There’s an awful lot of buzz about a pen.
But, then again, it’s not just a pen. In international luxury goods purveyor Montblanc terms, it’s a writing instrument. It’s also hundreds of dollars, and using it is meant to evoke the same sense of wonder and longing that astronauts encounter when gazing down at Earth from space.
So, to celebrate the launch of the redesigned StarWalker collection, Montblanc came—where else?—to Houston, and they brought a whole fleet of high-profile guests along for the ride. Actors Hugh Jackman (Montblanc’s global ambassador), Diane Kruger, and Charles Melton and model Winnie Harlow joined Montblanc CEO Nicolas Baretzki and a slew of international guests for an out-of-this-world party at the Lone Star Flight Museum on Tuesday.
More than a product launch, the evening was a star-studded celebration of space exploration—conveniently timed to the golden anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing—and also featured former astronaut and space station commander Leroy Chiao, who spent 229 days in space over the course of four missions.
Witnessing one’s home planet from above and recognizing the fragility of humankind has a way of shifting one’s perspective, and Chiao spoke of his unique experiences on a panel with Baretzki and Jackman. The retired astronaut was 8 when he watched the moon landing; in 2004, he became the first American to vote in a presidential election from space.
The museum was transformed into Montblanc party HQ with a pop-up planetarium, ceiling-projected cosmic views, and plenty of other space-themed elements on display, which all corresponded in some way with the luxury pen, reimagined from a 2003 iteration. This time, the StarWalker’s pièce de résistance is the blue translucent dome (beneath the pen’s iconic Montblanc emblem) that mimics “the Earth emerging above the lunar horizon,” Montblanc says.
The pens come in different versions and styles, including fountain, ballpoint, and fineliner, equipped with platinum, metal, and black resin fittings. Of course, if you want to write among the stars, it’ll cost you a pretty penny—anywhere from $340 to $800.
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