About Visconti Homo Sapiens Quality Issues

[GatzBcn]

Recently, the Visconti Homo Sapiens Steel caught my eye. I am really interested in buying one, but I have heard many complaints regarding quality control issues, problems with hard starts, etc. Do you know if this continues with the 25th Anniversary edition? I wanted it to be my work horse, so it needs to write perfectly.
Thank you for your comments.

[vondauster]

Visconti seems to have a reputation for issues in some circles. I have a Bronze Age HS, which has always worked perfectly. In fact, Dante del Vecchio recommended that particular model to me himself when I asked for an utterly reliable workhorse pen. Having said that, Visconti's customer service is first rate, so when I acquired a Rembrandt with a too-toothy nib, they swapped it out at no cost and no hassles for a smoother nib. No manufacturer is perfect, but I would not hesitate to buy another Visconti product at any time.

 

Anecdotally yours,

 

Will

[Cordovian]

I have a Michelangelo that has performed perfectly from day one. I would not hesitate to by another Visconti...as a matter of fact I just did. I ordered a Van Gogh Starry Nights over the weekend.

[de_pen_dent]

I have 2 Wall Streets, 2 Divina variants, 2 Homo Sapiens, a Crystal Opera, a Michelangelo and a LE made for Joon. I also used to own a couple of Van Goghs and a Rembrandt. Of these, only the Michelangelo had issues with baby bottom on the nib which didnt play well with my left-handed overwriting*, and needed to be sent off to John Sorowka for fixing.

 

*Have noticed this issue with a few Italian pens - including Stipula and Delta. The pen writes quite well when you pull it across the page - not so well when you are pushing it, ala a leftie overwriter. Pen is prone to uneven ink flow.

[de_pen_dent]

Oh, and footnote about Visconti's service - my Michelangelo suffered from some pitting in the acrylic after lying on my pen cabinet's velvet lining for a few months. Sent it off to Visconti and they replaced the entire pen free of charge.

 

So I'm very pleased with my Visconti experience overall and wouldnt hesitate to buy another (in fact, I have one coming tomorrow from Bryant).

Edited October 21, 2014 by de_pen_dent

[rwilsonedn]

Just echoing others: I have a Van Gogh that has always worked wonderfully, and has very impressive fit and finish.

ron

[LuisAAbrilRomero]

Unfortunately, the two Viscontis I bought have given nothing but trouble. Not only is the the lettering on the centre band of my Homo Sapiens not in line with the nib, but faces down towards the paper when writing, which looks rather odd, the pen also suffers from a severe case of baby bottom to boot.

 

And while I cannot find any fault in the way how the nib writes of the second Visconti I own, an Opera Crystal Mosquito, the quality of the rest of the pen is rather shoddy. The nib is also misaligned, which is more obvious than with the HS due to the squarish shape of the pen. Also, there seems to be something wrong with the threads that hold the nib unit, as it does not come to rest when I screw it in. Lastly, sometimes ink seeps through the rod after refilling, creating a mess if I am not careful.

 

I love the way how both pens feel, and I also find the writing experience with the Opera superb (cannot say much about the HS due to baby's bottom). The whole ordeal (I know, first-world problems, I know) has left me quite burnt nonetheless. Granted, Visconti has quite the reputation, and I have not had the time yet to send them back to customer service due to my current workload, so for the sake of fairness I must admit that my final verdict is still pending. If they can make it right without charging me my left arm, then they are in play again. Until then, I rather stick to the quality offered by my Japanese and German fountain pens.

 

By the way, has anybody here any experience with the Visconti customer service?

Edited October 21, 2014 by LuisAAbrilRomero

[georges zaslavsky]

Visconti quality can be a hit or miss, unless you buy them from Bryant (chatterleyluxuries.com) and have them tuned properly, they can be good writers but their nibs are nothing special

[hughdrbf]

Visconti quality can be a hit or miss, unless you buy them from Bryant (chatterleyluxuries.com) and have them tuned properly

Concur 100%, verbatim regarding my HS steel 25th Anniversary.

 

Bought from Bryant, tuned by Mike Masuyama, sent to Coles of London for repair of ink leaking out the back end, upon receipt from Coles found the nib torqued with tines up and down and the feed off center by a lot. That's what happens when "technicians" reinstall and over-tighten nib units with fingers instead of the manufacturer provided nib unit changing tool. Entire pen replaced by Bryant no questions asked, nib tuned by Mike Masuyama.

 

Could not be happier with this pen, the 1.3mm tuned stub nib is phenomenal, and Bryant's commitment to complete customer satisfaction. I will be a customer of his again.

 

Hugh

[georges zaslavsky]

Concur 100%, verbatim regarding my HS steel 25th Anniversary.

