As the brand works to become more distinctive and relevant to a new audience, its collaborations with licensed properties have expanded in number, scope and creative ambition. From that perspective, a partnership with the Stanley Kubrick Film Archive felt like a very natural fit.

Absolutely. And Guiseppe, what made The Shining an attractive brand to design for?
Guiseppe Aquila, CEO, Montegrappa: The Shining is not just a film – it’s a complete psychological architecture. What makes it so compelling from a design perspective is the way Stanley Kubrick constructs meaning through symbols, space and repetition. The Overlook Hotel becomes a metaphor for the human mind – and every object within it carries narrative weight.

For us, this richness is essential. We are drawn to universes where storytelling is layered and open to interpretation. The Shining offers precisely that: a tension between order and madness, beauty and unease. It allows us to translate cinematic language into physical form – into something that can be held, explored and discovered over time.

For anyone yet to see this remarkable creation, can you talk me through some of your favourite design details here?
Guiseppe: This is a piece that reveals itself gradually… Almost like the film. One of the most striking elements is the rotating disc beneath the cap’s Ambigram. It references the door peephole, and – as it turns – the twins appear and disappear, almost like an apparition. It’s a small mechanical gesture, but it captures the unsettling rhythm of the film beautifully.

Another key feature is the clip, shaped as the key to Room 237. It’s both an invitation and a warning – an object that grants access, but suggests there is no return. Then there is the barrel: on the fountain pen, it opens like an elevator door, revealing red ink flowing through the Free Drop Reservoir. This is a direct reference to one of the film’s most iconic scenes, but also a way to make the internal mechanism part of the storytelling.

Finally, I’m particularly fond of the continuous engraving of ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ It’s obsessive, hypnotic, and perfectly encapsulates the psychological descent at the heart of the narrative.

Did any of these design touches prove a ‘tough nut to crack’?
Guiseppe: Yes – particularly the elements that involve movement and illusion. The rotating disc with the twins, for example, required a very precise balance between mechanical reliability and visual subtlety. It had to feel almost ghostly in its effect, not overtly theatrical.

Similarly, translating cinematic moments – like the elevator sequence – into a mechanical function on the pen required several iterations. It’s one thing to reference a scene; it’s another to embed it into the physical behaviour of an object.

These challenges are part of what makes such projects rewarding. When a detail works seamlessly, it disappears into the experience – but achieving that simplicity is often the most complex part.

“Our role is not to replicate – it’s to interpret.”

Absolutely – and what dictates how ‘far’ you go design-wise? What helps you know when to add, and when to streamline?
Guiseppe: It’s always a question of coherence. With a subject like The Shining, the temptation is to include everything, because the film is so dense with references. But our role is not to replicate – it’s to interpret. Every detail must serve a purpose within a unified narrative.

We tend to think of it as editing rather than adding. The design evolves until every element feels necessary, and nothing feels decorative for its own sake. When you reach the point where removing something would weaken the story, you know you’re close.

In this case, the balance was between richness and clarity. The pen had to feel immersive, but never chaotic – much like Kubrick’s own visual language.

What does a brand need to have in order to be of interest to Montegrappa?
Guiseppe: At its core, it needs cultural resonance. We look for subjects that have shaped collective imagination – icons that people recognise not just visually, but emotionally. Beyond that, there needs to be depth: a narrative universe that can sustain interpretation and reinterpretation.

Equally important is alignment in values. Craftsmanship, authenticity and a certain timelessness are essential. We are not interested in fleeting trends; we are interested in stories that endure.

Finally, there must be room for transformation. The most interesting collaborations are those where we can translate an idea from one medium into another – where cinema, art, or history can be reimagined through the language of fine writing instruments. That is where Montegrappa operates: at the intersection of culture, craftsmanship and storytelling.

And Paolo, what’s key to fruitful collaborations between yourself, the brand you represent, and your licensees?
Paolo: We work across all types of collaborations – brand-to-brand partnerships, retail projects, artistic curations, and, of course, licensed collaborations. In some ways, licensed collaborations are more straightforward, because IP owners are often highly motivated to work with narrative-driven brands that can elevate and extend the relevance of their properties.

That said, not all IP owners approach collaborations in the same way. Those who rely on a more traditional, mainstream licensing model can sometimes focus too heavily on short-term commercial outcomes, overlooking a crucial point: a successful licensed collaboration is a creative partnership. It requires the licensee to interpret the core values of the IP through its own capabilities and craft a product that is both meaningful and narratively rich.

Our role is to help create alignment and effectiveness between both sides of that equation. In the case of the collaboration between Montegrappa and the Stanley Kubrick Film Archive, that alignment came very naturally.

And what other categories do you see as being of interest for Kubrick and The Shining moving forward?
Paolo: During his time at Gucci, Alessandro Michele did a great service with the 2022 Exquisite Collection campaign, replicating the visual language of Stanley Kubrick’s films to stage the collection. That moment made it much easier to demonstrate the narrative power of Kubrick’s work in connection with brands looking to deepen their storytelling and treat their products as expressive platforms – not just objects, and not only within the luxury space.

Brands like Jacques Marie Mage have done an exceptional job in the curated eyewear segment, and these are exactly the kinds of thoughtful, design-led projects we’re interested in pursuing in collaboration with the Stanley Kubrick Film Archive moving forward.

