Maria Esther on parade… Pirelli’s Ambassador
Versatile and Mont Blanc Excellence…
On Monday, 9 May, Maria Esther Bueno was the guest speaker at a reception celebrating excellence and launching the 90th edition of Versatille magazine, which this month features five of Brazil’s most successful and influential business women.
Versatille is a high-end lifestyle journal that focuses on fashion, travel, motor, design, culture and food and is distributed among the best hotels and retail outlets in Brazil.
It is the first time the magazine has embarked on such a feature, and all five women are fashionably dressed and made up to celebrate the milestone.
The publication has many luxury brands supporting it, including Montblanc and Pirelli, who co-hosted the reception held at the JK Iguatemi Shopping Mall in Sao Paulo and this occasion also celebrated the 110th anniversary of Montblanc.
“It was a very, very special occasion,” said Maria Esther.
“There were around 150 guests invited to attend the event, and I felt very privileged to be asked to make a speech to such an incredible audience after being introduced by Alain Dos Santos, Director of Montblanc Brasil.”
Honouring Five remarkable business women
Maria Esther Bueno and Alain Dos Santos, Director of Montblanc Brasil
The five extraordinary women honoured that evening were Beatriz Galloni, Chief Marketing Officer of Mastercard Black Brazil; Carla Pri Ramos, Communications Director for Leroy Merlin Brazil; Gláucia Gouveia Gomes, Director of Marketing and Events for Brasil Kirin; Patricia Semeoni, Director of Monetcristo; and Yara S D Apparicio, Vice President of Media for WMcCann.
On Versatille’s 90th edition cover: (from left to right) Carla Ramos – Director of Communication, Leroy Merlin; Beatriz Galloni – Chief Marketing Officer, Mastercard; Yara Apparício, Vice President for Media, WMcCann; Gláucia Gouveia Gomes, Director of Marketing and Events, Brasil Kirin; Patricia Semeoni, Director, Montecristo Jewelry
All five appear on the cover of this month’s Versatille magazine after an amazing photoshoot that can be viewed on Facebook.
“To meet these wonderful women was an honour and I felt proud, as a Pirelli Ambassador, to be able to present them personalised and autographed editions of the famous Pirelli Calendar to help mark the occasion.
“This year the calendar, which was shot by the renowned American photographer Annie Leibovitz, featured 12 remarkable women who have changed the world in their own particular way.
“It is inspirational, as are these special women.”
In her address to the audience, Maria Esther acknowledged how hard it is for women to attain success and reach the top of their chosen careers, as she herself could testify, saying it takes hard work, dedication and resilience.
“You have to be able to take the knocks on the way and remain focused on your goals.
“To have these five women recognised for what they have achieved is a great victory for women in Brazil and around the world,” she added.
“When I handed the microphone back to Alain [Dos Santos], he told me my words were fantastic and had struck a real chord with everyone, so I was very pleased.”
Beatriz Galloni, the Chief Marketing Officer of Mastercard, later told Maria Esther that what she had said was a brilliantly-put message, adding she had paved the way for all of them and remained a true inspiration to so many.
“To be able to meet so many interesting and successful people is a wonderful experience,” Maria Esther added.
“Just to be in the same room as with all these VIPs is really amazing!
Rouge et Noire
Montblanc was founded in 1906 as the Simplo Filler Pen company, producing up-market pens in the Schanzen district of Hamburg.
Their first model was the Rouge et Noir in 1909, followed a year later by the pen that was later to give the company its new name, Mont Blanc.
Mont Blan’s Heritage Edition Rouge et Noir
Today, the brand is on other goods besides pens, including watches, jewellery, fragrances, leather goods and eyewear.
To celebrate the brand’s 110th birthday, Mont Blanc unveiled a raft of new products in key events around the world and Maria Esther Bueno used the new pen, a handsome and slim Heritage Edition Rouge et Noir pen offered in black with a coral end-piece, to sign the Pirelli Calendars for the guests of honour.
Along with the ‘regular’ pens are spectacular limited editions, including the Ultimate Serpent Limited Edition 1, which is limited, as the name suggests, to just one piece worldwide at a price of €1.2 million because it is made from a single, solid piece of rose gold weighing a hefty 99g.
The pen weighs over 130g in total, its cap and barrel are set in full pavée with approximately 1950 dark blue sapphires, the serpent itself decorated with 153 individually-cut geometric diamonds. Two rubies are set into the eyes of the serpent.
“I had my eye on one of those beautiful Mont Blanc pens but the PR people are very smart and kept the top of the one I was using to sign the calendars, so I couldn’t keep it,” laughed Maria Esther.
“Obviously it wasn’t the million dollar one or there would have been an armed guard with it!”
Celebrity DJ
Maria Esther takes on the duties of Celebrity DJ for the evening alongside the real DJ (left) and the Head Caterer.
“Later in the evening I had a lot of fun also acting as the ‘celebrity DJ’ for the evening!” Maria Esther told her website.
“I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but I looked the part!
“As usual I was very well looked after, particularly by the Pirelli people, who sent a car for me and I was even able to catch up with my soaps on the way to the reception in the back seat where they had a television! A really good way to deal with the city traffic!
“I had a very good time!”