 

Bought from Bryant, tuned by Mike Masuyama, sent to Coles of London for repair of ink leaking out the back end, upon receipt from Coles found the nib torqued with tines up and down and the feed off center by a lot. That's what happens when "technicians" reinstall and over-tighten nib units with fingers instead of the manufacturer provided nib unit changing tool. Entire pen replaced by Bryant no questions asked, nib tuned by Mike Masuyama.

 

Could not be happier with this pen, the 1.3mm tuned stub nib is phenomenal, and Bryant's commitment to complete customer satisfaction. I will be a customer of his again.

 

Hugh

I might purchase my birthday or christmas presents at Bryant because he is a top notch guy.

[de_pen_dent]

I've had worse luck with Delta and Stipula QC than with Visconti. My experience with Visconti has been that their performance is comparable to most other pen companies (as far as sample sizes of 10 or more go, only Platinum and Montblanc have a 100% problem-free rate in the pens that I own).

 

It is very difficult to assess reliability purely based on anecdotes - the plural of anecdote is not data, especially when some anecodotal evidence is merely the repetition of other anecdotal evidence and not based on any kind of first-hand experience.

 

My general approach is to ignore issues about nib flow and writing - that is something any reputable seller will test for you, especially when you are spending that kind of money on a pen. When it comes to other reports, I try to decide if these complaints are evidence of some systemic issue and whether that has been fixed (eg, the ink leaking out of the initial Homo Sapiens barrels -IIRC, that's been fixed by Visconti putting in a sleeve of sorts inside the barrel), or whether it is purely random chance, and I also try to weigh the odds in my favor by trying to account for those issues as much as possible (trying multiple samples, asking a trusted seller to check out a few options for me, etc).

 

Bryant and Dennis @ La Couronne de Comte are both excellent in this regard, and will reduce the risk of problems and also help you find a solution if the problem does happen.

[Uncial]

My Visconti HS arrived with a wonky donkey nib. Sent it back and it was replaced. Was a bit of a hassle and annoyance, but was still worth it - I love the pen.

[bdez]

Echo the others comments above re hit and miss quality.

 

My HS Bronze is a brilliant writer but disappointingly arrived with the brass inscribed band badly scuffed presumedly during the assembly. This area now regularly tarnishes and I know I should've returned it at the start.

 

I have a Visconti Rembrandt Eco roller as well. It's had two caps split at the top of the cap with hairline cracks as well as a replacement barrel due to a manufacturing defect and I treat these pens with kid gloves. Additionally the Eco roller tips write well initially but any attempt to clean them or use a different ink means you may as well toss them as they become unusable. Attempts to resolve these issues through the UK based online retailer have been disappointing and fruitless. The UK arm of Visconti has been, let's say, non responsive.

 

Fabulous style and design but poor execution sometimes and exacerbated by surprisingly poor service from the online retailer who will be well known to many.

 

I won't be buying any more Viscontis and will live with what I've got.

[GatzBcn]

Visconti seems to have a reputation for issues in some circles. I have a Bronze Age HS, which has always worked perfectly. In fact, Dante del Vecchio recommended that particular model to me himself when I asked for an utterly reliable workhorse pen. Having said that, Visconti's customer service is first rate, so when I acquired a Rembrandt with a too-toothy nib, they swapped it out at no cost and no hassles for a smoother nib. No manufacturer is perfect, but I would not hesitate to buy another Visconti product at any time.

 

Anecdotally yours,

 

Will

 

 

I have a Michelangelo that has performed perfectly from day one. I would not hesitate to by another Visconti...as a matter of fact I just did. I ordered a Van Gogh Starry Nights over the weekend.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience. It's good to know that Visconti has satisfied customers. You encouraged me to buy the Visconti pen I wanted.

[GatzBcn]

I have 2 Wall Streets, 2 Divina variants, 2 Homo Sapiens, a Crystal Opera, a Michelangelo and a LE made for Joon. I also used to own a couple of Van Goghs and a Rembrandt. Of these, only the Michelangelo had issues with baby bottom on the nib which didnt play well with my left-handed overwriting*, and needed to be sent off to John Sorowka for fixing.

 

*Have noticed this issue with a few Italian pens - including Stipula and Delta. The pen writes quite well when you pull it across the page - not so well when you are pushing it, ala a leftie overwriter. Pen is prone to uneven ink flow.

 

 

Oh, and footnote about Visconti's service - my Michelangelo suffered from some pitting in the acrylic after lying on my pen cabinet's velvet lining for a few months. Sent it off to Visconti and they replaced the entire pen free of charge.

 

So I'm very pleased with my Visconti experience overall and wouldnt hesitate to buy another (in fact, I have one coming tomorrow from Bryant).

 

 

I've had worse luck with Delta and Stipula QC than with Visconti. My experience with Visconti has been that their performance is comparable to most other pen companies (as far as sample sizes of 10 or more go, only Platinum and Montblanc have a 100% problem-free rate in the pens that I own).

