Visconti Camelot LE - review

[goodguy]

Not a very common pen to find and rarely talked about.

The Camelot is a pen named after a mythical city that as a child I thought actually existed somewhere in England.

Oh the jealousy I felt toward the lucky british people. I mean I knew many of the stories were fictional but I thought there was actually king name Arthur and his knights.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01257.jpg

I wanted the Camelot for a long time and had to put it on the back burner for a long time because of me focusing on MB WE pens.

 

I couldn't tell you how excited I was when I found Bryant got his hands on one.

So I emailed Bryant I want it and just to be sure I also phoned him and screamed to his ear "I WANT IT" and thank god Bryant is so nice and calm knowing I get a bit crazy when it comes to pens so he didn't scream back at me

 

I tried to look for information on the pen to add to this review but there is almost no info out there except sites with "Sold Out" signs of the pen.

So this is what I know of the pen.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01260.jpg

The Camelot was made in 2000.

There were 2 models made, the orange with gold mesh with 199 units and the back body with silver sterling mesh with 999 units.

 

The Seamless Filigree is hand braided with 0.3mm silver wire. Its recalling the coat of mail worn by medieval knights.

 

The one I got is obviously the black body with silver mesh.

 

The pen is beautiful in pictures so my expectations were already high but nothing prepared me for the real thing.

But let's not jump ahead.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01263.jpg

Bryant has the tendency to send his pens very secured so I stood over the garbage with a knife in my hand and ripping, tearing and throwing away till a BIG yellow box remained.

 

With shaky hands I opened and in it was a beautiful brown wooden lacquered box.

I said it in the past I love Visconti's boxes as they are so well made and look so darn good.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01267.jpg

I opened the box and here was the pen, I reached out and took it out of the plastic wrapper it was in and it took my breath away.

There are no if and buts about it Visconti knows how to make beautiful pens.

This is a big, fat and heavy pen.

Visconti didn't try to make this into a lean writing machine, they wanted to make a pen you can remember both by looking at it and writing with.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01269.jpg

Black body with silver always work great and this pen is no exception.

The mesh is simply a work of art finely weaved and feels exquisite to the touch.

The silver mesh is held by 2 gold plated rings which to my taste add to the overall look.

 

The clip is made to look like a sword and the sword of course is the legendary Excalibur.

The clip is spring loaded and feels secure in the shirt pocket.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01271.jpg

The pen is also a very good writer but might need some adjustment time for those who are used to write with lighter pens.

Its a very hefty pen and is top heavy because of its filling mechanism.

Nib is like all other Visconti pens I have, very smooth and very responsive.

Excellent ink flow and simply a pleasure to write with.

The nib is made by Bock but unlike in other Visconti pens its not a two tone but a single tone white nib.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01272.jpg

The filler is a classic Visconti Power Filler which means its a Vacuum filler.

To fill the pen you unscrew the bottom and then pull it. A little metal rod will come out. Then you dip the entire nib in the ink bottle and you press the knob back fast thus creating vacuum in the pen body and the ink will be sucked in.

This system is well made, reliable, holds a fair amount of ink and best of all fun.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01273.jpg

 

Summery

 

Today at work people simply came up to me to tell me how beautiful the pen is.

More then any other pen I own this pen is an eye catcher, I never got so much feedback on a pen as I did with this pen.

Its stunningly beautiful and the pen shows how much attention to detail was invested in it.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01275.jpg

The overall quality of the pen is of the highest degree.

For those who want a super cool and unique pen, can find one and has the money to get it I say go for it and don't think twice.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/DSC01276.jpg

[georges zaslavsky]

nice pen But unfortunately the clip is not much of my tastes. Enjoy your pen.I will disagree with what the visconti's nibs responsiveness is because they have no character or no flexibility unlike their palladium sucessors.

Edited January 7, 2010 by georges zaslavsky

[QM2]

Having been away for a while, I haven't read one of your reviews for some time.

Boy this brings me back!

 

Will Visconti be the next recipient of your attention now that you have all the Montblanc WEs? : )

 

The Camelot is a fabulous pen and I am glad it's made you so happy.

