Montblanc has recently partnered with UNICEF on a Limited Edition Collection as part of a charity initiative in support of child literacy and education. In fact, this is part of an ongoing collaboration with UNICEF  since 2004, and to date, the brand has raised over US$10 million in total.

The Montblanc for UNICEF collection comprises limited edition of leather goods, timepieces, accessories and of course, writing instruments. For this collection, the inspiration of design was the diversity of world languages represented by 6 handwritten characters that feature the first letter from 6 different alphabets that children first learn when they are taught to write in Roman, Hindi, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. Proceeds of each item from this Writing Is A Gift Collection sold between 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 will go towards providing more children with access to primary education.

Leather Goods

The Montblanc Meisterstück Selection UNICEF comprises a slim document case, backpack, messenger bag, and various small leather goods and wallets in a combination of plain leather, and a finely printed geometric pattern on the leather, with the interior of each item lined in blue, with a design made up of the first characters of the 6 different languages highlighted above.

Timepieces 
For the partnership, the brand  has introduced two UNICEF limited editions of the Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum with two different dials to choose from: Latin alphabet, or Chinese characters. Named after the Latin Orbis Terrarum,  which essentially means “earth”, the watch tells the time in 24 timezones, with each city representing a different timezone. The complicated mechanism has 2 discs – the first displays the continents as viewed from the North Pole. As a tribute to the UNICEF headquarters, Geneva is chosen on the sapphire disc as UTC +1. The second disc indicates the passing of day and night with dark blue to represent night, and a gradient of yellow and green, for daytime. The 24-hour ring outside of the dial also indicitates the different times in the 24 cities. The minute and hour hands display the local time of the city set in front of the small red triangle, positioned at the usual 6 o’clock mark. 

Limited to 500 pieces worldwide at RM27,900 a piece, with UNICEF’s logo on the case back, the watch comes with blue alligator leather straps in a unique UNICEF shade of blue and also comes in a Chinese edition, called the Asian Terrarium. 

Women’s Jewellery and Men’s Accessories

The Women’s jewellery collection is inspired by the infinite power of love and friendship. Called the Infiniment Vôtre bracelets, the central motif is an infinity symbol paired either with sterling silver chain and adorned with a single blue sapphire (RM 985) or on a woven cord in 2 tones of blue RM 820) as a nod to this special UNICEF partnership.

Writing Instruments
There are a total of  4 Limited Editions for this collection; 2 of the more elaborate editions, I’ve featured below.

First, the Meisterstück Writing Is a Gift Skeleton 149 Edition Fountain Pen features the alphabet motif in a platinum-coated three-dimensional skeleton with precious blue resin underneath, and an embellished with the 6 characters engraved onto the Au750 white and yellow gold nib. The cap top features the Montblanc logo in precious mother-of-pearl against black onyx, as well as a 2.5mm sapphire.

Meisterstück Writing Is A Gift Skeleton 149 Edition Fountain Pen, RM 41,700

Montblanc has also released a special UNICEF blue ink available in either a 50ml glass bottle (RM 165), or cartridges, as well as refills for roller balls and ballpoint pens.

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Montblanc CEO Nicolas Baretzki comments,

“There is still much to be done to ensure that every child around the world has proper access to an education, a cause Montblanc has been proud to champion for the past 13 years. … This new initiative gives individuals who are as passionate about the written word the ability to own a Montblanc piece that carries true purpose, and by doing so, making a valuable contribution to the work of UNICEF in communities around the world where children are not always given the opportunity to learn to read and write. Writing is indeed as special gift that every child should enjoy”

Images courtesy of Montblanc