Visconti Pericle 2001

August 24, 2006

"The Visconti Pericle is named for the Athenian general and statesman largely responsible for the full development of Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire."

Visconti first released the Pericle in 1994, and the defining feature of this pen was the unique shape of the clip, which was designed to imitate the helmet of a greek warrior. A modernised version of this design was released in 2001, to be named the Pericle 2001 (yes, very original ). The new Pericle 2001 has chrome trim and a more streamlined clip on the cap, plus beautiful semi-translucent colours on the barrel.

I purchased my example off prahaBLEU on eBay, since this pen is no longer in production. It arrived in a red imitation leather box, with a simple pen slot and a tab to open the bottom compartment (which I pulled on and managed to rip part of the box... it wasn't meant to be opened, it just opens a slot where the Visconti booklet is kept ). So the box isn't as well thought-out as it should have been (or as durable), but I won't judge the pen by its box (as long as it was kept safe during its journey).

Appearance & Finish

The finish of the pen is to the highest quality. The chrome trim and section are clean and shiny, the acrylic body material is absolutely beautiful. My particular example was called "Rain Forest Green" by the prahaBLEU, and I'd describe it as a translucent pearly green with white waves. It's also more of a watery green than rainforest green.

Design/Size/Weight

The pen is made from acrylic according to the Visconti website, with chrome plated metal on the section and the end, as well as the spring-loaded clip. The shape of the pen is almost cylindrical with rounded off ends. The cap is of the snap-on type, shuts with a satisfying click.

The size of the pen is close to the DaniTrio $27 pen, but slightly thinner, and feels very good in my hand. In terms of weight, the capped pen is heavier than the DaniTrio $27 and heavier than my Pilot Vanishing Point too, but I feel that a lot of the weight is in the clip. Once uncapped, the pen is a bit lighter and quite well balanced, but posting the cap will upset the balance (due to heavy clip).

Nib Design & Performance

I got mine with a Fine nib, which appears to be plain steel. The nib is very pretty and shiny, with a delicate design and Visconti Firenze on it. The width of the line is exactly how I like it (roughly same as Medium nib on Vanishing Point), and the nib is very very smooth (better than I expected, as I didn't think Visconti steel nibs would be as good as Vanishing Point gold nibs). The nib is very springy, but does not give too much line variation, feels very nice to write with.

Conclusion for nib is that I was suprised how well it wrote, and I am extremely pleased with it.

Filling System

The Visconti website reckons that this pen is supposed to have their Double Reservoir Power Filler, but my example only has a piston converter (can pull out, looks like it can take international cartridge). I'm not sure whether this is an error on the Visconti website or whether there were variants of this pen with different fillers. However, I don't mind cartridge/converter pens, as I find them easy to clean and easy to see how much ink I have, and also I was fully aware of the cartridge filler from the eBay description.

Ink capacity of the converter looks to be around 0.6mL. I did experience one time where the nib was starved of ink, but a bit of adjustment on the converter cured that. I'll have to do more writing to see if it happens again.

Cost/Value

I got this pen off prahaBLEU on eBay, which is a very trustworthy seller of nice Aurora and Visconti pens (plus a load of other brands too). I got it for $75USD plus shipping, which was the starting bid of the pen. prahaBLEU appears to have many examples of these pens, as he has relisted a few already. I'm not sure what the MSRP is, as the pen has been discontinued already. The price does not seem too expensive for such a beautiful pen, but cost and value really is a subjective matter.

Conclusion

Conclusion is that the pen looks very nice with its semi-translucent pearlescent material, and writes very well with a nice springy steel nib. Highly recommended . Now here come the pictures.

Edited August 24, 2006 by NeoTiger

August 24, 2006

Here's the pen uncapped:

August 24, 2006

Close-up of nib:

August 24, 2006

And the size comparison.

From left to right:

Parker Sonnet

Lamy 2000

Pilot Vanishing Point

Visconti Pericle 2001

DaniTrio $27

August 24, 2006

Excellent review - thanks!

August 24, 2006

NeoTiger.

Excellent review. I have this pen too and completely agree with everything said. My pen is green too, with the same tone but it does not have waves, practically uniform with some gradient which is visible when pen is rotated in hands. The nib I have is fine, wet writing and SMOOOOOTH. Oh, and most important, at least for me, that pen always starts on first paper touch, even if it sits unused for a month, nib up, on pair with my Pelikans. Very reliable and dependable pen.

I had one issue with it though. Soon after I bought it (couple months) the ring unglued from the rest the cup, so I had to be careful not to loose it. I brought it to Bertram’s Inkwell and they took care of it.

Almost forgot about converter. I replaced it with trusty Pelikan converter. The one which came with the pen is marked as Schmidt, it has little bit larger than typical reservoir. It is slightly milky, not clear as glass. Ink in it gets stuck near the plunger, and I need to flick on the pen to get ink into pen’s section.

August 25, 2006

Thanks for that advice Yuri... I did consider changing the converter, but it seems to be behaving now. I'll keep going and see if a new converter is really necessary or not.

The nib really is very wet and smooth, with a touch of springiness. Excellent nib, even better than my Vanishing Point perhaps.