In 1992 the Hemingway was released as the first edition of the Writers Edition series. Today it counts among the most sought-after pieces of the series and would be a most welcome addition to many a collector's collection. What is often forgotten: in the first years after release the Hemingway was not really in demand – or to put it differently, it lay in many shop windows like lead. The colour combination with its striking orange in particular did not initially appeal to many buyers. As late as 1997, five years after market launch, the Hemingway was still available in many boutiques and at specialist dealers without any waiting time.
On opening two then still factory-sealed Hemingway ballpoint pens, a peculiarity emerged that is not yet widely known: the first ballpoint pen corresponded to the familiar variant with a slightly rough surface – the barrel skin looks as if it had been sandblasted (exactly how this rougher finish is achieved is not known). With the second ballpoint pen, however, the surprise was complete: this Hemingway was entirely smooth – neither clip nor barrel showed the typical rough surface.
An enquiry through the dealer, who in turn contacted Montblanc, revealed: at least for the ballpoint pens, two surface variants do indeed exist – a rough one and a smooth one. Why these two finishes exist has not been conclusively clarified to this day; possible explanations include an early pre-series run, a special production batch or a later adjustment to the manufacturing process. For the Hemingway fountain pens, on the other hand, only the variant with the rough surface is so far known. For collectors it is therefore worthwhile, when acquiring a Hemingway ballpoint pen, to take a close look at clip and barrel – the smooth variant is likely to be considerably rarer.
Related pages on fountainpen.de:
• Montblanc Writers Edition 'Hemingway' (1992): https://www.fountainpen.de/writer-hemingway-en.htm
• Overview of all Writers Editions: https://www.fountainpen.de/writer-en.htm