Well, I made an impulse bid at eBay, and I'm walking home with a pen that I didn't expect to win: eBay link. I hope that some of those here who are modern Italian conversant can help me decide what the heck I bought. I actually have read the thread here at FPN on the Voyager menagerie, but I am still a bit confused. On the item description for the pen that I bought, the seller describes the pen as a black Voyager Kaleido. Well, I didn't think that the Kaleido was offered in black (I thought that the whole point of the Kaleido was the crazy swirled colors, so a black Kaleido seems implausible). It seems (from Visconti's web site) that the Midnight Voyager was offered in three models: coral band, lapis band, and plain black. So, did I buy a left-over black and silver Midnight Voyager (they were introduced way back in 1997)? Or, does someone recognize this pen as something made for someone else (for example Levenger, or some other small run variant of the Voyager)? If you want to go out on a limb and take a stab at the exact model or want to offer some sort of theory, I would be greatful for any opinions. Gracia!


Ciao,

Dave

I have absolutely no idea .....

But, that's a nice looking pen!

I have purchased pens from Outletline before and so far have been very happy. He sometimes has special editions made for him to sell exclusively. I can't imagine why he would want to misrepresent a pen. It is beautiful though.

I call that a sumgai! The Jade Voyagers are listing as high as $275. They're nice writing pens and you should really enjoy yours. I'm not as up on these, but I have a Jade I lucked into sometime back [but not as sweet a deal as yours] and why they haven't gottten more mention, I don't know.

I've gotten some good deals from outletline as well.

Ben at Outletline is a good guy. I got my Wall Street from him for a truly Sumgui price, and he found on of the NATO sets that I have been looking for, also for a great price.

You got a lovely pen, and a bargain in the process.

I really like the clip style on this pen. It is very similar to the clip design for the Copernicus.

Dave, you do indeed have an early production Midnight Voyager with the silver band. I have one with the coral band and one like yours. The "Midnight" part of the name implies a black pen. It was after the success of the Midnight series that Visconti started to produce the rainbow of colors the Voyager series bacame known for.

You got a good buy. You can choose to think of your pen as a "left over," but I think of it as a lucky find in a pen model fit to be a collector piece. I would suggest you try using the pen to see how you like it. I have found these pens to be very well made with excellent fit and finish. The Voyagers are very well proportioned pens with good weight and balance. The nibs are a bit wet, but all of my Voyagers are smooth as glass. I have several Voyagers and they are my favorite Visconti pens. One of them makes my monthly rotation every month. Right now I am using the coral trim one.

Thank you, Frank. I'm under the impression that Visconti does indeed make "special edition" pens some sellers, so I'm very glad to hear that the pen here is an honest-to-goodness "production model" (I don't know why that's kind of important to me, but it is).


Oh, I didn't mean anything pejorative by that. About a month ago I bought a NOS Copernicus from Weaver McKracken that I would describe the same way. With both the Copernicus and the Voyager, production ended almost a decade ago - the reason that I could get my Copernicus for $300 or the Voyager for the price that I did was because Visconti is liquidating old stock of discontinued models. This doesn't change the fact that my Copernicus is a beautiful pen and a wonderful writer.


Oh, you can bet that I'll be using this pen! As I mentioned above, I love the writing characteristics of my Copernicus (other than I would prefer a nib with some flex), and I fully expect that my new Voyager will be its equal. I'm glad to hear that you enjoy your Vogers.

Again, thank you for taking the time to help me get things straight with the Visconti model naming jungle.



Dave

Good, I am very glad to hear that you will be using the Voyager. I hope you come back to share your impressions of the pen once you have had a chance to use it.

I would be happy to report back. Though I don't have have many moderns, all of my users are modern Italians. So far I have the following:

Stipula: Duetto and Nettuno Superba (limited ed)
Visconti: Copernicus and (soon) Voyager
Marlen: (dot) com
Tibaldi: Modello 60
Delta: Parthenope

Yep, when it comes to modern users, I really love the Italian styling (especially Stipula and Tibaldi). I think that I saw in another thread that you've got a Stipula Nettuno Idra - you're a lucky man! I hope that one day I will stumble across one of these that I can afford.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Again, thank you for your kind help.

Dave

Outside of my Delta Profili, it seems like my Delta B nibs run narrower than Visconti, Marlen or Stipula. But then I really love the Marlen Journal BB nibs, so that gives a clue where my preferences like.

I was also lucky enough to get a Stipula Nettuno Superba LE (and a Nettuno Idra LE). They are a couple of the finest pens I have ever seen or used. Both of them have a vintage feeling spring to the nib that makes writing with them a real treat. My Viscontis have a different feel, but a similar spring. It is difficult for me to qualify, but the quality of the writing experience is excellent overall.

Sorry. Now I am blathering. We are talking about some great pens here and I feel compelled to participate!

Click to view attachment
These were the 3 central rings of the Visconti Midnight Voyager series. I think they were made in 1997.
The blue and red celluloid of the other rings were made with the same celluloid used for Voyagers (not Kaleidos, which were made in veined resin, instead)
Also the rolled International Warranty of the picture is the old type Visconti used to give with their pens.
However, the Visconti booklet is new. It didn't exist in 1997.

I did find 1997 as the introduction/production date on the Visconti website.

A very interesting tidbit, thank you!

Finally, neat info here. The rolled-up Warranty seems to be the same as came with my Copernicus (which was made in 1999, if I recall correctly), so I'm sure that you're right. As for the booklet, since it didn't exist in 1997 and as there is a recess for it in the box that accompanies the pen, would I be correct in guessing that the box that comes with the pen is likely from a more recent production Kaleido? This will certainly not diminish my enjoyment of the pen one bit, but being a vintage pen collector/historian nut it's neat to think that maybe a hundred years from now when I'm dead and gone and this pen is being sold on eBay some crazy preson like me may jump in and say "That's not the correct box for that pen!"

Susanna, thank you for all of this great information. It's been a pleasure to hear from someone as knowledgeable as you. Grazie.


Arrivederci,


Dave

Yes, thanks, Susanna. I now know my Voyager is an early model as I only have the rolled and my box looks different from Dave's. The things we learn!