 

I especially like:

. the shape of it,

. the rounded top and the little gold part on the tip

. the "chainlink armor" overlay

. the beautiful engravings on the gold rings

 

As you know, I am not crazy about the clip, but that is the only part that gives me reservations. It's a good thing too, because the last thing I need now is to want another pen. I have been so good at not buying anything over the past 1/2 year!

[Bryant]

Nice pictures sir!

 

Love the review too!

 

Bry

[MYU]

Amir, when you finished up with the Montblanc Writer's series, I thought for sure you'd be taking a break on the major bling pen reviews. It seems Visconti is your next target.

 

Thanks for the great details you've provided and eye catching photos. Only... where is Tzutzik??

[Shalori]

Fabulous pen. Hope to own one some day and I actually love the clip. I am probably biased though because I grew up on King Arthur stories.

 

One correction though, there was another Camelot model made in 2001. It was only limited to 38 pens and was one of the Visconti Ivory pens, oh yes Ivory!!!

 

Thanks very much for the review.

 

Regards,

 

Neil

[offbase]

Fabulous pen. Hope to own one some day and I actually love the clip. I am probably biased though because I grew up on King Arthur stories.

 

One correction though, there was another Camelot model made in 2001. It was only limited to 38 pens and was one of the Visconti Ivory pens, oh yes Ivory!!!

 

Thanks very much for the review.

 

Regards,

 

Neil

 

IIRC, that pen was over $10,000! (Bear in mind, ivory prices at that time probably dictated they only used maybe $200-$300 worth of ivory in each, and maybe that much or less in gold.)

[RitaCarbon]

This amazing photography is full of passionate love for such an amazing pen...

 

I am still ... a lot when I see it.

 

Great job! Lucky you! And thank you for posting.

 

Rita

 

 

[goodguy]

 

I am still ... a lot when I see it.

 

Rita

Ok, ok lets not start that again.

I am still red in the face from the first comment :embarrassed_smile:

 

:ltcapd:

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review.

[goodguy]

Amir, when you finished up with the Montblanc Writer's series, I thought for sure you'd be taking a break on the major bling pen reviews. It seems Visconti is your next target.

 

Thanks for the great details you've provided and eye catching photos. Only... where is Tzutzik??

No Visconti isnt next on my list because it was never off the list.

I've been slowly collecting Visconti LE's for a while but unlike my WE's I keep only the ones I like.

 

Since I got back problems (hurniated disk) bending over is imposible and to take Tzutzik's photo with a FP I need to bend over so I cant add him to my reviews

Edited January 9, 2010 by goodguy

[RitaCarbon]

I am still ... a lot when I see it.

 

Rita

Ok, ok lets not start that again.

I am still red in the face from the first comment

 

 

 

I totally fall on my knees when I see a good guy blushing... So sensual!

[goodguy]

I am still ... a lot when I see it.

 

Rita

Ok, ok lets not start that again.

I am still red in the face from the first comment

 

 

 

I totally fall on my knees when I see a good guy blushing... So sensual!

I think this has moved totaly from pens to a whole different realm :ltcapd:

[buffalowings]

what is that clip supposed to look like? a lance?

[Maja]

what is that clip supposed to look like? a lance?

The sword Excalibur(<-click for Wikipedia entry).

 

Wonderful review of an amazing fountain pen, Amir! :clap1:

 

I am so happy you got this pen (which truly is a "Holy Grail" pen )

[buffalowings]

looks more like a lance but okay

[offbase]

I have to agree with youl. Hell, I used to collect medieval swords; the only thing the clip comes even close to is a 16th Century tournament lance. No biggy, though!

[MYU]

Funny thing... you didn't say the size of the nib. Is it an F?

[RitaCarbon]

Funny thing... you didn't say the size of the nib. Is it an F?

 

Eewww! It's better be B...

[goodguy]

Funny thing... you didn't say the size of the nib. Is it an F?

 

 

Funny thing... you didn't say the size of the nib. Is it an F?

 

Eewww! It's better be B...

One of you guys has the correct nib.

If you read enough of my reviews you should know what is my favorite size in nibs.