Hi all,

I just happened to see the Van Gogh at a local shop out here. I inspected the pen and it looked like the midi as it was quite small, almost of the size of the Pelikan M400.

On inquiring the shopkeeper told me that he had two varieties - one with the steel nib and the other with a 14k gold nib. He also told me that the body is made of vegetable resin which is quite superior to ordinary resins used in other pens. He added that the appointments (the section, the cap ring and the clip) are made of pure silver.

Here go my questions:

1) Is the Van Gogh available with a steel nib?

2) What the heck is vegetable resin??

3) Are the appointments really made of pure silver and not steel???

I apologize if I have repeated any question asked in earlier posts.

And thanks in advance for your replies!

Cheers!
Steve

I have a midi with a steel nib and really love it. The resin is very smooth and I find it quickly adjusts to the temperature of my hand. I also love just fondling the pen... I am not sure how they make it, but yes, it is vegetal resin. Omas uses a cotton resin on the Emotica, so apparently it can be done. I don't know about the pure silver thing. Maybe check out Visconti's website.

I am deeply in love with mine. Sigh. Off to play with my Visconti.

Kath

I have 2 maxis. Both mine are 14k nibs and so marked - one plain, the older 2 toned. I know the Visconti steel nibs are every bit as luscious as the gold because my Pericles has a steel nib and is a luscious writer. Dunno about the midis but if you get one, you'll find yourself turning the pen in daylight to watch the pretty colors. I don't know about the hardware either. I just enjoy using them.

I fear you may have been misinformed, at least as far as the Van gogh goes, there are Viscontis that use resin, but I understand that the Van gogh-is apointed with Rhodium for the furiture, the Maxi is a 14 k gold nob that used to be two tones but is now monotone (rhodium plated gold), for the Maxi and steel (for the midi-although maybe gold mono are available as well-they are made by bock), as for resin...I think the van gogh are actuallt plastic, lovely beautiful and crafted plastic...but still plastic.

There were 3 sizes of the van Gogh, to my knowledge. You might have been looking at a Mini, which is smaller than the Midi (and it might be a discontinued size). My Midi is longer than my Pelikan M620, so I doubt that you were looking at a Midi if you thought it was smaller and almost the size of the M400. The Maxi is larger than both the Midi and Mini.

About the steel nib options, I think it depends on which van Gogh you have in mind. I think the Maxi only comes with a gold nib. My Midi is the Tortoise model, which only came with the 14K nib. I think the other Midi colors came with a steel nib option. I don't know about the Mini, but I suspect it was available with a steel nib.

(edited for spelling)

Blueiris is correct -- there are in fact three sizes of the Van Gogh: Maxi/Midi/Mini. You were probably looking at the Mini if it's about the size of Pelikan M400.

Here's a photo of a Visconti Van Gogh Midi compared to other pens that I posted in another thread. The Van Gogh Midi is second pen from the left and the Pelikan M400 is in the center -- fourth pen from left or right. It may be hard to tell from the photo, but the Van Gogh Midi is bigger than the M400 -- it's comparable, lengthwise, to the Pelikan M600.

Click to view attachment

As to your other questions:
1) Is the Van Gogh available with a steel nib?
The Van Gogh Midi in Black, Vanilla, Ocean Blue, Sandal Red, Musk Green (did I miss any other colors?) come standard with a steel nib. Some retailers will allow you to upgrade the nib to 14K. Example: http://shop.peartreepens.com/product.sc?ca...mp;productId=55
The Van Gogh Midi Translucent Tortoise comes standard with a 14K gold nib -- but again, some retailers will sell it with a steel nib (see link above).

2) What the heck is vegetable resin??
Vegetable resin is a plastic made from...well, vegetables like corn or other plants. Polylactide is one of the most well known of this group of plastics. Producing vegetable resin is more expensive than synthetic plastics. I'm not sure what its advantages are as far as a pen material. Vegetable resin has been approved for use in food containers -- so I guess in a pinch you can store food in your pen!

3) Are the appointments really made of pure silver and not steel???
I don't think it's pure silver. Whatever it is, it's palladium plated.

Visconti Van Gogh has been made in 3 sizes: Mini, Midi and Maxi.
While the Maxi can only have the large 14 Kt gold nib, and the Mini only the steel nib, the Midi model can have the small 14 Kt gold nib as well as the steel nib. (Here in Italy only 14 Kt, but I know that a steel nibbed version has been produced for foreign market).
About the "vegetal resin", it's the result of a new manufacturing process called "Press Mould", that joins natural resin and vegetal components. In fact, all pens are different each other due to the different quantity and colour of vegetal components put in it. (However, please don't ask me what exactly vegetal components are: I have no idea - it's a factory secret)

About the trim, they're made in some metal, palladium plated. Certainly not sterling silver.