Well, I'd been eyeing the Van Gogh for a while, and final took the plunge when James at Pear Tree Pens offered up a nice patriotic discount over the July 4 weekend. It's my first Italian pen. I waited to ink it until I got my Aquamarine ink from Swishers, which came today.

My first impression of the pen when I saw it was WOW! I got it in the Ocean Blue color and it's very nice. And it came in one helluva presentation box with a bottle of ink, too. It has a little heft to it, too, slightly heavier than most of my pens, but doesn't feel bad at all when I'm holding it.

The nib is a steel nib, fine. It writes a little more like a medium I think, but it feels pretty good.

Now, though, some reservations have kicked in.

The pen seems to write very smoothly. However, it has a metal section. I knew it did, and thought it would be ok with the shape, but my fingers still slip with this section.

The pen is converter/cartridge? I mean, yes, it came with a cartridge, but the converter installed appears to be a permanent converter. I cannot remove it, and it seems to be fused to the section. It doesn't even look like it is supposed to be removed. Well, I decided to give it a shot as is, and filled it tonight. I flushed it first, which was a good thing as it already had a blue ink in the feed. And, I definitely don't like dipping the patterned metal section into the ink. It doesn't wipe off cleanly. Minor detail I suppose, but it bothers me.

I really like the pen otherwise, but I am feeling kind of apprehensive about it at the moment. I suppose I'll get over this. I hope so.

Most Visconti converters are screw in units. To remove it you may have to unscrew it, not just pull it out.

As for getting ink on the section I find that a damp paper towel usually makes quick work of that.

best
Doug

I have a Van Gogh, the converter needs to be unscrewed for removal. Good luck with the pen. I love mine, it writes beautifully.

Aldo

I had the same reservations concerning the metal barrel.But after using it for awhile,that concern disappeared.
Great pen and in my opinion,under-appreciated.

Jim

Thanks, guys.

I filled the pen, so after this load of ink, I'll check out the unscrewing of the converter bit. It really threw me for a bit of a loop.

It is a nice pen.

I was lucky enough to get a Van Gogh midi this week in Evergreen. The colour is really beautiful and the nib writes really smoothly, although I find the medium nib is more like a fine. This was also the first Italian pen that I have ever owned and it's quickly shown itself to be a really special pen.

I, too, am now the proud owner of an Evergreen Midi. I am not usually a gold trim guy, but this pen looks fantastic. And the nib is great (medium also on the narrow side). This steel nib is the best Visconti nib I have used. As a matter of fact, my last two Viscontis were sold because I never did warm up to the 14/18k nibs. This, however is a perfect pen.

hey - glad you love your Evergreen midi as much as I do!!