Steinway Pianos and Jan Zander Pens Make Beautiful Music

On June 24, piano makers Steinway & Sons announced the Masterpiece 8x8 collection, an homage to Earth's most precious woods.

Steinway & Sons was founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1853, and since then, the company has set the standard for concert-level pianos.

The Steinway & Sons Masterpiece 8x8 collection comprises eight grand and eight upright pianos in eight different precious woods: American walnut, eucalyptus, figured macore, figured sycamore, Macassar ebony, oak, olive, and Santos rosewood.

Each piano is hand-crafted in Steinway's Hamburg facility and features the company's trademark hand veneering. Each piano is finished with a precious pearl.

Steinway & Sons Europe President Guido Zimmermann says, "Each piano has a unique sound and rich quality. By using the world's most precious woods for this limited collection, we bring the personality of the wood type to life in a precious and subtle way that honors this natural material." As a bonus, each purchaser of one of these limited edition pianos also receives a hand-made writing instrument by Hamburg native and Montblanc former lead pen designer Jan Zander, who now produces writing instruments under his own brand, the Jan Zander Design Studio.

Zander met Zimmermann personally through his prior work with Montblanc. When Zimmermann read of Zander's embarkation into self-employment in a newspaper article, he contacted the pen maker about crafting these exclusive pens.

"A piano and a writing instrument have more in common than you might think. Playing and writing stimulate creative processes, feelings, and precision that have a lot to do with yourself," Zander says. "The model for the design was of course the piano itself. The body should be strong and round at the same time." Each fountain pen or rollerball is made from the same precious wood as the corresponding piano and in a matching veneer.