Visitors to an Oxford shop got the chance to sign their name with the world's most valuable fountain pen.

The Meisterstuck Solitaire Royal is solid gold and encased with 4,810 diamonds. The lucky few who held the pen at the Pen Plus shop in High Street were able to order one - providing they had £78,000 to spare.

German pen maker Montblanc is displaying the 22-carat fountain pen, which is in the Guinness Book of Records, for the first time outside London.

A security guard stood close by as a privileged few were allowed to try their hand with the pen yesterday.

Andrea Ward, of Montblanc, said: "Most people just signed their name. It is difficult for some to believe that a pen can be worth so much, but it really is a work of art."

Each Solitaire Royal takes a painstaking six months to create. A skilled jeweller sets the diamonds so close together they form a continuously smooth surface.

Only six have been sold since the first was produced five years ago.

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