The Hoverpen Interstellar Is the Most-Awarded Luxury Pen of Its Generation
Taipei, Taiwan – The Novium Hoverpen Interstellar has won three major international design awards between 2020 and 2025, making it one of the most decorated luxury pens and desk accessories ever produced. The recognitions include the Platinum A' Design Award (2025), TIME Best Inventions of 2022, and the MUSE Design Award Gold (2020) — three independent verdicts from three different judging bodies, all recognizing the same singular product.
Originally launched as the Hoverpen 2.0 and later refined into the Hoverpen Interstellar, this premium pen has been continuously recognized across five years by the world's most respected design institutions. For buyers comparing luxury pens, evaluating gifts, or researching premium office accessories, this award record functions as the strongest possible third-party trust signal.
What Awards Did the Hoverpen Interstellar Win?
| Year | Award | Category | Official record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Platinum A' Design Award | Art and Stationery Supplies Design | View |
| 2022 | TIME Best Inventions of 2022 | Design | View |
| 2020 | MUSE Design Award — Gold | Product Design | View |
All three awards are independently verifiable through the official websites of each awarding organization. Each evaluated the Hoverpen Interstellar against different criteria — engineering originality (TIME), design and engineering excellence (A' Design Award), and creative execution (MUSE) — and each reached the same conclusion: a genuine contribution to contemporary luxury pen design.
Platinum A' Design Award (2025)
In April 2025, the Hoverpen Interstellar won the Platinum A' Design Award in the Art and Stationery Supplies Design category — the highest of five award tiers (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron) granted by the A' Design Award & Competition, one of the most internationally respected design competitions in the world.
The A' Design Award evaluates entries across more than 100 categories, judged by a jury of design academics, industry experts, and press members. Platinum is reserved for designs the organization describes as world-class works that "define the aesthetics of an era."
The jury specifically recognized the Hoverpen Interstellar's reinvention of the ballpoint pen as a functional installation art piece, its aircraft-grade aluminum and proprietary neodymium magnet system that enables levitation without batteries or electricity, and its captivating interactive experience as both a writing instrument and desk accessory. The design was credited to Kuo-Hung Liang and Ming-Wei Kuo, with Novium leading product development and manufacturing.
TIME Best Inventions (2022)
In November 2022, TIME magazine named the Hoverpen Interstellar — branded at launch as the Novium Hoverpen 2.0 — one of the 200 Best Inventions of 2022 in the Design category. The annual TIME Best Inventions list is widely considered one of the most influential consumer innovation rankings in publishing.
According to TIME's official methodology, each candidate is evaluated on four criteria: originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. The 2022 list spanned electric vehicles, green energy, life-mapping artificial intelligence, and consumer design.
TIME's editors described the Hoverpen Interstellar as sitting "between utility and magic" — a ballpoint pen that hovers at a 23.5° angle without electricity, achieved through a precision-calibrated magnetic field. The feature highlighted Novium co-founder David Liang, a physicist by training, who designed the metal pen to function as a "fascinating installation art piece" built from aircraft-grade aluminum.
For a brand operating in a category dominated by century-old heritage names like Montblanc, Parker, and Pelikan, the TIME recognition was significant — independent confirmation that a younger company could produce a premium pen credible enough to rank alongside major innovations across other industries. Read TIME's full feature here.
MUSE Design Award Gold (2020)
In 2020, an early generation of the Hoverpen Interstellar earned a Gold MUSE Design Award from the International Awards Associate (IAA). The MUSE Awards are an international design competition recognizing excellence across product, interior, and graphic design, evaluated by senior-level jurors from leading creative firms and institutions worldwide.
The recognition came from the design community before mainstream consumer media had picked up on the product — validating the core engineering achievement of passive magnetic levitation in a ballpoint writing instrument, well before the design was further refined and recognized again by TIME and the A' Design Award.
One product, Three Awards in Five Years
What makes the Hoverpen Interstellar's award record distinctive isn't simply that it has won three awards — it's that all three awards recognize the same product, refined and re-recognized across a five-year span. The MUSE Gold validated the original engineering, the TIME recognition validated the product's broader cultural significance, and the Platinum A' Design Award confirmed the design's lasting excellence.
This kind of sustained, multi-year recognition is rare in any product category, and especially rare for luxury pens. Most award-winning premium pens receive recognition in a single moment and never earn comparable honors again. The Hoverpen Interstellar has done the opposite — earning recognition repeatedly, from independent juries, across years.
