Montegrappa Memory Limited Edition Fountain Pen, 2016

Montegrappa's most cerebral creation, The Brain Pen, challenged the company's designers in a way none had before. It was about how to embody the intricacy of the most complex organ in the body in a hand-held writing device. So successful was the resultant pen that its sister was conceived to complement the vessel of the mind and the personality. Montegrappa is proud to announce The Memory Pen.

Once more, Montegrappa's main collaborator and inspirer is Dr. Richard Restak, who has provided the book that will accompany each Memory Pen. Visualising the concepts embodied in his work resulted in a device of which every element—from surface texture to the choice of material, from the chosen colour to the engravings—has special significance. 

Produced in pearlized yellow celluloid, with either sterling silver or solid 18k gold parts, the Memory Pen is as fascinating as the topic that stimulated its creation. Yellow was chosen because it is the color most associated throughout the ages with memory. At the same time, the upper part of the Memory Pen's barrel depicts the different types of long-term memory. These include:

Episodic: The memory of events that occurred at a specific time or place, such as a birth or a wedding
Semantic: That part of the memory which stores general knowledge, e.g. "Where is Rome?" 
Procedural: Where the memory maintains skills that don't involve speech or words, such as dancing

Gracefully embedded within these three divisions on the pen's barrel are three seals of memory created by Giordano Bruno, a 16th-century memory master. Triangular shapes are etched upon the circular metal parts, representing the writing of new memories, with the apex pointing downward, or the experiencing of old memories, with the apex pointing upward.   

On the side of the barrel are three compartments representing the past, the present, and the future. The second, or middle, compartment represents the present from which we look backward into the past: the first compartment proceeds upward from the nib by means of memory. After incorporating the past into the present through memory, we then project into the future, shown as the third compartment farthest up from the nib, via our imagination, which is closely allied with memory, as first noted by Aristotle. Only humans can integrate these three dimensions of time to process the long-term future.

Complementing this visual representation of memory is the pen's cap, its seven lower rings representing the average maximum number of items that can be stored in memory at one time. Above that are five thinner rings to denote the five basic senses upon which all memories are created. The brushed steel columns, running vertically within the seven lower rings, are arranged to symbolize the bidirectional flow of information for memory creation or recall. In contrast, an engraved metal pattern on the barrel and cap illustrates the neural network – the basis of memory creation and storage.

Shaped in the form of a seahorse, the pocket clip represents the hippocampus and the amygdala, two structures important in the initial stages of memory formation, with brushed steel to show the communication between these parts of the brain. A seahorse is also etched on the nib, just like the Brain Pen. 

The Memory Pen is limited to 300 examples, each of which is a fountain pen and a rollerball in sterling silver, to represent the P300 electrical wave produced by the brain, which effectively correlates with memory abilities and intelligence.  

To convey the magnificence of memory in all of its power and capability, the Memory Pen arrives in packaging as inspiring as its contents. A transparent representation of the brain houses the pen, opened by two cylinders concealed in the base, while the stand conceals a copy of Dr. Restak's book. This allows the owner to appreciate the nuances of the "program" that stores all the thoughts that are so precious to us.

In and of itself, Montegrappa hopes that the Memory Pen will forever test its owner's powers of recollection, so densely packed is its surface with details inspired by the study of memory and the understanding of how one's memory operates.

Materials: resin, sterling silver
Nib: 18K gold Medium grade nib 
Fountain pen filling systems: converter, cartridge 
Launched in 2013 and is a SOLD OUT edition
Edition size 300
Brand new item, never been used.
It is housed in the special Montegrappa Memory Limited Edition gift packaging with warranty booklet.
SKU: ISPMNRSE