Officina 4 tempi by Mazzuoli

[alfredop]

This is my first pen review, it regards an unusual pen (I found very little on this pen here on FPN): the Officina 4 tempi by Mazzuoli.

 

First Impression (4/5)

Opening the box the first impression is very positive, the 4 tempi comes in a kit that allows to transform the barrel in a pencil, in a roller pen, in a ballpoint pen and finally in a fountain pen; all the pieces are nicely organized in a black carton box with a magnetic closure. The kit comprises also Schmidt made roller and ballpoint refills, plus pencil leads of various colors (black, blu, orange and yellow).

 

Appearance (4/5, if you can like this type of pens)

The look of the pen is not traditional, it recalls the look of typical instruments that you can find in a "officina" (workshop); there are different variants of the pen, and mine is the one called madrevite. All the pieces are in alluminium and they fit perfectly to have the writing instruments you choose to use. In my opinion the building quality of this pen is very high.

Of course due to its not traditional look this is not a pen for all person, I suspect that many will not like it for this reason; the pen is also very big and has a good weight, indeed you could think the Officina as a Rotring 600 with steroids.

In conclusion if you like big metal pens you should give a try to this pen (of course look also to the the other variants).

Take also into account that it is almost impossible, due partly to the weight, and partly to the total length, to use the pen with the cap posted.

 

Filling system

Nothing of particular to say here, the pens use a converter, or the usual international size cartridge.

 

Nib (3/5)

Due to the brand of the refill used for the ballpoint and the roller, I assume that the nib is made by Schmidt (but I'm not sure about this). It is a steel nib which work very well, it is smooth and gives a sufficiently wet medium line, you can also use the nib on the reverse side to obtain a fine line, but the nib becomes less smooth (although it remains still usable).

At the end the nib is good but certainly is not the strongest point of this pen.

 

 

Conclusion

I'm happy with this pen, also for the possibility to use it not only as a fountain pen. Its strongest points are the appearance (if you like it), and the building quality. The nib is a normal steel nib that work well, but will not make any of us to scream about a miracolous.

 

Finally, I have not yet taken photo of the pens, so as I will just redirect you to the company website

 

Genny

[greencobra]

Genny, thanks for the review of an interesting pen. I took a look at the pen and your spot on, it does look like a Rotring on steroids. :ltcapd: And I do like the look of it. It would be on my list if I were looking for a pen of that type. Nice job on the review.

[tipstricks]

Thank you genny for the well made review (sure we're waiting for your pictures).

Can you tell if "4 tempi" can be purchase in all of the 6 models shown on the site (micrometro, fresa cilindrica, etc)?

What about the grip if it's big, heavy and all in alluminium?

Ciao

[chibimie]

Attracted by its good looks, I handled the fountain pen a few years back and felt that it was too large. But they have the Mini sizes now--I wonder which one your fountain pen is?

 

Thanks for the nice review.

[alfredop]

greencobra: Thank you for your comments.

 

tipstricks: I bought the last in the store, but the seller said me that he could order another model if I desired. Of course this is not sufficient to assert that all the variant are available as 4 tempi. Anyway I see that on other website the micrometro and the fresa cilindrica was marketed as 4 tempi. Regarding the grip, after having used for some time a black Lamy Studio I'm trained to aluminium sections, so as I have not found this a critical point.

 

chibimie: The pen is not in the "mini" version (probably in the future I will take one also of this type, due to its better portability), and surely is a large pen.

 

Genny