Visconti Homo Sapien In All Silver

[saskia_madding]

I really liked the look of the Homo Sapien, but I've always preferred silver colour trim. When Bryant sold a few of the limited edition silver versions of the Homo Sapien, I waited too long and missed it. However, Bryant graciously managed to procure one for me and I could not be happier.

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/DSC08329.jpg?t=1299184207

 

Appearance & Design (10/10) - I am a bit biased; I bought this pen specifically because I loved the look. I was concerned about the size and heft though, and once I got this pen in my hot little hands, that concern evaporated. It's much lighter than I thought it would be and actually feels ever so slightly smaller than my Wall Street LE.

 

In terms of design, there is one shining thing I love about this pen - the twist cap. It locks tightly and will not pull of, but it only requires a quarter turn to open it. I have mostly twist cap pens and sometimes when I'm in a rush, I find all the twisting takes up too much time and can feel onerous. I absolutely LOVE the cap on the Homo Sapien.

 

Nib & Performance (10/10) - I liked the idea of a silver Homo Sapien, but the nib it comes with is actually the same two toned palladium one you get with the Wall Street LE. I asked Bryant to switch the nib for me to an all silver one simply to maintain the symmetry of the silver trim. I think it looks great!

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/DSC08332.jpg?t=1299185031

 

You cannot go wrong with the Visconti palladium nibs. They write smoothly and deliciously, like silk. One thing to note is that this nib definitely runs wide. The medium on this is about halfway between a medium and broad in Pelikan nibs. That doesn't bother me, but it is something to consider when choosing the nib. For comparison, here's a shot of the index of my ink journal (from a while ago); the Fuyu-Gaki was written with a Pelikan m625 in medium, and the Asa-gao was written with the Wall Street palladium nib in medium (which is the same nib as on the Homo Sapien). Notice that the Pelikan line is just slightly thinner.

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Ink%20reviews/DSC08151.jpg?t=1299186298

 

Filling System & Maintenance (9/10) – The Homo Sapien is a power filler, which has it's good and bad points. It can be kind of a pain to fill the pen completely, but is still manageable to do *IF* you can see the ink level. However, this gorgeous pen has no ink window, so I find it difficult to figure out how much ink is loaded into the pen when I'm trying to fill it. Generally this isn't a problem for me because I like to change inks frequently and I always carry three pens, so I'm never stuck running out and I don't mind if it doesn't fill completely. But if either of those are an issue for you, consider yourself warned!

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/DSC08334.jpg?t=1299186102

 

 

Cost & Value (9/10) – This is always such a subjective topic. I honestly cannot even remember what I paid for this pen, but I think it was about $700 USD. I do not regret getting this pen at all, but let's be serious - in terms of writing, I get an equally happy experience from my Pelikan m625, or even my TWSBI with an m425 nib on it. I think that if you like the look of the regular Homo Sapien but prefer silver detailing, getting this pen is totally worth it. It is a pen I use every other time I change inks, which says a lot about what a great pen this is (given how many I have!).

 

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/DSC08333.jpg?t=1299186182

Edited March 3, 2011 by simonerodrigue

[IWantThat]

Gorgeous!!!! But, I love the bronze on my HS. If I had to choose, I think I'd want...both

[nicholasyeo]

I like the bronze as well, for some reason on this pen. But the silver one is beautiful as well!

[saskia_madding]

The bronze is gorgeous, I won't deny that. I am just completely partial to silver. What can I say? It's a weakness!

[reprieve]

The Homo Sapien is a very nice pen, but it just doesn't really appeal to me. I do like the lava material and the filling system. But the overall aesthetics... well, I haven't been tempted. That is, until I saw the silver trim version. Gorgeous! Luckily, they sold out very quickly and I didn't have to make a decision about buying one. I would have been really torn otherwise. Congrats on your beautiful, relatively scarce, pen!

 

By the way, I think you made the right decision about switching out the two-tone nib. The single-tone nib looks fantastic.

[benkalziqi]

That is absolutely amazing. Glad to see that you enjoy it so much!

[Defacto]

Very nice pen! I like the homo sapiens the way it is because of the bronze color, but that silver one sure looks :puddle:

Enjoy!!!

[fabrimedeiros]

Congratulations!! It's amazing in silver trim!

 

I've one in ordinary trim - bronze- with a 1.3 mm stub nib that I'm loving.

 

Fabricio

[greencobra]

.....It's amazing in silver trim!.....

I agree. The silver changes the look. Never knew about this LE, nice pick up for you.

[SecondWind]

New guy here - I'm thinking of purchasing a Visconti HS.

 

Are the rings and clip on this version solid 925 sterling silver? Or just plated?

 

Thanks!

[WendyNC]

While I'm not partial to silver, it looks wonderful on your pen, especially with the addition of the two rings on the barrel (as compared to the bronze version). I'm very pleased with my bronze version, but if somebody wanted to buy me a major present, I certainly wouldn't object to this silver version!

 

By the way, your impression about the relative size of the HS and WS is correct. The WS is a little longer and, although the body of the HS is a little wider, there's more of a taper in the section.

 

Thanks so much for sharing these great pictures.

[breaker]

nice review and pics

[pilotheinrich]

Looks like the silver version also has another double band of trim around the barrel to mirror that on the cap. The bronze version doesn't have this. I'm curious to see what this looks like when the cap is posted on the pen.

[RMN]

Nice review.

 

as far as I know the silvercolored version is part of the calligraphy set, that extremely expensive desk-box with several inks and nibs etc.

 

As about no-one will buy one of these sets shops are trying to get rid of them. I have seen sales with 40% off, and smoe break up the sets.

 

Apparently they cannot be ordered as such from Visconti

 

 

D.ick

[TWRDO]

I hadn't realized there was a silver-trim Homo Sapiens. Usually I also prefer silver/rhodium/whatever trim, but I think I actually prefer the bronze on the HS. Still, a great looking pen!

[PAKMAN]

If they were priced the same I'd have to have gone for the silver but at about 1/2 price I had to go with the bronze. The silver sure is stunning though!

[StyloBug33]

I didn't know there was a silver edition either. Wow! That is beautiful! I really like the extra rings on the barrel. I have the bronze one and really like it. If I had the money, I might go for a second in silver. But, alas, I don't. Really gorgeous, though.

[unfilterd]

The silver version does look stunning!

 

Any idea if the silver will tarnish with age? The last time I went down to the local pen shop to drool take a look at the Divina Black, the silver strips were turning black. Yikes!

[SinkOrSwim]

That silver looks excellent, I think you made a wise choice opting for the single toned nib.

[saskia_madding]

I reorganized my photobucket album and I can't edit my original post anymore, so I'm just posting these new photos to update the old links.

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Pens/DSC08329.jpg?t=1301512532

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Pens/DSC08333.jpg?t=1301512555

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Pens/DSC08334.jpg?t=1301512590

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Pens/DSC08332.jpg?t=1301512591

Edited March 30, 2011 by simonerodrigue