Delta Scrigno - Overall: 8.6/10
Pictures at the end of the review (sorry for the bad quality. I'm moving this week, and my camera--and lamps--are in boxes).
I was lucky enough to snag this pen off the FPN classifieds last week. It’s my first Delta and well as my first pen that could be classified as oversized.
Appearance: 8/10
If I’d managed to get one of the colored barrels this probably would have been 9/10, although even the black looks nice. The pen is thinnest at the bottom, steadily widening to the end of the cap, which gives a vague Art Deco look. I’m sure there are those who won’t like the Spartan silhouette and plain features—and normally I probably wouldn’t, but for me this one works.
Extras: The Scrigno, has a hidden compartment, that’s opened by unscrewing the end of the cap. You can see this in the pictures below. I’ve tried to give you a sense of how big it is, by inserting the last section of the pen’s body, which almost fills it exactly. It’s kind of a silly feature, and without it, the cap would be much smaller and more easily postable. But, I’m not sure why, I like the compartment.
Construction: 8/10
Delta describes the pen as made of “special resins.” I don’t know what this means but it feels like the material of several comparable pens (Peilkan M215, for instance). It has a solid, weighty feel, and even without the cap the pen has some heft.
Filling: 8/10
It’s a cartridge converter, so nothing spectacular, but the converter has a nice capacity. I gave it a couple extra points because the nib end of the pen is kept basic, and unadorned, so it’s very easy to clean off the extra ink.
Nib: 9/10
This nib is this pen's best single feature. It’s a relatively large nib, and the nib puts down a wet solid line. I’m a fast writer, and sometimes that challenges pens, but no matter how quickly I wrote (even with quick, long lines) I never got a single skip. And as for my meager collection, this pen is my new standard for “smooth.” The only reason I’m not giving it 10/10 is because I’m leaving a little room for perfection.
Test Drive: 10/10
The writing experience of this pen, is greater than the sum of its parts. The components each have their flaws, but when you put them together they smooth out the ride into a memorable experience. Unposted, it’s short, thick and had a nice balance. Posted….just don’t do it. So far I’ve tried it with Noodler’s X-Feather and Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, and with both, I got a lovely writing experience.
Overall: 8.6/10
At 8.6/10 there’s not much not to like about this pen, but if you want a negative for this pen, I’ll give you a big one: It will make you want more Deltas.
Writing Sample:
Uncapped
Secret Compartment (Scrigno)
Size Comparison
L -> R: Pelikan M215, Nussbaum Jon Ross, Visconti Van Gogh, Delta Scrigno
Same Pens, different perspective
Edited by dcroe05, 24 July 2013 - 13:21.
