What Visconti Fountain Pen Do You Find Is Your Favorite?

[TheGreatRoe]

Since my earlier post in this thread my answer has changed. Admittedly there's a sentimental aspect to this pen, as my wife bought it for me on our recent trip to Florence.

 

Van Gogh Portrait, with a nib customized by Art'sNibs.

 

[Ghost Plane]

I stick with my Ripples, the Divinas as my second choice.

[petra]

Honestly I don't have a Visconti that is NOT a favorite... the 3 pens in Ponte Vecchio Series, an Opera in winter/snow (black white pattern), a Ragtime & the one I just got from Bryant at Chatterly, which is the same material as the Speakeasy. Juicy writers, all. I really like the Van Gogh pens, but I don't know how the steel nibs are...

[abstract49]

My Van Gogh has always been a problem.

 

Favorite? Hard to say! I have an original Divine Proportion (most expensive pen I've ever bought) and a Black Divina, and I have a Homo Sapiens Bronze. They are all wonderful, but I guess the HS Bronze is probably my favorite, just because it's easier to fill than the Divine/Divina, and I do love that nib!

[jkingrph]

I have added a few since this thread started. Originally I had a single Rebecca Moss model, lovely burgundy red cracked ice with silver trim. I then got a Homo Sapiens Bronze age, and like the way the cap locks on, and the feel of the pen in hand. I also like the burnished patina the bronze accents are developing. Lastly, thanks to Brian at Chatterly Luxuries I picked up a couple of the Millionaire models, one if forest brown, the other in green marble. Had he not put them out at 75% off MSRP I would have never considered. They are striking pens, especially the brown, but very heavy. I guess that's the downside of having a pen turned out of a piece of marble. I think they only made 988 in each of four colors, and Brian much have been looking at customers orders. I got two with identical production numbers.

 

I honestly have to say I prefer the Rebecca Moss model because of the pocket clip, It clips into my shirt pocket so much easier than the others.

Edited September 16, 2016 by jkingrph

[Nikaa]

Last week I found blue marine Visconti Pericle.

Today came by mail, from France. Nib B - my first B nib. And it is NOS! I'm a lucky girl

I must say, it is really beautiful pen!

 

 

 

 

 

I have also Purple Rembrandt with F nib, but Pericle is more beautiful. Some time ago Visvamitra lent me his Van gogh, and from that moment I knew I had to have my Visconti. I love these nib!

Edited September 19, 2016 by Nikaa

[Ghost Plane]

Uh oh. It was a green Pericle that started me off collecting. Far too many Viscontis later...

[RonLyke]

I just bought a black VanGogh at the Boston show, and subsequently watched the Stephen Brown YouTube review of the VanGogh. My pen is very different: his had a snap cap; mine is threaded--his had metal trim at both ends; mine is rounded at both ends--he showed painting themes, but no black. Is mine a (very nice) fake?

[PabloAU]

I just bought a black VanGogh at the Boston show, and subsequently watched the Stephen Brown YouTube review of the VanGogh. My pen is very different: his had a snap cap; mine is threaded--his had metal trim at both ends; mine is rounded at both ends--he showed painting themes, but no black. Is mine a (very nice) fake?

 

Visconti re-launched the Van Gogh series of pens a few years back (2011?).

 

It sounds like you got one of the older series. From memory it came in three different sizes: Maxi with gold nib, midi with steel nib, and i believe the mini was cartridge only.

[Ghost Plane]

If you got a 14k nib, it's definitely one of the older ones and they came in black. Much preferred nib. A few had steel and the last of the run occasionally had Pd nibs swapped in.

[RonLyke]

This is a steel nib. Cartridge / converter, although it doesn't have one. I'll have to get one from Goulet's.

[Jezza]

My favourite would be Manhattan. I love that celluloid. However, I would settle for any Visconti that wrote well out of the box. I usually get a decent one out of every two I buy, and then kick myself for not simply buying another Japanese pen.

[AustinJF]

My Favorite is the metropolis which was and is my grail pen. After having recently purchased one I can say without any doubt that I was not let down and take extreme pleasure in using it. There is just something about the styling that connects with me. My second favorite, though I doubt I will ever own one, is the visconti divina in stacked celluloid.

