Schön! alive 3 | time after time

Marshall Bromley 750.
Ready to switch the moment on
marshall.com

For more than half a century, musicians have chased their sound through the Marshall Amplifier factory in Milton Keynes, England, where amps are still crafted by hand. Now, Marshall Studio is extending unprecedented access to its legacy – offering artists a place to explore, experiment and elevate their craft.

From playable memorabilia to iconic gear shaped by decades of rock history, it’s a space built on care, curiosity and community. Schön! alive steps inside with Steve Tannett, Director of Music Platforms, and Adam Beer, Studio Manager and Chief Engineer, to discover how Marshall is blending heritage, innovation and a true musicians-first ethos.

Marshall may be synonymous with rock mythology, but its story begins humbly: a London music shop selling drum kits in the early 1960s. By the 1970s, founder Jim Marshall had relocated the company to Milton Keynes, where the Bletchley factory still stands – a place where amplifiers are made as they were “back in the day”, Beer says. Craftspeople still cover cabinets by hand, fit components and valves, and sign their names inside. Some have been there for 40 years.

“Every one of those amps you see on stage with AC/DC came out of that factory,” Beer adds. Wander through the workshop, and it’s not unusual to see the person who built James Hetfield’s or Lzzy Hale’s amps working just a few feet away. In other words, if you buy a Marshall today, there’s a real chance the artisan who made it also built gear for Metallica.

Read the full interview and feature now in Schön! alive 3, available in print and in our online shop.

Marshall Bromley 750.
Make any street, forest, or garden your venue.
The Bromley 750 delivers powerful
360° sound with deep bass
and over 40 hours of wireless playtime.
marshall.com

Marshall Studio 900 Combo special edition.
The legendary JCM900 tone in a compact combo amp
Studio 900 delivers powerful crunch and clarity,
reimagined in a special Lunar New Year edition
marshall.com

Marshall 1959 Modified.
Built to adapt to any playing style,
the 1959 Modified delivers timeless rock tones
with enhanced control at any volume
marshall.com

Schön! alive  3, now available in print and in our online shop and at Amazon
Download your eBook.

words. Mike Furey
still life photography. Tom Brannigan

Finally, it seems someone has realised that the future of eyewear shouldn’t involve strapping a computer the size of a brick to your face. Even Realities has just dropped their latest creations, the G2 Display Smart Glasses and the R1 Smart Ring, and they are a breath of fresh air for anyone tired of tech that screams for attention.

The brand is doubling down on their ‘quiet tech’ philosophy, essentially promising superpowers that disappear the moment you don’t need them, leaving you to look like a functioning human being rather than a cyborg.

“With G2 and R1, we’ve created devices that disappear into your daily life, while delivering the most advanced intelligence ever seen in the industry,” says Will Wang, Founder and CEO of Even Realities. “We wanted to embed in Even G2 a series of features that can truly make the day-to-day of high-achieving individuals better, not busier.”

The core team is an impressive blend of experts snatched from tech heavyweights like Apple, Samsung and Philips, combined with specialists from high-end eyewear names such as Mykita and Lindberg. They launched their first-generation product, the G1, with the mission of creating smart glasses that actually prioritise wearability and style over clunky digital functionality. They believe that innovation should enhance the human experience, not overwhelm it, and this latest launch is a confident evolution of that foundational belief.

The headline act here is the Even G2, a pair of smart glasses that genuinely look like high-end eyewear. Weighing in at a featherlight 36g and crafted from aerospace-grade titanium and magnesium alloy, they’ve managed to hide a serious amount of kit inside a frame you’d actually want to wear to a dinner party.

The magic happens via their new ‘Even HAO 2.0’ optical engine, which projects a crisp, green heads-up display directly into your line of sight. This allows you to access turn-by-turn navigation that adjusts as you turn your head, real-time translation across 29 languages and a live teleprompter.

But the real party trick is a feature called Conversate. Imagine having a witty scriptwriter in your ear – or rather, your eye – during awkward small talk. It listens to your conversation (privately, of course) and offers subtle prompts, explains complex concepts on the fly and even suggests follow-up questions if you’re running out of steam. It’s essentially a social safety net powered by AI.

Even Realities have ditched the front-facing cameras entirely. There’s no creepy red recording light and no invasion of privacy, just a focus on enhancing your own experience without making everyone else in the room uncomfortable.

Partnering the glasses is the Even R1 Smart Ring, a clever little slice of zirconia ceramic and stainless steel that acts as a discreet remote control for your face. Instead of tapping your temple like you’re trying to fix a malfunction, you can subtly scroll through notes or dismiss notifications with a tiny gesture of your hand. It also pulls double duty as a health tracker, monitoring your vitals and giving you a ‘Productivity Score’ to keep your work-life balance in check. The two devices link up via ‘TriSync,’ creating a seamless loop between your ring, glasses and phone.

The Even G2 and the R1 are available now globally. Find out more here.

photography. courtesy of Even Realities
words. Gennaro Costanzo

What if your favourite pen could keep its analogue soul while living in a world of cloud storage and instant sharing? That’s the challenge Montblanc has tackled head-on. The German luxury Maison, famed for crafting the world’s finest writing instruments, has successfully debuted the Montblanc Digital Paper, an innovation designed not to replace handwriting, but to elevate it for the modern age.

Unveiled at the brand’s Hamburg headquarters, the new device celebrates the unique, sensory pleasure of putting pen to paper while extending the Maison’s refined writing culture into the digital space. It’s a marriage of high culture and high-tech. 

Upholding its core message to “Inspire Writing,” Montblanc employed cutting-edge technology to translate the unparalleled experience of writing by hand without any loss of quality – a demanding transition perfected by the specialists in Hamburg.

“While digital tools offer efficiency and comfort, handwriting is an intensive experience driven by the flow of thought and sensory input. In our increasingly fast-paced world, this experience can be grounding and inspiring,” says Felix Obschonka, Montblanc Director of New Technologies. 

He notes that with the Digital Paper, they’ve found a way to preserve all the virtues of handwriting while simultaneously addressing the need for unlimited space and effortless digital collaboration. 

The entire experience hinges on the accompanying Montblanc Digital Pen. It proudly inherits the ergonomic design and celebrated features of the legendary Meisterstück, retaining the signature three metal rings and the iconic Montblanc emblem.

To genuinely replicate that unique feel, the Digital Pen comes with three interchangeable tips, each meticulously engineered to simulate a different paper texture, allowing the user to precisely tailor the handwriting experience. Writing on the device’s high-resolution display with electronic ink promises the exact same sensory satisfaction as putting a classic Montblanc nib to paper.

Beyond the tactile experience, the Digital Paper is designed as an essential smart companion. It’s ideal for annotating presentations, e-books and documents. But most importantly, all handwritten notes and documents are made fully searchable through an intuitive function with sophisticated handwriting recognition. 

Users can structure ideas using pre-loaded templates for calendars and planners, while files can be seamlessly shared and received via email, USB-C or through the accompanying app connected to the Montblanc Cloud.

Aesthetically, the device is housed in an ultra-light metal casing available in Mystery Black, Elixir Gold and Cool Grey, finished with a calfskin leather side panel embossed with the Montblanc emblem. For added luxury, stylish leather covers are available as an option, which can be individually customised with embossing.

The Montblanc Digital Paper is now available in selected boutiques worldwide and online.

photography. courtesy of Montblanc
words. Gennaro Costanzo