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Delta Dolcevita Oro


PatientType

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The Delta Dolcevita Oro Piston Fill fountain pen is something of a work of art. It’s appearance is dramatically different than the austere, Germanic piston-filling Montblancs and Pelikans. Gold trim on sparkling gold resin might seem a little much. In person, however, the impression is one of richness and continuity in design. Dolce Vita Oro is Sweet Life Gold. Its E’bello.

 

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae87/patienttype2/My%20Pens/P6230685.jpg

 

A classical imprint on the vermeil band around the cap references the Italy of antiquity. The top of the cap is crowned with a gold “coin” imprinted in the shape of a nib with feed. The pen sports another gold band to accent the rear of the barrel at the piston cap.

 

The design of the piston-fill model of this pen is functional as well. I particularly like the orange translucent ink window that is light enough to easily identify the color and quantity of ink in the reservoir. This is a major convenience as is the pen’s large capacity for ink. If you’ve gone dry using windowless pens or have found yourself holding a pen aloft and squinting into the light, you’ll appreciate the Oro.

 

The barrel is thicker at the back then tapers almost imperceptibly to the front. Visibly, the Oro seems cylindrical but one’s hand follows the pen’s line and it settles comfortably into one’s grip. The ink window separates the barrel from the front section where the taper is more pronounced.

 

My Dolcevita Oro came in an attractive but not opulent orange cardboard box that slid from a black sleeve. Inside were some papers, a small, 30cc bottle of Delta ink, and a black, silk-lined clam shell case. Opening the clam shell, I found my new pen. The packaging provided for a sufficiently formal initial meeting between the pen and its owner.

 

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae87/patienttype2/My%20Pens/P6230686.jpg

 

This pen is a happy, bright eye-catcher. It’s a celebration. This is the pen you use when that big contract finally closes, and for signing wedding books and for baptisms. The Dolceoro would be as out of place for a funeral guestbook as a bright orange hearse with Italian flags fluttering above the front headlights would be inappropriate for receiving a casket.

 

Appearance & Design Rating 10

 

The Oro is turned from a solid block of precious resin. (Apparently that’s pen maker talk for “good plastic”) The resin stock used has a good degree of translucency and achieves a high brightness for a pen that is not celluloid.

 

The nib is 14K gold monochrome and the furniture is vermeil; solid silver shrouded in gold. The cap is screw off with resin threads. The end cap that covers the piston-filler knob has metallic threads. The clip is unadorned, well-attached and has some springiness. It is fitted with a roller-style tip to facilitate attaching it and removing it from one’s pocket.

 

Tolerances are good throughout with connecting pieces fitting tightly together and the bands and clip are solidly attached. This seems to reflect a good degree of hand work and pride in workmanship.

 

Construction & Quality – Rating 8

 

The Vita Oro is a medium/light heft for a pen of its size. The pen’s dimensions are 5 ½” capped, 5 1/8” uncapped, and 6 ¾” posted, the barrel seems to be about 9/16ths at the point that the cap closes on the barrel. That puts it at about the same size as a Pelikan Souveran M800

 

I happen to like large pens. I can scribble along happily with a Pelikan M800 or M1000 for a very long time and the pen feels comfortable and natural in my hand. The Dolcevita Oro is like this – very comfortable in size, shape, and texture. For some, this may be too large. Still others may prefer the very large over-sized Dolcevita Oro which is thicker but lacks a piston-fill system. In that the “right” size and weight is more in the perception of the writer than a quality of the pen, I’ll not offer a rating on size.

 

Rating – Depends on reader preferences.

 

The nib on my Oro is a stiff, smooth and somewhat dry broad. As with size, the experience of writing with the Oro nib is very much like that of a Pelikan M800 except that my Pelikans deliver more ink and, as a result, a slightly wider line.

 

I write well with a stiffish nib and having one can be a convenience when writing self-duplicating checks. Most of my documents don’t need the greater line variation of a springy nib and one can zip along focusing more on composition than style with a stiff nib. But, truth be told, I get more of a zing out of writing with my M1000s that are much springier than this Delta or the Pelikan M800 line.

 

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae87/patienttype2/My%20Pens/P6230689.jpg

 

The Oro sports a reliable, smooth but not especially remarkable nib. I rate the nib as “above average” but not stellar due to the 14K content versus the pricier 18K and for lack of spring.

 

Nib Performance – Rating 7

 

The Delta Dolcevita Oro medium has been sold with a converter. The piston-fill Oro and the converter fill are as different as real Elvis Presley and the impersonator in a seedy Tokyo nightclub.

 

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae87/patienttype2/My%20Pens/P6230687.jpg

 

This model has a truly outstanding piston filler. The piston on this specimen moves up and down with smooth confidence. And it holds a lot of ink… How much? Molto! It is operated by a metallic knob hidden under a rear cap. The knob is large enough to get a good grip and the piston system has a very nice feature to it. When the piston reaches the end of its travel path, the piston knob doesn’t just stop. Instead it continues to turn and clicks lightly.

 

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae87/patienttype2/My%20Pens/P6230688.jpg

 

With most piston pens, I operate the twist mechanism gently as the pen fills so I don’t damage the piston with too much pressure at the end of the travel path. Not a worry with the Oro – you can’t force the piston beyond its proper range. This feature elevates the Delta Oro a full point above other piston-fill pens that lack this clutch-like characteristic.

 

Filling System – Rating 10

 

Art Brown Pens reports the current MSRP of the Delta Dolcevita Oro at $650.00. As with most fountain pens you’d be hard pressed to find a pen selling at that price.

