Now comes Rs 1.3 crore pen in India

NEW DELHI: Austerity is passe. With the economy back on track, you can think of penning your own success story with the most expensive pen ever brought to India at Rs 1.35 crore, thanks to Swiss writing instrument maker Caran d'Ache.

William Penn, a Bangalore-based retail store chain for luxury pens, which has an exclusive tie-up with Caran d'Ache, said the pen sold under the name 'La Modernista' is by far the most expensive ever introduced in India.

"This is the most-expensive pen ever introduced by Caran d'Ache in India and to my knowledge the most-expensive pen in the country," William Penn Chief Executive Officer Nikhil Ranjan told PTI.

The hand-crafted pen with an 18-carat gold nib is considered the second most-expensive pen in the world after German luxury pen maker Mont Blanc's 'Mystery Masterpiece' which was sold at a price of $730,000 (Rs 3 crore).

Mont Blanc's controversial luxury pen dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi is arguably the most expensive in India priced at Rs 11 lakh to date.

"There has been a lot of interest among pen collectors in India for luxury pens. Unlike the rest of the world, when high-end items are not doing so well, the Indian market for luxury pen is growing," he said.

With its growing economy, India has been targeted by many luxury product companies, including the likes of carmakers BMW, Audi, Mercedes, and top-end fashion brands like Armani and Ferragamo to tap the increasing number of affluent people.

The company, which sells over 20 premium writing instruments like Sheaffer, Sailor, Mont Blanc and Parker in the country, said it has been growing at the rate of around 25 per cent year-over-year and is likely to maintain the growth.

"We are opening another five stores in the metros taking the total number of stores to 15 across the country. We believe there is potential for luxury pens in India and we are definitely in an expansion mode," Ranjan said.

Besides, William Penn introduced the limited edition of its 'Shiva' collection from Caran d'Ache priced at Rs 5.15 lakh.

"We have introduced 108 pieces of Shiva and almost 80 per cent have been sold out. Besides, we have also got a lot of queries for 'La Modernista'. So, India is an interesting market for us," Caran d'Ache General Manager Silvio Laurenti said.

One of the inspiring article from Economic times dated on 24/02/10