Pen-makers set their cap at a high point in luxury

Richard Ingrams, editor of The Oldie magazine, holding the world's most expensive fountain pen, the solid-gold pounds 75,000 Montblanc Meisterstuck Solitaire Royale, on display at Mappin and Webb in Regent Street, London. It features 4,810 diamonds, the height in metres of Mont Blanc.

(Photograph omitted)