The most expensive letter you’ll ever write

THE WORLD’S most expensive fountain pen, known as ‘La Modernista Diamonds’, is now on display at a store, timepiece, in Nicosia. The fountain pen is made of rhodium-coated solid silver and set with precious stones and diamonds and is estimated at a value of ₤169,000.

The pen was created by Caran d’Ache (CdA) in Geneva in 1999 as an homage to Antoni Guadi, the most famous of modernist architects.

Owner of timepiece, Tasos Ioannou, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail the pen has been brought to Cyprus to be seen by the public. “The pen will be on show at the shop until the January 15, 2004. Everyone is welcome to pop in and take a look at the exquisite diamond studded fountain pen,” said Ioannou. “If someone is really taken with it they can purchase it. However if not then the pen will be sent back to the factory where it was made in Geneva.”

“The fountain pen has been in the Guinness Book Of World Records in 2001 and 2002 as the most expensive pen in the world. The reason we were allowed to bring it to Cyprus is because we at timepiece are the representatives of Caran d’Ache on the island,” said Ioannou. The record was established when the pen was on sale at Harrods London with its steep price tag of.

‘La Modernista Diamonds’ is made of solid silver with an 18 carat gold nib. It is covered with a total of 5072 full-cut Top Wesselton VS diamonds totaling 20 carats. Almost 100 half-cut rubies (0,32 carats) coat the top of the cap forming the CdA monogram. The pen is presented in an elegant hardwood case and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

“The important thing to remember is that this fountain pen is one of a kind. There is no other like it,” said Ioannou.

The Geneva jeweller and goldsmith Robert Perron set the 5168 gems by hand. The pen took six months to produce. The company Caran d’Ache was founded in 1924 by Arnold Schweitzer and has since developed many innovative products and is famed for its writing and drawing instruments.

Timepiece is located on Grigoriou Xenopoulou 9B in Nicosia.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.