My Visconti Van Gogh Tortoise Demonstrator, with which I wanted to be so happy, is going back to the retailer. The first one I received had a big splat of white on the body of the pen, which was also a raised bump which prevented posting. The second one... I tried to love it, I really did. It's much more attractive, but it's such a poorly-made pen that I've come to wonder whence comes the sterling reputation of the pen and the manufacturer.

The cap is loose; I decided to forgive that. The converter is so loose when fully screwed in that it rattles inside the pen; I decided to forgive that, too. But there are two things I couldn't forgive. First, the pen dries out very quickly. When writing, a pause of a few seconds means a few more seconds lost holding pen to paper and waiting for the ink to start flowing again. Left capped, in three days it dried out so completely that I can barely get it to release any ink at all. It leaves a few faint traces which fade to nothing. When it was working, before it dried out, it was a wonderfully smooth pen (apart from that problem with having to re-start it if I paused to think while writing). It's such a shame that it won't write reliably.

The final nail in the coffin is that screw on the back of the cap, which holds on the clip. The screw is nicely flush with the cap, but the clip is loose. Very loose. I experimented carefully, and found that the screw is in fact functional. If screwed in so that it rests about a quarter of an inch below the surface of the cap, the clip is tightly and solidly attached. Anything less and it wobbles. This is such a staggering design flaw that I cannot comprehend how it made it into pens which are actually being sold to customers. Even if the clip were held tightly by a screw turned only until flush with the cap surface, over time it would be sure to loosen, requiring the screw to be tightened. Eventually, the screw would have to be sunk beneath the level of the surface. And I'd imagine this would also be quite prone to cracking the cap!

I know the Van Gogh is the cheap end of the Visconti product line, but for $250+ you'd think they could produce a pen that holds together a bit better than this.

And this brings me to the question-and-hopefully-answer portion of this post. What do I do for a replacement? The retailer (World Lux, nice people, wonderful customer service) is being kind enough to allow me to return it and to exchange it. But in the $200-$250 range, what is there that would be an excellent writer, and also have the "zing" factor of something like the Van Gogh? I had wanted the Van Gogh because it looks like a poet's pen; the runner-up was the Cross Verve, because it looks like a science fiction-ish take on a fountain pen.

Any suggestions for something somewhat poetish or SF-ish??

I feel your pain. That tension screw is something else, industrial design at it's best. I have the Swisher LE Van Gogh. My screw came not flush, but maybe a 16th into the cap. At least they got the slot on the head pretty much perfect on the vertical. And those converters are something else on the Visconti line, huh? There seems to be 2 grades of converter. I have 4 Visconti pens with the all metal converter, they rock and roll, clank and bang, to no end. I have a plastic Converter in a Voyager that seems more solid. When I get a minute I'm going to bring up the converter issue to Visconti and see what they'll do about. That said, I do like Visconti.

Djehuty, any way you'd give another Van Gogh a try? Get away from the demonstrator and get one of the "normal" pens. Or, take a look at the Swisher Laguna Verte 14k Van Gogh like I have. It's on close out for $175, a super buy. Just a thought.

And I'll put in the obligitory disclaimer, "I do not have any affiliation with Visconti or Swisher pens."

I am sorry to hear about your problems. I have both a regular Visconti and the tortoise demonstrator - no problems with either, they are great writers. This is a classic story for the "crappiest pen for the most money" feed. Everyone, it seems, has a different experience.

As the previous writer noted, try a regular Visconti. If you are gun shy, and who could blame you, try the Cross Verve as you noted in your post. I have the silver and love it - great look, balance, feel and writer.

Whatever you do, don't buy another pen without trying it first!

The classic SF looking pen is arguably the PFM, especially with the palladium nib. It really shouts "atomic power".

But possibly even cooler, the retro SF Conklin Crescent Filler - the original not repro, as used by Captain Nemo...

PFM??

I'm so sorry to hear about your tortoise Van Gogh. I have one in the Midi size in case it matters (I think it is constructed a little differently from the Maxi), and I have had none of the issues you mentioned. If the converter is loose and rattling, I'm not surprised that the ink is not flowing properly for you. It sounds defective. My clip's tension is perfect for me, looser than some pens, but not what I would call very loose; it still serves its function without me having to adjust it at all. My cap isn't loose, either.

