I was looking at the new Delta Dolce Vita Piston filler at His.nibs and wondering if anyone has tried it out yet.

If so, what are your thoughts?

I am wondering about this pen too. It looks like a real piston filler, not an embedded converter. Anyone actually used one? Held one?

I'm usually a bit wary about buying the first generation of a new issue, esp. with an integral filler of a sort the company hasn't used before. Often there are bugs that need to be worked out. ('m aware that Delta has produced many a lever fillerr, but to the best of my knowledge, this is the first piston filler. Or am I wrong about this?)

I may not be able to resist this pen.

Also the Garibaldi 1KS (the hand painted model) was piston filled, also the green Don Quijote, and the Alfa Romeo 1750.
And the latest Blue Grotto, from Capri collection.

I am with you here. I'll have trouble resisting this pen, but I too am leery of first-generation pens that mark a major departure from the company's usual S.O.P. I am a big fan of the Dolce Vita line, however, and Susanna's comments help mitigate my apprehension. It appears to be an unorthodox piston-filling system, though. It looks like the whole thing in 'mounted' at the top of the pen. (What do I know?) I does look well done, not slapdash at all. Given the girth of the pen, the piston would not need to travel far to pick up a lot of ink. It sounds better all the time.

I had a chance to handle this pen while visiting a pen shop in Florence a few months ago. If I recall correctly it's closer in size to the oversized Dolce Vita than the full sized as far as length goes, but it's thinner than the OS model, closer to the full sized in thickness. Nice looking piece, in any case, hard to go wrong with the Dolce Vita design. I'm not sure that the piston isn't one of those integrated converter type jobs, like the Alfa Romeo pens...

Thanks for the reply, Doug. I have not had great luck with pens containing integrated converters, but I love regular pistion fillers. So I suppose I won't order one of these pens until I get to see it in person.

I judging only by the pictures...

Looking at the piston knob under the blind cap, it appears to be an integrated converter, but it has an ink-view window, which makes it seem like a regular piston ala Pelikan, Omas, etc.

I guess that's part of my confusion. I'm not sure what kind of piston filler it is.

I wrote a couple questions to Norm and here's what he said...

The questions I asked were about color and size.

He said the color is exactly the same as the rest of the Dolce Vita line. I asked him if Vermeil trim may be an option someday and there's no rumbling about that. Size he says is same as the OS. I asked him if he could line em all up in one shot and he didn't have them all to do that.

That silver trim is a deal breaker for me at this point, but it may not be tomorrow...daggummit!

FWIW.

It looks as if I am once again behind the times. I did not know Delta had made a piston filling Dolce Vita. Of course, it is another excuse to buy a pen. I have an O/S and a Soiree and I love both of them. But I would also like to know what kind of piston fill mechanism this model has. I hope if anyone finds out they will post their findings here.

I have a DVOS and did think ot a waste to have only a c/c filler in that huge body....although it can, of course, be used as an eye-dropper.
A piston-filler seems a good idea, and, as Susanna says, Delta has some experience of making these.

As for the Delta Alfa Romeo pens, I have two red ones: the 1750 LE has a piston-fill which looks similar to the new DV, and works fine, and the Giulietta Trofeo has a c/c system.

I am not too bothered about the filling system, as long as it is reliable, although I prefer the larger capacity of the piston-fillers, versus the versatility ofthe c/c.
I am more interested in appearance, balance, reliability, and, of course, how it writes

(All of my Deltas write nicely.)

"not sure what kind of piston filler it is"

Couple of photos to show the piston and view window:

Details: http://www.hisnibs.com/piston.htm

The photo above certainly appears to be that of a true piston filler (as opposed to an integrated converter). If that's the case, then it goes on my list for possible purchase at the DC Supershow. Delta always has a big display table at that show.

Later edit: I just looked at the HisNibs.com website, and I'm a bit confused by the description saying it is the same size as the Oversize, yet the photos of the nib seem to show a SMALLER nib than that on the oversize. Does anyone know which nib is on this pen? I like the Oversize nib very much and would be reluctant to purchase a pen with a smaller nib.

excellent question for the Delta USA Distributor>>in-built piston such as Pelikan or actually a piston convertor activated by the piston knob as many Marlen are made.

I agree. It looks like the smaller nib. It is monotone, while the OS Doce Vita nib is two tone.

It would be helpful to see the feed since they have different feeds.

Hello all,

Here's the scoop, directly from YAFA (Delta's U. S. importer).

The pen is indeed a true piston filler, not an integrated piston converter.

Although the length capped and posted is virtually identical to the Oversized, as I mentioned in my description on the website, it's a bit narrower than the Oversized. Its girth is like that of the older version of the Dolcevita medium, before the recent re-design when it was narrowed a bit.

The nib is the Millennium nib -- meaning identical to that in the medium -- not the larger one used in the Oversized.

I realize that there's always some confusion regarding Dolcevita size/model designations between Italy and here in the U.S. What some term the 'Full size', YAFA refers to as 'Medium' on their page here. It's the DV80187.

Thanks for the information, Norm. I really appreciate it.

I am going to have to think hard about this model. Part of the fun of the O/S model, like the Pel M-1000, is the huge, lovely nib. The smaller nib is in place on my medium Soiree, but I wonder about matching that nib to an O/S pen.

That's good news to me. I love the Delta Millennium nib.

The good news (a true piston filler).... and the bad news (the nib is not the larger one used in the Oversized).

My pleasure Frank. It's a great addition to the Dolcevita family!