Montblanc’s Latest Great Characters Edition Pays Tribute To Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix was one of rock music’s greatest. Songs like Purple Haze, All Along the Watchtower, Little Wing, Burning the Midnight Lamp, and others are all shining gems of rock music history. While his mainstream music career spanned less than five years, he was only 28 when he died in 1970, and managed to produce three albums besides his famous live shows in his lifetime. The kind of magic Hendrix created with his electric guitar established his immortality, that had till then only been reserved for Western Classical composers like Mozart and Beethoven. 

The prestigious Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has described him as the ‘the most gifted instrumentalist of all time’. Hendrix took the electric guitar to heights that have never been scaled since, influencing countless musicians around the world, a legacy that is still fresh five decades after his death. So, it is not surprising that he is nowbeing memorialised by Montblanc, as part of their Great Character series of writing instruments. He follows in the select company of the likes of Walt Disney, Enzo Ferrari and Elvis Presley — exceptional individuals who have made their mark in their respective fields. The three intricately crafted writing instruments in the Jimi Hendrix collection are inspired by the musician’s unique sound, playing style, and the unforgettable 1960s counterculture he represented. 

MONTBLANC GREAT CHARACTERS JIMI HENDRIX SPECIAL EDITION

Montblanc’s first piece in the collection is subtle, tasteful and packed with clever references to Hendrix’s glory years. The first — an eye-catching resin cap — invokes the cream-coloured shade of Hendrix’s original 1964 Fender Stratocaster, a guitar that played at dozens of iconic venues, most notably Woodstock ‘69. With pen clips inspired by Hendrix’s pioneering use of the tremolo bar, textured end cones simulating the surface of the ‘wah-wah pedal’ used in so many iconic songs, and a red resin tip mimicking the pilot light of Hendrix’s Marshal Super Lead amplifiers — Montblanc has truly gone out of their way to fit in an entire decade of inspiration into each Special Edition writing instrument. There’s also beautifully-crafted geometric patterns reminiscent of Hendrix’s favoured guitar strap at the time, an engraving of his debut album title Are You Experienced at the clip top, and a date engraving commemorating Hendrix’s spectacular performance at the Monterey Pop Festival back in 1967 — during the ‘Summer of Love’. The handcrafted, rhodium-coated Au 585 solid gold nib on the fountain pen is decorated with a portrait of the guitarist. These writing instruments also have ballpoint and rollerball variants. 

MONTBLANC GREAT CHARACTERS JIMI HENDRIX LE99

Shining a light on Hendrix’s unforgettable performance at Woodstock in 1969, this gorgeous, luxuriously decorated piece comes in the same-coloured lacquer finish as the aforementioned Stratocaster, while an engraved plaque lists each one of the 12-odd songs performed by Hendrix at the iconic festival. The cap top features a skeletonised Au 750 solid white gold overlay carved out with the peace sign and the Montblanc emblem to reveal the blue transparent dome underneath. The lacquer ring beneath the dome is inspired by the hot pink headband Hendrix wore onstage that August day in Woodstock, New York, while the name ‘Woodstock’ is imprinted around the top of the clip. Opting for a bi-colour Au 750 gold nib, the Au 750 solid white gold forepart is engraved with his signature alongside the same geometric pattern that decorated Hendrix’s guitar strap at Woodstock. 

To complement the collection, Montblanc is releasing a calf leather notebook and violet coloured ink (available as an ink bottle) recalling his hit, Purple Haze. The nuanced traces of Hendrix’s guitar stylings found throughout the collection offer the ultimate tribute to one of the greatest musical contributors of our time, in impeccable Montblanc fashion. 

MONTBLANC GREAT CHARACTERS JIMI HENDRIX LIMITED EDITION 1942

A touch less subtle than the Special Edition, the Limited Edition 1942 comes production-capped to 1,942 units— the number to represent both Hendrix’s birth and his famous Electric Ladyland album. Harkening back to 1968, the album was a milestone in rock music and heavily incorporated many visual elements of Hendrix’s personal style and larger-than life identity. Again, featuring tremolo bar and amplifier-inspired elements, the Limited Edition 1942’s most striking details are the degradé lacquer on the barrel, which fades delicately from red to black (like the album cover) while encased in a gold-coated skeleton. The handcrafted Au 750 yellow gold nib is engraved with a portrait of the rock legend.