Montblanc is to pens what Patek Philippe is to watches.
Both are masters in making a good product. But what they really know how to manufacture is desire; and then to sell it for a premium. This is the true art of brand management.
Make it well. Let everyone want one. But then make it scarce. As it becomes valuable, manage its value. Control all parts of the value chain: from the raw materials to the production to the distribution and even to the after sales service. Never commoditise.
In my case, I like things well made. I want them to last. Beyond me in any case, so others can enjoy things made by people of my time. No doubt, the objects of the future would be different; in fact, it's quite likely that there would be no need for pens and watches then. Indeed as I write this on my keyboard at a computer, both are already obsolete.
Mine may be the last generation to use the pen and the watch because we had to. Now, I do do because I want to. In a way, that's the real statement. To live a life we want to, not the one we had to.
I sometimes feel (and you would have read somewhere in the entries in this blog) that I am a demanding parent/boss/brother. In a way, I made others do what they had to. Then there comes are time when they muster up enough knowledge, and also enough guile to chart their own course. The course they want.
I hope they break free at the right time. I know I did probably around the age of 16-17. J and M are also asserting themselves similarly.
So, one day, my collection shall be theirs. Right now, I am just procuring works that D and I like. May it remind them of what it means to live a life we want.
(photo credit: a collector from the fountain pen network, so above are not mine but this picture perfect shot is too good to pass up)
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