Guys, congrats again to you both – and to the brand’s global agent Caroline Mickler – on this terrific launch.

The post Lucci & Partners’ Paolo Lucci and Montegrappa’s Giuseppe Aquila on the company’s remarkable The Shining pen appeared first on Brands Untapped.

What made Frankenstein an exciting brand to work with?
Frankenstein epitomises that idea of invention in a way that is both fun and serious – especially in the current climate of AI and tech overlords. It gave us a way to challenge ourselves and do things that the purists like to push back on. ‘Frankenpens’ are an actual thing in the pen community, so this was a chance to subvert that conversation and shine a light on some the ‘mad scientist’ ideas that we constantly build into our designs.

“It gave us a way to challenge ourselves and do things that the purists like to push back on.”

‘Frankenpens’ – amazing. I’m going to look into that! Now, the development process for this pen spanned more than three years. What did those early design conversations focus on?
Mainly working out the metallurgical aspects and the mechanical complications we wanted to include. Remember, we’re not just trying to achieve things that no-one tries, but to execute them perfectly and at a level that won’t deteriorate over time. Unlike watchmakers, we’re not part of a giant ecosystem – so all the research, testing and prototyping usually falls on us and takes time to get right.

Well, it shows; it’s a stunning creation.
Thank you. It’s nearly half a pound of brass, so it could literally be stunning if you accidentally dropped it!

Ha! A pen that could actually be mightier than a sword! Let’s delve into some of the design details you’re proud of here.
Its size is something we like a lot. Until the 1950s, XL pens were reasonably common for factories like ours to make, but they fell out of fashion. Frankenstein gave us an obvious premise to revisit that tradition, and do it in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way.

The mechanism in the barrel tail is a point of pride. We call it a ‘gyro gizmo’. Its oddly satisfying to operate – and we’re always looking for new ways to include a little fidget factor to our pens. No-one else thinks about kinetics like we do.

Of course, Frankenstein’s lab is what everyone talks about. We’ve made dioramas before but never something so big or interactive… It includes a working plasma ball! It won a gold medal in for merchandising in France’s Shop! Awards.

What was the toughest element to execute?
Getting brass to have the right texture and patina was very new to us. We were going for a kind-of improvised, DIY aesthetic, which turned out to be a very meticulous, hands-on process. It’s the kind of thing that artisanal factories are ideally suited to, but it’s challenging to make something authentically imperfect when you’re used to making shiny and opulent… Sometimes it’s harder to dress down than dress up.

Yes! Getting something to look ‘rough’ in that sense takes a lot of skill! Reminds me of the Dolly Parton line: “It takes a lot of time and money to look this cheap!” Now, this was a collaboration with the folks at Universal. What was the key to making this a successful creative collaboration?
Universal was very supportive at every stage, but the key really was the level of our technical ambition from the outset. I think if an IP owner tried to propose the things we do to a regular partner, they would quickly be shown the door. We demanded a lot from their approval system but, of course, we focus all our energy and ideas into one product; not a whole collection every year.

How does the design team fuel its creativity? What helps you have ideas?
It must be the food and the mountain air. We’re only an hour’s drive from Venice and creative industry has a great tradition here. Having operated out of the same factory since 1912, we’ve got more than a century of tooling at our disposal plus more than 300 limited editions in our archive. There’s a lot of competitiveness – both external and internal – to do something new. Often a new idea comes from a designer, or from me, or something that happened on the factory floor. We employ artisans and we encourage them to be audacious and creative.

Do you feel there’s potential in some of the other Universal Monsters to get the ‘Montegrappa’ treatment?
In luxury as in horror, suspense is everything. You’ll just have to wait and see!

Ha! Very good. Thanks again Giuseppe. Before we wrap up, we’re also lucky enough to speak with Oliver Bartlett, Product Developer for Toys and Hardlines EMEA at Universal Products and Experiences. Oliver, can you talk me through what it was like collaborating with Montegrappa on this project?
Oliver Bartlett: Montegrappa are true masters of their craft, not only highly skilled but also a pleasure to collaborate with on a personal level. What really stands out is their dedication to storytelling, they don’t just create products – they take great care to ensure that every detail contributes to telling the story behind the piece. This, alongside their commitment to quality and their willingness to go the extra mile, made the process feel very special.

“The mechanism in the barrel tail is a point of pride.”

It was an exciting journey, starting with a few sketches and watching the designs evolve into beautifully rendered concepts, and eventually into the final product. Their artwork team is incredible, and combined with their talented engineers, it was amazing to see how far we could push the creative boundaries to bring the Frankenstein story to life through the pen.

A successful creative collaboration! What do you put that down to?
Oliver Bartlett: I feel the key to successful creative collaborations lies in two things: storytelling and respect. It’s about combining the unique strengths of both parties to tell the best story possible through the product while respecting each other’s craft, expertise, and passion.

With the Frankenstein pen, we aimed to capture the essence of this iconic character and scene and translate that into a design that is both engaging and meaningful to fans. If you can achieve that, then I believe you’ve had a successful creative collaboration.

Fantastic. Thanks again guys. And congrats on a brilliant pen!

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