Pineider goes back to 1774, with a reputation for making some of the finest paper, leather goods and writing instruments in the world. With new ownership, and a renewed commitment to Italian quality, history and craftsmanship, Pineider also wanted a truly innovative pen range.

One of the most renowned and respected pen designers in the world had just split up with his previous company. Dante Del Vecchio was available, and full of ideas. They got together, and Dante has designed some pens and accessories that are both beautiful and highly practical.

At first glance, La Grande Bellezza is a pretty pen, sizeable and impressive, but fairly unassuming. But then you start to notice the details.

• The resin is beautiful, with lovely patterning, and wonderfully smooth to the touch. The twist here is that the resin contains a high percentage of marble dust, so the material is partly stone, giving it a subtly different look and feel, and a little extra weight.
• The clip is shaped like a feather, yet remains practical in use. There's a spring mechanism inside the cap that lets the clip open very wide, so it can hold onto even very thick pockets and bags, while a little upward turn at the tip makes it easy to attach.
• The metal ring around the cap has some decoration to it, which is perfectly common. In this case, though, along with the Pineider logo, there's the text "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" carved into the ring, over a patterned background.
• When you uncap the pen, the pull cap feels a little different. It's held in place by magnets, making it quick and easy to cap and uncap, while making a good seal. The magnetic poles are lined up in the cap and barrel, so twisting the cap a half turn will cause it to jump open, pushed by the same magnets that were holding it closed. It's just a little smoother to do than pulling alone.
• The nib is 14-karat gold, and specially shaped to give you a bit of line variation with pressure, so your writing has a little more style and expressiveness. The broad and stub nibs are shaped slightly differently, so they give less line variation, as they're starting with an already broad line.
• The same magnets in the cap that hold the pen closed, also hold the cap on the end of the barrel when writing with the pen posted. It's quicker and easier than a friction fit, and avoids the risk of marking the barrel.

The overall result is a pen that's really been thought through with the attention to detail and innovation that could only come from Dante Del Vecchio. A luxury pen, yes, definitely, but one that's clearly been designed to be nice to actually use every day, not just to look at.

141mm long capped, 127mm uncapped, 165mm posted. 14.5mm wide, 11mm at grip, weighs 38g. Supplied with a converter for use with bottled ink, and will also take international standard cartridges. Presented in a gift box.