The Design Museum's director, Deyan Sudjic, wrote years ago in a splendid book on cult objects: "The fountain pen offers rich possibilities as a cult object...pens have about them the basics of a language of social and stylistic ambition, before we have even touched on the hardware itself, which further extends the vocabulary.”

What is fascinating is that they have once again become desirable objects that tell the world as much about your taste and style as the watch you wear or the handbag you carry. As Colin McClymont, managing director of The Pen Shop, puts it: “I fought long and hard to take writing instruments out of the stationery cupboard and put them in to the same category as watches and jewellery - in other words to turn them into fashion accessories.”

These days his concessions are to be found in stores such as Selfridges, beside the luxury goods (you can also buy from his shop at 199 Regent Streeet, London W1 and online from www.penshop.co.uk). And, as if to underline their status, Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City movie is to be found holding a purple Montegrappa Piccola pen (£285). Meanwhile, the Swiss maker Caran d'Ache's excellent range in lots of colours starts at £120, while Parker's Sonnet range starts at £72.

Of course, turning a hitherto mainly masculine large, black and gold object into a fashion accessory doesn't happen by chance. The marketing guys have worked hard. First, they brought out smaller versions to suit more dainty hands, so that whereas, not that long ago, 75 per cent of pens were sold to men, today the figure is about 50-50. They also consulted trend-predictors to make sure that they knew the fashion colours of the season and then brought out spring and autumn collections.

Then they tried to ally their pens with jewellery - Montblanc did it most spectacularly by encrusting some of their pens with jewels and by photographing them with the opera singer Katherine Jenkins, wearing fabulous Montblanc jewellery.

These days, the upmarket fountain pen market is growing. And I can understand it: I've always felt that it is the small things we use every day that matter the most and have the potential to give us the most pleasure.

If you're thinking that a new fountain pen might be a good way to cheer yourself (or somebody else) up, there's an awesome choice.

Caran d'Ache does some truly beautiful pens, some not that expensive. However, at the moment it has a style that is a homage to the watch industry - a transparent pen barrel is filled with visible watch parts and embellished with delicate solid silver tracery. It costs £8,350.

Tibaldi, like Montegrappa, is another of the great Italian brands (it's nearly 100 years old). Even Giorgio Armani has now designed a pen - all understated black with silver embellishment . The fountain pen version (pictured below) will be on sale in Harrods from June for £2,300 (020-7730 1234).

If you can't wait, you could rush and buy Montegrappa's Brooklands pen, developed in conjunction with Bentley to celebrate the launch of its Brooklands car. It has fabulous silver hand-engraving of motoring triumphs on the barrel and costs £1,995.

If you want to look at some good British brands you might think about the famous Yard-O-Led, which, besides pens, has a beautiful hand-crafted solid silver pencil that holds, yes, a yard of lead. And if you're wondering who would be mad enough to pay some of the prices being asked - you can spend up to £80,000 on a luxury model - it's worth knowing that the finest pens, like so many precious things, often sell later at auction for many times their sale price.

A bargain, after all.

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