Montegrappa’s Smiley 50th Anniversary Pen

The smiley face is celebrating its 50^th anniversary, and the Italy-based Montegrappa pen firm is being attentive to this necessary little bit of cultural historical past. The not too long ago launched Smiley® 50^th Anniversary pen assortment includes a fountain pen, rollerball and ballpoint, and it’s making a little bit of historical past of its personal.

Quite a lot of people have claimed credit score for the smiley-face design, however many attribute its international recognition to France-Soir, the newspaper by which it appeared on January 1, 1972. Smiley has since unfold all over the world as a logo of positivity and “good vibes,” inflicting all who encounter it to smile, too.

However historians could also be to study {that a} a lot older illustration of the smiley face was uncovered in 2017, when archaeologist Nicolo Marchetti discovered a pot with a smile etched on it—two dots and a curved line—which he dated to round 1700 BCE, from the Hittite civilization. And thus started the lineage of a logo that might department, ultimately, into the ever present smiling-face emoji of the 21^st century, introducing an entire new era to the facility of a smile.

More moderen historical past factors to the image’s affiliation with music.

“By the ’80s, the Smiley was adopted by an sudden, underground subculture — digital home music,” based on hypebeast.com. “It tore by the airwaves in Detroit and was quickly picked up by British youths throughout the pond. In a interval often known as ‘The Second Summer season of Love’ the rave scene, which popularized the sound, propelled the image to new heights. This connection has actually stood the check of time, and in some elements of the world Smiley may be very a lot related to music.”

The Pen

Montegrappa collaborated with Swedish graffiti artist, André Saraiva, and his tackle the pens and packaging—like all his paintings—is joyous, fascinating and freed from constraints.

The brand new pens, which use the profile of Montegrappa’s ZERO as their canvas, level to the inherent optimism the smiley image engenders, and every black resin barrel is adorned with “Take time to smile!” in yellow block-style lettering. The pen’s cap, additionally in black resin, incorporates a clip that claims “Smiley & André” in script; all trim is in palladium. The cartridge- or converter-filled fountain pen’s 14-karat nib is engraved with the well-known dotted eyes and upturned mouth, trying straight up at you when it’s poised to put in writing. And the cap crown, as you may guess, is fitted with a yellow smiley.

The fountain pen weighs 32 g, is 143 mm lengthy, and is eighteen.3 m in diameter, whereas the rollerball weighs 40 grams, is 143 mm lengthy and is 14 mm in diameter. The ballpoint pen weighs 30 g, is 143 mm lengthy and is smaller in diameter, at 12.7 mm. Simply 365 items can be found in every mode, celebrating a yr’s price of smiles.

The pens are bought is particular Smiley Anniversary packaging, which is brilliant yellow and adorned with extra iconography designed to unfold happiness; the quantity 50 is boldly evident. The fountain pen field features a smiley-decorated bottle of ink.