This Visconti Is Based On The Van Gogh, Right?

[stephanos]

I recently bought a Visconti fountain pen, and would be grateful for the benefit of your assembled wisdom in confirming (or refuting) my guess as to what exactly I have acquired. See description, followed by pictures.

 

The pen was sold as a diamond jubilee limited edition, new and unused, sold as a unwanted gift. It comes in an original box, with the booklet in the box drawer, but with no warranty card.

 

According to what I can find online, diamond jubilee pens were created as fountain pens (with a crown on the cap) and as ballpoints (modelled on the new Van Gogh, I suspect). The LE comes in two colours: imperial ruby (red) and royal purple.

 

With the fountain pen I have, it looks like someone converted the ballpoint into a fountain pen by swapping the ball-point-and-grip unit with a steel, gold-plated Visconti nib plus grip section (and adding a cartridge converter). I presume the nib has been cannibalised from a contemporary Van Gogh or Rembrandt, but I don't have either of these models, so cannot tell. I like the design, which is my first multi-faceted Visconti, and my first with a magnetic cap. In fact, I much prefer this more modest (less extravagant) design to the bling-bling crown-on-cap version, which I would not have bought. I have filled the pen with Diamine ruby - to match the model - and it writes well (smooth, medium-wet line with some line variation possible).

 

So, I think I essentially have an unusual and (in my eyes) pretty version of the Van Gogh. Does that sound about right?

 

 

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[crazypen80]

probably you're right

[efchem]

I can tell you that your pen is definitely shaped like the current Van Gogh. Without going to my pen box I am not sure if the section of the Rembrandt and Van Gogh are interchangeable. The color is definitely nice and unique. The magnetic cap is a joy to use as well. Enjoy the pen.

[RMN]

Now the question is: did you pay based on an original LE, or based on a converted Frankenpen....????

 

(and that Frankenpen could actually be a wonderful writer..., but if sold as the real thing then there was a clear misrepresentation...)

 

 

D.ick

[TheGreatRoe]

I can tell you that your pen is definitely shaped like the current Van Gogh. Without going to my pen box I am not sure if the section of the Rembrandt and Van Gogh are interchangeable. The color is definitely nice and unique. The magnetic cap is a joy to use as well. Enjoy the pen.

 

The section on the Van Gogh and Rembrandt are interchangeable. I have both and one was ground to a stub--I switch them all the time.

[stephanos]

Now the question is: did you pay based on an original LE, or based on a converted Frankenpen....????

 

(and that Frankenpen could actually be a wonderful writer..., but if sold as the real thing then there was a clear misrepresentation...)

 

 

D.ick

 

Hello, D.ick

 

That is indeed a very good question.

 

I found the pen on eBay, where the seller listed it as "a Diamond Jubilee limited edition in burgundy". So that is prima facie a misrepresentation. But I went into the bidding with open eyes. That is, it was trivially easy to find out that the picture of the pen seemed to show the LE ballpoint, not the fountain pen. So I knew that if it was being sold as a fountain pen there must either be a separate limited edition with the same design (perhaps a special commission for someone) or else it must have been a converted ballpoint. The fact that it has a steel nib and the 'standard' LE booklet in the drawer tells me that the latter is overwhelmingly the more likely. I don't remember whether I found it too soon before the auction ended to be able to ask about this, but I was exceptionally busy at the time so wouldn't have asked either way. I just decided that I liked it and set my maximum bid at a price I'd be prepared to pay for a current-model Van Gogh (of which I didn't have any).

 

In the end, I paid quite a bit less for the pen than I would have paid for a new Van Gogh from a retailer, and it was a little less than my maximum bid. So price-wise, I don't feel cheated.

 

The seller said in the listing that the pen was an unwanted gift, so it would be difficult to prove active misrepresentation. Also, the seller was willing to accept collection in person, has been on eBay for over 7 years and has a 100% rating, on a ittle under 150 transactions as both buyer and seller: that doesn't strike me as the profile of a fraudster.

 

Having said that, I have contacted the seller about it, as a matter of principle, asking about the missing warranty card. Unless I get a completely unacceptable response, I don't really expect to take it further.

 

 

Thank you to those who have confirmed my initial analysis that it is essentially a Van Gogh, and to dcroe05 for confirming that the Van Gogh and Rembrandt nibs are interchangeable.

 

Edited shortly after posting to include information on the seller's description.

Edited October 11, 2014 by stephanos