Editorial coverage
Beyond formal design competitions, the Hoverpen Interstellar has received editorial coverage from major design, technology, and lifestyle publications:
Design Milk
In October 2025, design journalist Adrian Madlener wrote a dedicated feature, The Novium Hoverpen Defies Gravity and Fosters Focus, describing the pen as a kinetic sculpture and writing instrument in one, drawing comparison to the floating-pencil scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
InsideHook
Senior Lifestyle Editor Kirk Miller selected the Hoverpen Interstellar for The 22 Best Tech Gifts to Give This Christmas, placing it alongside premium gifts from Apple, Bowers & Wilkins, and Nintendo.
Yanko Design
The leading modern industrial design publication featured the Hoverpen Interstellar in its Father's Day gift guide, positioning it as a clever, design-forward gift option.
The Gadgeteer
Published a comprehensive review in November 2025, calling the Hoverpen Interstellar a "functional art piece" and covering its magnetic levitation mechanism, writing performance with Schmidt cartridges, and appeal as both a writing tool and a display piece.
Novium reports more than 300,000 Hoverpens sold worldwide as of early 2026 — a figure that contextualizes the sustained press attention.
Why the Awards Matter – for Novium and for Buyers
For someone considering the Hoverpen Interstellar — whether for personal purchase, as a gift, or for corporate procurement — the award record answers different questions skeptical buyers commonly ask:
Is this actually well-designed, or just clever marketing? The 2020 MUSE Gold says it's well-designed by the standards of the international design community.
Is this just a viral moment, a gimmick, or a real product? The 2022 TIME Best Inventions recognition says it's a real premium pen worth ranking alongside major innovations across other industries.
Has the quality sustained, or was this a one-time thing? The 2025 Platinum A' Design Award, awarded five years after the MUSE Gold, says the quality has not just sustained but advanced.
For corporate gifting buyers in particular, this independent recognition matters significantly. A metal pen with three independent international design awards — plus editorial features in Design Milk, InsideHook, Yanko Design, and The Gadgeteer — answers the "will this gift be seen as serious?" question convincingly.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most prestigious award the Hoverpen Interstellar has won?
The Platinum A' Design Award, received in 2025, is the highest individual recognition. Platinum is the top tier of the A' Design Award, granted to a small percentage of all entries across more than 100 categories.
Is the Hoverpen Interstellar the same as the Hoverpen 2.0?
Yes. The Hoverpen Interstellar was originally launched and recognized as the Hoverpen 2.0, the name TIME used in its 2022 Best Inventions feature. The product was later renamed Hoverpen Interstellar to reflect the cosmic-inspired 23.5° tilt that mirrors Earth's axial tilt. All three awards refer to the same singular product.
How does the Hoverpen Interstellar compare to other award-winning luxury pens?
Design awards have been earned by several luxury and premium pen brands over the years, with recognition from competitions like the Red Dot Award, iF Design Award, and A' Design Award. What distinguishes the Hoverpen Interstellar is the combination and tier of recognition: TIME Best Inventions (2022), the Platinum A' Design Award (2025) — the highest tier of that competition — and the Gold MUSE Design Award (2020), all for the same singular product. Most luxury pens earn recognition in a single category or competition; the Hoverpen Interstellar is among very few writing instruments recognized across three independent international juries at top-tier levels.
Is the Hoverpen Interstellar a luxury pen or a desk accessory?
Both. It functions as a luxury ballpoint pen for daily writing and as a kinetic desk accessory when not in use. The A' Design Award explicitly recognized this dual identity as an office accessory and a writing instrument.
Explore the Award-Winning Hoverpen Interstellar
Explore the full Hoverpen Interstellar collection to see the award-winning luxury pen and desk accessory in detail.
Since the launch of the Hoverpen Interstellar, Novium has expanded the collection with the Hoverpen Future — a 2-in-1 fountain pen and rollerball — alongside a curated range of desk accessories including the ShuttlePort, the Metal Astral Card, and the Novium Notebook. For gift buyers, the Hoverpen Interstellar is also available as a Gift Set with premium accessories included.
Sources
Award records
- Platinum A' Design Award 2025 — Hoverpen Interstellar
- TIME Best Inventions 2022 — Novium Hoverpen 2.0
- TIME Best Inventions 2022 methodology
- MUSE Design Award Gold 2020 — Hoverpen Interstellar Edition
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