THE FANS SPOKE, AND THE VICTOR heeded their words. After PW readers chose Conway Stewart's Model 100 as the 2006 Best Pen, Brand Icon, the pen company has released a new limited edition of the award winner that reflects the prestigious title.

The British penmaker came up with the idea of the pen, which is called the Model 100 Icon, as a way of celebrating and thanking the pen aficionados who cast their ballots for the pen in the Reader's Choice Awards annual contest. "This is the best endorsement that we can hope for, recognition from the real experts out there who spend their hard- earned money and use our products. To receive their vote is very, very important to us," says managing director Glenn Jones. "Winning this award is all the more gratifying as the 100 Series was the first model to be introduced by the 'new' team at Conway Stewart and we're all very proud of it!"

Mary Burke, who works in the sales and development department of Conway Stewart, says, "We wanted to give back something to the readers who nominated our model 100 as 'Best Pen, Brand Icon, and felt that making this edition would be a way of acknowledging how important the voters are to us. We listen to consumer needs and desires when we design our pens. We think that the Icon is an edition that we can all be proud of!"

The Icon, of which only 100 pieces will be released as fountain pens and rollerballs, is made of sterling silver instead of the original model 100's ivory casein. Each weighty pen-68 grams for the rollerball-carries the sterling silver hallmark from the British Assay Office, which guarantees that it has been inspected for purity. Several hundred years ago, England set the standard for the purity of sterling silver, passing laws stating there must be at least 925 parts of silver in every 1,000 parts. This ratio is guaranteed by the goldsmiths' hallmark.

"Drawing on my experience with sterling silver limited editions, we tried to ensure that the Icon edition is an object of timeless beauty while still remaining very usable," explains Burke. "This required selecting an engraving pattern that complemented the shape and form of the pen. Our variation on the classic Fox Head design proved to be the perfect combination of strength and elegance. We felt it was important to craft the cap, barrel and gripping section from solid sterling silver rods, rather than using a thin sleeve of silver. This gives a great balance to the pen, making it a sheer delight to write with. Sterling silver is a tactile precious metal. It warms to body temperature in the hand, making the pen feel as if it's an extension of the writer."

The Icon fountain pen has a large rhodium-plated, iridium-tipped 18 karat gold nib that can be ordered in eight different sizes, and it fills using cartridge or convertor. The suggested list price is £675, or $1,250.
As with its other fine writing products, Conway Stewart, established more than 100 years ago, backs the Icon with a 100-year guarantee, "the ultimate proof of absolute confidence." What else would one expect of an icon?

For more, visit conwaystewart.com.

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