Shanghai had always been a major city in the past. During the First Opium War, it was occupied by the British till the signing of the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, which open it ports for international trade.It then follow by the signing of the Treaty of the Bogus in 1843 and the Sino-American Treaty of Wangsia in 1844. It is the start of foreign nations achieve extraterritoriality on Chinese soil ...
... the start of the foreign concessions ... 2009 Shanghai is known as the Peral of the Orient, a city not only well know for it rich history, and collection of buildings and structures of various architectural styles, but also well know as the center of finance and trade in mainland China.
S.T. Dupont released a pen that just about about captured the global city status of Shanghai, China.
When I was given an opportunity back in July 2009 to place an order for the pen, it does not look appealing to me from the print out. Three months later, I was told the pen launched was very successfully in China. It was almost sold out with only a few set floating outside mainland China.
Sadly, I didn't manage to secure my set.
The good news is, the proud owner for one of the set allowed me to take a few photos to cheer me up and share the joy of this beautiful pen set. Here, I share with all my readers and friends.
When I was first shown the actual set, my heart missed a beat by the size of the box. The box is very big and heavy. It is as big as brief case. I took a deep breath before opening the external hard board box (picture 1 and 2). My reaction was that of Kungfu Panda when he opened the Dragon Scroll... I saw my own reflection. The gorgeous black lacquered box shine and finsihing was sooooo good that lady can use it as a make-up mirror.
My heart pumped faster as I bring it out from the external box.... the time is near, to review the pen. I opened the box... instead of gray raw rubber foam that most pen manufactuers used, Dupont made a hard top and soft bottom cushion with fine farbic. The interior of the box is all yellow. A color that can only be used by the Son of Heaven in the olden days.
Leaving the cushion, you will see the beautiful pens, its stand and bottled ink sitting cosy in their rightful place. Nicely layout in the beautiful box, waiting patiently for its master to pick them up.
The Neo-Classique President fountain pen is heavy and big. Gold dust on the hand applied lacquer lends a golden aura making it even brighter, giving it the elegance that we do not think can be surpassed.
A wave like precious gold inlay was crafted at the end of the pen, which symbolic the meaning of the chinese word 上海 (shanghai), which literally mean "up, on, or above" and "sea".
Shanghai is seen as the birthplace of everything considered modern in China. S.T. Dupont designed the cap with a combination of chinese, conptemporary and poetic design that is the evocation of rain.
No design is complete without a good representation of chinese believe in numerology. We believed 8 is the talisman of good fortune. Eight colour of the sun citrine gemstones was set by hand on the clip of the pen.
Yes, you are correct. The number of pens produced is also end with 8. It is a limited edition of 1088 pieces, with most of it sold in the mainland China.
At the bottom of the pen, it was craft with chinese design. It look at like the chinese seal, which is still use today in China and Taiwan for official documents.
There is no lack of details in the ink bottle. The bottle had the similar wave like design of the pen barrel, and it cover has the same "seal" design at the bottle of the pen.
The gorgeous black lacquered box , the yellow interior and cushion, the gold inlay on the pen, the chinese "seal" like design at the bottom of the pen, and the well designed ink bottle make me feel the pen set is made for the Emporer.
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