swaths of silver highlight in the resin to help it match. One small quirk on this otherwise new pen: the section threads showed a bit of tarnish already, which appears to be silver and should polish off, though the slight color breakup does lend a subtly aged look.

This is a piston filler, and Montegrappa’s mechanism is one of the nicer ones around. It has a satisfying ratcheting sound, and the knob stays in place when you open it rather than separating from the barrel as many piston fillers do.

Nib and Section Details

Under the cap, which twists off in just under two rotations, sits a custom number 6, 18 karat gold nib with a low-profile ebonite feed. The nib is engraved with the company logo and the head of a dragon. Engraving rather than stamping is not the traditional preference, but it does give designers more flexibility for small details that can get lost in stamping.

The nib is available in extra fine, fine, or a stub. The limited edition numbering sits on the back of the piston knob: 333 units, because three, three and three add up to nine, which in Chinese culture symbolises longevity and good fortune.

Measurements and Size Comparisons

Side by side with other pens, the Imperial Year of the Dragon sits in familiar territory for a large cartridge converter-era luxury pen. Comparisons against the Montegrappa Monza-style lineup, an Esterbrook-style cola-sized pen, a Maiora Adriatic Sea, the Visconti Homo Sapiens and the Lamy 2000 show it pairing comfortably with full-size pens without reading as oversized.

Its heft is the real differentiator. Next to resin pens like the Homo Sapiens and the Lamy 2000, the silver construction makes it feel noticeably denser in hand, which some will love and others will need to try first.

Writing Performance

The review unit came with a fine 18 karat gold nib, and it runs on the thicker side of fine, feeling closer to a medium. Inked with the included Montegrappa Black, a very deep, saturated black that holds its own against favorites like Sailor Kiwa-Guro, the nib lays down a decent amount of ink.

The nib is very smooth, offers a little flexibility, and the ink flow is decent. Reverse writing is adequate, and during fast writing the feed keeps up without issue. For a pen this ornamental, it is genuinely a good writer rather than just a display piece.

Buying Advice

At around $3,500 from authorized dealers, this is firmly a luxury purchase, though within the high-end category it is not unreasonable for what you get: all-sterling-silver construction except the section, a well-executed theme, a custom manual, an included ink bottle, and a limited edition of 333.

If the dragon imagery and Chinese zodiac theme resonate with you, and you want a pen in this price range with genuine substance rather than resin and trim, this is certainly something to consider. If you prefer lighter pens or dislike hefty writing instruments, the 70-plus-gram silver body is worth testing before committing.

Conclusion

The Montegrappa Imperial Year of the Dragon executes its theme with real craft: high-quality multi-axle engraving, a meaningful ruby detail, a satisfying piston filler, and an 18k gold nib that writes smoothly. Its weight and luxury price narrow the audience, but for collectors drawn to dragon imagery and sterling silver pens, it is a well-rounded, well-executed limited edition.