I don't have any alternative suggestions for you except if you really wanted to stay with this model, you might consider calling the U.S. Visconti distributor directly to see if they can assist you. I found their (800) number via Pendemonium's FAQ page (they answer the 'phone as "Fine Writing"). I contacted them because I didn't like the coloration of the barrel I got (mine had a white splat, too). I dealt mostly with Pat, and she went out of her way to personally select one that she thought I'd like, based on an online photo example that I shared with her. I think their service department is on-site, so they might be able to verify whether yours is out of the norm, too, and if so, to make it right. That rattling converter especially doesn't sound right to me. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Sheaffer Pen For Men. Missile shaped, inlaid nib, most advanced filler ever built into a pen.

I weep every time I think of mine - it's the most marvelous pen I can imagine, but it's about 1 cm too short for my hand writing unposted, which is the only way I write.

Sorry to hear of your displeasure at Visconti's Van Gogh.I have three and not a problem with any.There will always be a bad apple in the barrel.
No matter what brand.

JD

Oh, I definitely want a PFM one of these days. It's at the top of my list, in fact. But that will have to wait until I have money again, probably as a purchase to commemorate getting back on track with my PhD. Also, I wouldn't feel right ditching World Lux. They've been so very pleasant and helpful, even checking all their stock and describing the various Van Goghs to me, trying to find one that would suit me. I'm sure they'd give me a full refund, but that would be an abuse of excellent customer service.

I'd consider another Van Gogh, but they all have that screw on the back. I may be wrong, but I think that's a massive design flaw. I'm sure it will require occasional tightening, will wind up below the surface of the pen, and will eventually crack the plastic. The color is also very hit-or-miss. It would probably take two or three more returns before I got a color with which I could be satisfied, and I don't want to go through that mess, or put the retailer through that much trouble.

With my budget for this, it's looking like a choice between: Aurora Ipsilon, Aurora Talentum, Cross Verve, Waterman Carene, and Waterman Charleston.

I'm leaning toward the Verve, but then I'm stuck on the color choice. It's definitely an SF pen, but which type of SF? Radial Chrome 1950s classic "Klaatu barada nikto!" pen? Selenium Blue cyberpunk? Or Platinum ultramodern space-opera?

Another SF - the Sheaffer Intrigue. But I don't suppose World Lux would have one - nice to hear of positive things about a seller, btw.

Can't go wrong with any on your short list. Personally I would think the Talentum or Verve would meet your need in the looks department. You might want to steer clear of the Ipsilon - it is possible you may go through 1 or 2 quality issues. I have not used a Carene, but they are very highly thought of on the board.

My Van Goghs range from 3 to 7 years old and I've never played with the screws. I'm not sure precisely what the issue with the screws is from what I've read. Above?, Below? The way the screw points? Mine are all different in these respects. I thought being able to adjust the tension of the clip was a feature rather than a flaw. I would love to have that feature on some of my older pens. Now if it actually cracks someday, that would be an issue but I haven't seen that complaint.

I did have the drying issue on one, which I corrected with some doodling on micromesh. I think that Viscontis are so concerned with smooth that they sometimes produce some baby bottomed nibs. On the other hand, I've never had a toothy one.

I'm kind of surprised at the comment about "sterling reputation". I thought Visconti's reputation was more like Ferrari's - wonderful when they work. Actually most fountain pens seem to be this way but the Italians seem to be more so. The good news about pens though is that there aren't many moving parts, so once you get them working, they tend to stay that way for a long time.

As for colors being hit or miss - I don't see how it could be otherwise on a resin like this. At the local retail shop they put out phone calls to customers on a list when new ones come in and the wildest colors get picked over very quickly. I would be hesitant to buy a pen with so much variation over the Internet. The same can be said for other pens, which large whirl patterns - I love em - when they're "right". But I don't think I could describe "right". I can't think of a pen that has a Van Gogh-like "zing" that doesn't have this "feature". Maybe you can find a different kind of "zing" or maybe you should make the trek to a retail store. I'm assuming that the colorful ones have the "zing". If a black Van Gogh is still "zingy" for you then this is much easier.

Hm, well, maybe I was mistaken about the sterling reputation. People tend to speak in glowing terms about their Viscontis, so I thought it would be worth a shot.

I think I'll go with the Platinum Verve. If my inner poet must be frustrated, I'll turn to science fiction.

In the 80s, I knew a guy who drove a Maserati Merak to work and he was sometimes late because of it. I used to kid him about that but I would have traded him my Honda in a heartbeat!

