Designer Engine Turning

The use of engine turning to produce art deco work is by no means new in itself. Hand work has been done since Art Deco first appeared and has been a feature of the work of the more imaginative users of engine turning, such as Cartier in the nineteen twenties, thirties and forties. But what we offer here is a completely fresh approach to Art Deco in the form of Designer Engine Turning. With CAD CAM, we can create designs never before possible. This page illustrates this.

Montegrappa's 88th Anniversary Pen. Revolutionary Style.

Art Deco pen with engine turning designed for Montegrappa by David Pledge.

This pen was somewhat controversial when the first samples were delivered in 2000, when Richemont had only just taken over the company. To begin with, the price of the turning at more than £52 UKP was the highest price charged at the time, due to the very dense cutting necessary for enamel, and the fact that both cap and body were enamelled. The revolutionary art deco design was also something one either loved or hated. Fortunately they decided to trust our design skills and the pen proved extremely popular in the market. Around 1,000 pens were sold with a retail price of around £1,500 UKP each.

The design is all about numbers, and contains 88 individual elements of enamel, each carefully laid by hand in synthetic material by Ashfield Dean Ltd. The design contrasts a related background with the simple enamelled elements which complement the shape of the pen and contrast with the areas of finely engraved detail in bands around the ends of the tubes.

This is designer engine turning. Something only Pledge & Aldworth do.