[Ghost Plane]

Check out Goulet Pens and Fountain Pen Hospital. They currently have gray and green in stock as of the time I type this.

[AustinJF]

Check out Goulet Pens and Fountain Pen Hospital. They currently have gray and green in stock as of the time I type this.

I know goulet has them in stock, I will never own one not out of difficulty to find one but because I simply can't justify the cost of buying a brand new one and I have just spent my pen budget for quite a while on the metropolis. I may end up buying one in a year or two when they start entering the market as used.

Edited October 15, 2016 by AustinJF

[FOUR X FOUR]

I changed my mind. I think I like the Homo Sapiens the best

[Ghost Plane]

I know goulet has them in stock, I will never own one not out of difficulty to find one but because I simply can't justify the cost of buying a brand new one and I have just spent my pen budget for quite a while on the metropolis. I may end up buying one in a year or two when they start entering the market as used.

Ah. Been there, waited that.

[Dr Dan]

This was a lot of fun to read through the comments (still learning my way around this site). Thank you to everyone who posted. Most of my pens are pre-1970's, much older actually, but I do have two Visconti pens that I enjoy. Van Gogh Maxi (doesn't everyone have one of these?) and a Rembrandt. The latter is a surprising pen. Do many steel nip pens (except on my Rotrings) but it is an exceptional writer that I find I use quite a bit. Unfortunately, none of the more exotic models mentioned elsewhere here are in my possession.

 

all the best!

[ItwasLuck]

Atm my favorite is ofc my Visconti Kakadu LE #100/100, I've always loved all the Opera Master models especially the LE models with their different patterns of design but what drew me away from actually purchasing the Opera Master was the weight, the pen is just really heavy to use for extended prolonged use. But apart from that it is one stunning pen, not to mention the unbelievably enormous ink capacity, if this pen had a fine nib on it, it would last longer than a 823 in medium, it probably already does as a medium.
I knew that the Visconti that I would buy would be used alongside my Pilot 823 on a daily basis so the weight would have to go down and maybe be a little smaller but I couldn't go with something as small as the regular Opera since huge ink capacity matters when I buy a pen and second is simply the fact that I prefer the double power reservoir filling mechanism even to the 823's more simple vacuum filler.
So when I found this pen on the classified section being #100/100 with its beautiful 18kt gold medium nib and pristine brand new like quality despite the pen being 11 years old, I knew I had to get it.

The Kakadu LE is not only crucially lighter than any Opera Master LE around but it's also (very) slightly smaller in length as well. I honestly didn't mind the sacrifice in the ink capacity which is very minor imo I have to still measure exactly how much it holds but it definitely holds more than 3ml. This is what really sold the deal and it doesn't hurt that the pen is #100/100.

Between all the Opera Master LEs I believe this is the one with the best ergonomics, the only pen that comes to a close second would be the Visconti Australis which is the exact size as the regular Opera Master just with a different section (like in the Kakadu). Also imo, it's the best writer with it's 18kt nib, you get the best of both worlds (from Viscontis springy 14K nibs to their regular flexy palladium nibs). And with a very slight loss in total ink capacity, the Kakadu is arguably the best out of all the Opera Masters for sheer writing experience especially for very long writing sessions and I mean long, I write on average 1.5-2ml of ink and that estimate is from my Pilot 823 in medium and while it is a Japanese nib so slightly smaller than a normal western medium, my nib is quite a juicy writer, very similar to the Visconti in wetness even. But that is going a bit off topic, so I'll leave it at that and I'll attach some pictures when I can of the beautiful acryloid pattern which is actually a blue color and not black as the pictures show. It's going to be hard to catch the subtly in camera but in person it is quite obvious.

Anything I would change? Ofc, if anyone had the same sized 18kt nib but in Fine and would want to exchange theirs for a Medium nib I am more than willing to get on that offer. XD Being as nitpicky as I am with my pens, even the 823 isn't perfect, it's a surprise to me that the only thing I could complain about the Kakadu was the nib being slightly too broad for my liking!

Edited October 29, 2016 by ItwasLuck