 

I have wanted a Delta Dolcevita Oro for a long time based on its appearance. I priced them a year ago and drew back. Reason overcame impulse. The pen was a converter fill. I had plenty of pretty pens. I couldn’t justify another big expenditure for something that even I had to admit I wanted mainly because it was pretty.

 

Then the piston-fill models came out and with a unobtrusive but very usable viewing window. Again, temptation. But the pen sold at premium prices. Nothing available for under $300. Again I demurred.

 

Street price for a Delta Dolcevita Oro piston-fill fountain pen are now down to $275 to $475. Some pens have sold on Ebay for even less and I was fortunate enough to find one there offered by a trusted seller. As the lexicon goes, resistance was futile.

 

In my opinion, , given the quality of the pen’s components and fabrication, the excellent filling mechanism, and the beautiful design, this pen is an very good value if you find one in the lower end of that spectrum at, say, $300 or less.

 

Cost & Value – Rating 10

 

The Delta Dolcevita Oro is a beautiful, distinctive, well-made fountain pen. The piston-fill model handles large quantities of ink in a very problem-free, easy to use fashion. Functionally the pen is the equal of other high-end, piston-fill fountain pens. However, the Dolcevita Oro offers more. It’s a solid, efficient, fun to use pen that is also esthetically beautiful. It can’t help but stand out and draw interest. The message it conveys is not the power message of a Montblac or the precise efficiency of a Pelikan, or the design excellence of a Pilot 823 (although, the Oro’s piston-fill system delivers excellence).

 

A Dolcevita Oro in one’s hand is like a glass of fine, sweet, golden harvest wine. It conveys appreciation of good times and serves as an invitation to savor life. Such a pen deserves your attention and invites your applause.

 

Overall Rating – Eccellente, 9 out of 10

 

 

.

Edited by PatientType
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Thank you for a very nice review of a excelent pen.

I to have the same impressions as you, except my ORO has a Medium nib thats very wet.

Cheers,

Miguel

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Thank you for the review. The Oro is a stunning pen that caught my eye a while ago, although I'm not sure it's exactly my style. I've been curious about the different sizes and the nibs, so this is very helpful.

Current line-up: Pelikan M805 (EF), Aurora 88 (F), Parker Duofold (F), Delta Titanio (F)

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Did Delta stub this nib?

 

I bought this pen from Bryant and I requested it in stub. According to Bryant this model is only available in fine, medium & broad. Ergo, I got the broad. Bryant offers a customization deal through Mike-It-Work, but that would have cost another $60. A fair and reasonable price but I was stretching to buy the pen. Maybe later?

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Delta broad nibs are "naturally" stubbish out of the box, similar to Montblanc nibs. I have B and BB nibs, and there is quite a nice bit of line variation in all of them. You can see how the tip is square like a MB broad nib. The Delta factory stub is my favorite, though, and I wish it were available on the Dolce Vita Piston pens.

Edited by reprieve
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What a great review! I have one myself and I love how you call the pen a "celebration." I hadn't thought about it that way, but you sure are right. The best thing about the pen, other than the color, is the huge ink capacity. I wonder if somebody could measure that...

 

Erick

Using right now:

Visconti Voyager 30 "M" nib running Birmingham Streetcar

Jinhao 9019 "EF" nib running Birmingham Railroad Spike

Stipula Adagio "F" nib running Birmingham Violet Sea Snail

Sailor Profit "B" nib running Van Dieman's Night - Shooting Star

 

 

 

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thank you for the review. beautiful pen, it will not be out of place even with a formal black suit, the colour is bright and exudes class.

 

Like having a flashy colourful silk tie from a premium manufacturer paired with a black / grey suit, eyecatching but still not odd.

 

enjoy your pen.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

ladies and gentlemen write with fountain pens only.

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"The Dolceoro would be as out of place for a funeral guestbook as a bright orange hearse with Italian flags fluttering above the front headlights would be inappropriate for receiving a casket."

 

Really? After my Great-Uncle Aldo's so-called accident at the Hackensack, NJ, meat-packing plant, my cousins Vinnie and Scuz hired an identical hearse. Even the guys from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who kept us under surveillance, thought it was tasteful.

"People build themselves a furnace when all they need is a lamp." Maulana Jalaludin Balkhi (Rumi)

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What a review! Thank you. I'm not sure if it was your passionate writing, the photos, or if it was the pen itself but it caused me to add another pen to add to my ever-growing list. I'm not sure which model to get, though: Oro, or orange/black. Both are such sweet combinations.

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  • 6 months later...

This pen is now my all time favorite writer. It beats out the Pelikan M800 by a mile in terms of build quality, though Pelikan nib might be more superior. I have a broad nib, which is more like a stub as some have stated. I'm not used to this type of broad/stub combination so the occasional skipping problem is something that I'll have to adapt to liking. I discovered that you can get very nice line variation by writing upside down. The nib is a normal broad/stub when written normally, but become more of a medium italic when written upside down. The pen is slightly heavier than the M800, but feels very well balanced in the hand, thanks to the huge girth. The ink capacity is a winner, no competition here. This pen does it for me. It has a pleasing look, something my M800 lacks, a piston filling system, a large ink capacity, and excellent nib performance, pretty much everything you can ask for in a pen.My only complaint is the small shape of the clip, which is very visually unattractive for this pen,

Edited by kauloltran
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I have both the Pelikan M800 and the Delta piston filler in the black/orange combo and find them both to smooth comfortable writers. The main difference of course is the German-heritage looks of the Pelikan versus the Italian vintage of the Delta. That makes the Pelikan more of a workhorse Monday-Wednesday pen and the Delta a Thursday/Friday pen. Need them both.

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