Sorry to hear about your pain; twicwe unlucky, however , as they say, third times the charm-I have the same pen as you, and ironically the thing that made me defiately decide upon it was the screw that you complain about, the industrialness of the look when coupled with the beautiful shape and colour and desighn of the pen was just too beautiful to me so I succumbed and bought, and have been very very happy with it.

I too notive an occasional rattle from the converter, just recently I decided to drop in a cartridge to see what it was like and also, so though if I did like it to check out the refilling possibilities aka Pilot VP's that everyone talks about refilling.
Well I am pleasantly surprised - while the Visconti Converter is one of the most beautiful converters I have seen the cartridge works better! No clunck, smooth ink flow, everything works well - I do feel a bit like a kid using the Cartridges (no disrespect to any kids or cart fans out there), as in my mind the converter straight from the bottle is more 'adult' and piston fillers even more so, but there you have it, my foible.

Back to the thread though-mine is wonderful, smooth, non skipping...you mention drying out after 3 days with the cap off...all I will say is don't do it. seriously thats naughty. I mean come on-3 minutes maybe but with mine if I am not writing then the caops is instantly back on. Just like that. Maybe I'm paranoid but there you go-however drying whilst writing, or pausing to think-thats not good.

So your problem at hand-you could throw in the towel, and if you did so then the Talentum is a wonderful pen that I almsot got (beware the "toothy" propriety nib though-the one I tried was smooth), although I think if I was going for an Aurora I might get the 88 (piston filler). The talentum to me looks like a fine Itlalian espresso machine (thats a good thing).
Now I would say give the Van Gogh one more try, maybe go for a different model (black one?), try it with a cart, then rfil the carts (thats my plan). the Van gogh is one of Visconti's cheaper pens, no excuse for poor workmanship though. I know that mine, Handlebar, Ghostplane and PinnarelloOnly (sorry other people-just top of my head list), all have had good things to say about them. If you were closer I would lend you mine for a few days-maybe if someone lives near you who has one you could talk to them and try theirs? Seriously they are a wonderful pen-I was lucky to get a goodone straight off, and now with the cart it is perfect-but like all things Italian, they can be finnicky (9 out of 10 ferraris yes-one bad one no) so I think you have probably gotten a bad batch and your only choices are from the bad batch (for that colour), so option 1 is try again (I would ask them to get a new one shipped to you from a different batch), option 2 is try different colour and option 3 is a different pen...

Shelley, I like the look of the screw, I just don't like the wobbly clip, or having to sink the screw by 1/4" or so to get the clip on securely.

I'm sure Visconti is capable of making a good pen, but it's too great a gamble. How do I ask the retailer to send me pen after pen after pen, only to have them returned? I can't afford to pay shipping each way every time, and I can't ask them to pay that cost, either. At minimum, that's about $20 per pen exchange. I'm not willing to keep paying to exchange pens, especially since even if I get a pen without defects, the color may be unacceptable.

Also, drying out in three days was with the cap on. Three days with the cap off, that'd be my fault. Left capped overnight, it was a particularly hard starter. After this happened a couple of times, I decided to test it. I meant to leave it capped for two days, but forgot and left it for a third, after which it was totally dry. When I was forcing myself to use other pens, I set aside my Pelikan -- forgetting it was inked -- and when I came back to it a month later it wrote perfectly from the instant it touched the page. I don't expect this from every pen, but even my $6.00 Wality will last a week or so before having trouble starting. And uncapped, the Visconti can go maybe ten seconds before it requires help to get started again.

The Talentum does look like an espresso machine. I want one more than ever now, but I don't think I can resist the clearance special on the Platinum Verve. It's so ultramodern and cyberpunkish and cool, and it's a fountain pen -- it's like bottled NeoLuddism!

Hmm good point I did not take postage into account, ah well, enjoy the verve, and if you get a Talentum in the future let us know how it writes, again PinarelloOnly seems to swear by his but the more reviews the merrier!

You might have misunderstood my suggestion to contact Visconti's toll-free number directly. By that, I mean you'd deal with them and their service department directly, so the retailer is left out of it. Visconti and my retailer were fine with my sending the pen directly to Visconti, because my retailer was out of stock of tortoise Midis, anyhow--the retailer couldn't have helped me as it was. If you want to stay with the Van Gogh, it might be worth a shot to have Visconti make it right for you. In my experience, they were very accommodating.

Sorry you had back luck with your van Gogh. I've got two and they've none of them had anything other than the rattle, which I don't care about as long as they write well. Also got both in the $175 range. That being said, I didn't get the tortoise, just the blue and "musk" green. Neither had cap problems, so concur that batch must've had problems. Neither had screw problems either.

