Luxury pens win awards all the time, but it is not every day that one does so while carrying a small Arctic warning label in its design. The Montegrappa LIFE Pen has just picked up the Good Design Award 2025, and it did so by being equal parts Italian craftsmanship, symbolic storytelling, and a climate-conscious statement piece.
Conferred by the Chicago Athenaeum, the Good Design Award has been a global benchmark for design excellence since 1950. For LIFE, the recognition validates what Montegrappa set out to do with designer Marco Colasanti: turn a writing instrument into something that speaks even before ink hits paper.
At a glance, LIFE looks refined and unmistakably premium. Look closer, and the symbolism starts to surface. A family of polar bears stands on a drifting ice floe, a quiet nod to disappearing Arctic habitats. The white cap references the Polar Circle. The clip takes inspiration from a thermometer, topped with a white topaz evoking the North Star. Even the pen’s upward-oriented body carries intent, pointing toward responsibility and future generations rather than just good penmanship.
This project also aligns with the environmental mission of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, with proceeds supporting its sustainability initiatives. In other words, this is a pen that wants you to write letters, sign documents, and maybe think twice about the planet while doing so.
LIFE is produced in strictly limited editions of 300 fountain pens and 300 rollerballs, each built with aluminium, brass, sterling silver 925, and topaz, and finished with vermeil trim. Both versions measure 142 mm in length, 21 mm in diameter, and weigh around 129 to 130 g. The fountain pen features an 18k gold nib and piston filling system, while the rollerball comes ready with a refill.
The Montegrappa LIFE Rollerball is priced at €3,850 (~US$4,550), while the LIFE Fountain Pen comes in at €4,500 (~US$5,318).
Images: Montegrappa.