 

It is very difficult to assess reliability purely based on anecdotes - the plural of anecdote is not data, especially when some anecodotal evidence is merely the repetition of other anecdotal evidence and not based on any kind of first-hand experience.

 

My general approach is to ignore issues about nib flow and writing - that is something any reputable seller will test for you, especially when you are spending that kind of money on a pen. When it comes to other reports, I try to decide if these complaints are evidence of some systemic issue and whether that has been fixed (eg, the ink leaking out of the initial Homo Sapiens barrels -IIRC, that's been fixed by Visconti putting in a sleeve of sorts inside the barrel), or whether it is purely random chance, and I also try to weigh the odds in my favor by trying to account for those issues as much as possible (trying multiple samples, asking a trusted seller to check out a few options for me, etc).

 

Bryant and Dennis @ La Couronne de Comte are both excellent in this regard, and will reduce the risk of problems and also help you find a solution if the problem does happen.

 

It's good to hear you had a good experience with Visconti. I appreciate you comments very much. Eventually, I went for the Homo Sapiens and I actually bought it with Bryant. Thank you very much for the recommendation.

[GatzBcn]

Visconti quality can be a hit or miss, unless you buy them from Bryant (chatterleyluxuries.com) and have them tuned properly, they can be good writers but their nibs are nothing special

 

 

Concur 100%, verbatim regarding my HS steel 25th Anniversary.

 

Bought from Bryant, tuned by Mike Masuyama, sent to Coles of London for repair of ink leaking out the back end, upon receipt from Coles found the nib torqued with tines up and down and the feed off center by a lot. That's what happens when "technicians" reinstall and over-tighten nib units with fingers instead of the manufacturer provided nib unit changing tool. Entire pen replaced by Bryant no questions asked, nib tuned by Mike Masuyama.

 

Could not be happier with this pen, the 1.3mm tuned stub nib is phenomenal, and Bryant's commitment to complete customer satisfaction. I will be a customer of his again.

 

Hugh

 

Thank you very much for your recommendations. I did eventually purchase with Bryant.

[GatzBcn]

Just echoing others: I have a Van Gogh that has always worked wonderfully, and has very impressive fit and finish.

ron

 

Thank you very much for your comment.

[GatzBcn]

Unfortunately, the two Viscontis I bought have given nothing but trouble. Not only is the the lettering on the centre band of my Homo Sapiens not in line with the nib, but faces down towards the paper when writing, which looks rather odd, the pen also suffers from a severe case of baby bottom to boot.

 

And while I cannot find any fault in the way how the nib writes of the second Visconti I own, an Opera Crystal Mosquito, the quality of the rest of the pen is rather shoddy. The nib is also misaligned, which is more obvious than with the HS due to the squarish shape of the pen. Also, there seems to be something wrong with the threads that hold the nib unit, as it does not come to rest when I screw it in. Lastly, sometimes ink seeps through the rod after refilling, creating a mess if I am not careful.

 

I love the way how both pens feel, and I also find the writing experience with the Opera superb (cannot say much about the HS due to baby's bottom). The whole ordeal (I know, first-world problems, I know) has left me quite burnt nonetheless. Granted, Visconti has quite the reputation, and I have not had the time yet to send them back to customer service due to my current workload, so for the sake of fairness I must admit that my final verdict is still pending. If they can make it right without charging me my left arm, then they are in play again. Until then, I rather stick to the quality offered by my Japanese and German fountain pens.

 

By the way, has anybody here any experience with the Visconti customer service?

 

I decided to risk and buy it from Bryant, which has had great recommendations around here. I will let you know how it turns out for me

[GatzBcn]

My Visconti HS arrived with a wonky donkey nib. Sent it back and it was replaced. Was a bit of a hassle and annoyance, but was still worth it - I love the pen.

 

It's good to know that eventually the experience turned out well and that the Visconti service can repair this type of problems.

[GatzBcn]

Echo the others comments above re hit and miss quality.

 

My HS Bronze is a brilliant writer but disappointingly arrived with the brass inscribed band badly scuffed presumedly during the assembly. This area now regularly tarnishes and I know I should've returned it at the start.

 

I have a Visconti Rembrandt Eco roller as well. It's had two caps split at the top of the cap with hairline cracks as well as a replacement barrel due to a manufacturing defect and I treat these pens with kid gloves. Additionally the Eco roller tips write well initially but any attempt to clean them or use a different ink means you may as well toss them as they become unusable. Attempts to resolve these issues through the UK based online retailer have been disappointing and fruitless. The UK arm of Visconti has been, let's say, non responsive.

 

Fabulous style and design but poor execution sometimes and exacerbated by surprisingly poor service from the online retailer who will be well known to many.

 

I won't be buying any more Viscontis and will live with what I've got.

 

I am sorry it wasn't a good experience for you. I bought the pen because I heard many good things of Bryant and I am sure if it has any problem he will solve it.