I have a Selenium Verve and it's a great writer, just too darn short to fit comfortably in my hand. If I had to give up a Visconti, I'd head straight to the Carene's as gorgeous and idiot proof out of the box. Have 5, bought both new and used, and this idiot's not managed to mess them up yet. Tho' I've not forgotten to cap one for days on end. Yet.

Check the Carenes available if you haven't already plunked for the Verve. If you have, enjoy. As long as the short size works for you, they're nice pens.

The Verve is too short? Do you mean unposted, I hope? Practically every pen is too short for me unposted, but if the Verve is short even posted, I may have a problem.

As for leaving it uncapped for days on end, I haven't done that yet, either. The Visconti dried out while capped. Had it been my fault for leaving it uncapped, I wouldn't have a complaint (a *headdesk* maybe, but not a complaint ).

Posted, the tip of the Verve falls right into the webbing between my thumb and forefinger. I have fairly small girl hands, but I also hold pens a little further back, so it may be good for you. That being said, the nib is luscious, the finish feels awesome and it's fairly decent about staying posted. The gorgeous selenium blue and stylishly wet nib has convinced me to keep mine for now, but I wouldn't buy another just for where it fits in my hand. Same reason I only own one Marlen.

Never, ever had a Visconti go dry when capped, so that's definitely not normal behavior.

Visconti VG is a work horse. I hve got a musk.. an awesome runner in the stable. Its a different matter that one particualr pen just in case falls in love with the user and overplays. All is fair in love...

Try another visconti again..

BTW I owe GP for her considered views on vg.

Djehuty, if you haven't already pulled the trigger on something new to replace it, I think I'd heed BlueIris' advice. Every time I've had a problem with a pen that I've purchased from a vendor, I've always gone straight to the manufacturer and almost without exception, they've been really good about getting the problem handled. Hasn't always been perfect, but they've always tried to be accommodating. I've never owned a Visconti, but based on what I've heard and read, you got a lemon. If you've got it in you for one more try, you might see if they can't oblige you.

Pankaj - thanks for the thanks. Glad it worked out so nicely for you.

You mention both the Carene and Charleston as options and, since I have both and also had (and sold) a Van Gogh I thought I would offer up my perspective on these two.

Both are wonderful pens. My Charleston is black with a lovely stub nib and my Carene is the Deluxe version, Prussian Blue and with a fine nib.

The Charleston has some common design elements to the 100 year pen and my only criticism is that the nib 'seems' too small for the rest of the pen. It doesn't effect the operation - it is purely a visual thing.

The Carene is a mini Edson in look and feel. The cap doesn't post well but I am fine with writing unposted. The line is smooth and nail like - just like the Edson.

If I had to choose between the two, I would take the Charleston since it has a better 'feel', to me but I have no intention of selling either and am considering getting the Carene Binderised.

Hope this helps.

People that have put money into cars or car modificatiosn rarely admit that they are anything but perfectly happy with them.

I like the looks of the Merak and almost bought a Ghibli once, but I'd never tell you it was flawless (the Merak is underpowered, and the Ghibli, though beautiful, tends to take off at speed and has an old style live axle)

In fact as a British (and one Italian) car owner, I'd never tell you that ANY car was the greatest thing going. Same with pens, I think.

Agreed. That's what I meant. Hearing people wax poetic about a fountain pen (or any other luxury good - especially if Italian ) is not a reliable indicator of flawless quality control. There are other aspects that can also cause poetic waxing

I wax poetic about my Nissan Maxima 6 speed, but that's because I love low maintenance, high performing cars. I drove a 96 Ford Mustang GT convertible for 8 years and it was recalled 9 times. Now THAT'S the most expensive piece of fecal material I ever had.

Nothing more fun than looking like a staid professional woman until I leave the idiot kids in the Hondas standing! Mwuu ha ha ha ha ha!

Ahem, oh yes. Back to Italian pens...

I do appreciate the effort to convince me of the Van Gogh's worth, and I hope not to offend its ardent supporters, but I just can't afford to take another chance with it. Two defective pens in a row have shown me that there's simply too much that can go wrong.

Thanks for all the assistance and advice!

I totally understand. I'm hoping you love the Verve. I know I hold pens farther back on the body than many, so I just need a longer pen on average. I'm just sorry you had to hit the bad batch. After the excellent luck I've had with Visconti in general, I was starting to think they were as dependable as the Waterman Carenes.