"Ordinary' Wall Street

[Idiopathos]

An ordinary, non-LE Wall Street.

 

$300 new, including PayPal and next day, insured delivery. Horrible, fake croc box, with (plastic) bottle of ink and drawer for booklet. Pen, however, immediately attractive.

 

Excellent celluloid: solid & drilled, not wrapped. Striking colours. (In this case, burgundy with lots of shades and detail.) Clever pattern, which does evoke images of Manhattan skyscrapers. Very well finished.

 

Rounded square body and clip band mean the pen doesn't roll, unlike a Dunhill-Namiki that impaled itself in the parquet floor.

 

Clip questionable. Tacky or not? Still unsure. It does not, however, work well. Difficult to slip over pocket edge. Poor design.

 

Metal section: what a pity. Why have a celluloid pen and spoil its tactile pleasure with a metal section? Bizarre. The section, the subsequent threaded area and then a short, rounded length of celluloid before the 'rounded square' of the body are all a bit confusing to the fingers. Just not sure where to grip the thing.

 

The twist converter (not a two-chamber pump like the LE) seems strong enough. (I fill pens in use daily, so converter size is unimportant, unless I have a really busy day. If I do, I just refill at work.)

 

The 14kt nib looks wonderful, but would not 'fire'. even after vigorous filling, emptying and re-filling several times. Kick-started it by dipping several times. Thereafter, it has been smooth, with a large sweet spot. 'Medium' produces quite a fine but well saturated line. It flexes well, but the feed can't deliver enough ink at fast, full flex.

 

So, a good buy? Yep.

 

[i forgot to say that the pen is significantly shorter than the LE. The 'ordinary' pen has an ordinary length, at just over 5 1/4" capped and just over 6 1/4" posted. And, posted, it balances well. Indeed, it does unposted, too.]

Edited February 5, 2008 by Idiopathos

[langere]

I like your review! I have one as well (in gray) and I really like it.

 

I did have the same kind of nib problems, but the pen has settled down (or have I?) and it was working great the last time I used it.

 

You're right on the tackiness of the clip, though you can loosen the small screw on the other side of the clip with a screwdriver and then it clips easier.

 

I look forward to using it again...

 

Erick

[chuancao]

300 for a wall st. that's quite cheap. did you get it from pam braun? i got my opera club for around 300 and thought i had a good deal.

 

i am surprised you had nib issues and not converter ink flow issues. my opera club had serious ink flow issues IN the converter and it's improved a lot since i switched my ink to aurora blue.

 

great review.

[sandeep108]

Nice review. Even my Visconti VG Maxi had initial hassles, but now it is super.

[GirchyGirchy]

About the clip - how's the tension on it? My Van Gogh fell out once due to low tension, but my Pericle stays in my pocket. Do you ever feel like it's going to come out if you lean over?

[Brian]

This is a good review. Straightforward and simple. I like it and will take a lesson from it.

 

About the regular version of the Wall Street, I agree about the metal section. Don't like most of them but some feel better than others. I'm having second thoughts about a Henry Tate I was seriously considering after I saw a LE Wall St. that was significantly cheaper. Oh well, I have time to decide.

 

Best wishes and Thanks

[Idiopathos]

About the clip - how's the tension on it? My Van Gogh fell out once due to low tension, but my Pericle stays in my pocket. Do you ever feel like it's going to come out if you lean over?

Have learnt to grip the clip with thumb on one side & forefinger on the other and lift it. Tension fine.

 

Don't dislike it so much now.

[sandeep108]

Have learnt to grip the clip with thumb on one side & forefinger on the other and lift it. Tension fine.

 

Don't dislike it so much now.

Apparently that seems the way it seems is supposed to work.

[Bultaco]

Yup... the Wall Street is a great pen. I've got a Metropolis in Gunmetal. It took some time before t would write without skipping, but AOK now. I do have a caution for everyone who has the Metropolis in Sterling, or Sterling with gunmetal finish: The silver is very thin, and quite soft. All was fine, until I (foolishly) allowed a buddie's girlfriend to look at the pen. She has those thousand dollar salon nails - you know the type. She tried to extend the clip, and I *tried* to stop her, but too late... she had actually dented the silver with her "harmless" acrylic salon nails. My buddie refuses to accept the fact that acrylic can dent silver, but then he has virtually no knowledge of metallic maleability (sp?). So, with this 4 day old pen dented, I hung my head in shame. How could I be so stupid!? Since then, I've found a particular favorite commercial logo, and after testing it with water soluble white glue, have affixed this completely unnecessary logo to my once pristine new pen. What a way to start a collection!

 

So WARNING! Do not allow careless gals with salon acrylic nails to handle the Metropolis... Its a mistake you'll regret forever. Oh heavy...

[Idiopathos]

An ordinary, non-LE Wall Street.

 

$300 new, including PayPal and next day, insured delivery. Horrible, fake croc box, with (plastic) bottle of ink and drawer for booklet. Pen, however, immediately attractive.

 

Excellent celluloid: solid & drilled, not wrapped. Striking colours. (In this case, burgundy with lots of shades and detail.) Clever pattern, which does evoke images of Manhattan skyscrapers. Very well finished.

 

Rounded square body and clip band mean the pen doesn't roll, unlike a Dunhill-Namiki that impaled itself in the parquet floor.

 

Clip questionable. Tacky or not? Still unsure. It does not, however, work well. Difficult to slip over pocket edge. Poor design.

 

Metal section: what a pity. Why have a celluloid pen and spoil its tactile pleasure with a metal section? Bizarre. The section, the subsequent threaded area and then a short, rounded length of celluloid before the 'rounded square' of the body are all a bit confusing to the fingers. Just not sure where to grip the thing.

 

The twist converter (not a two-chamber pump like the LE) seems strong enough. (I fill pens in use daily, so converter size is unimportant, unless I have a really busy day. If I do, I just refill at work.)

 

The 14kt nib looks wonderful, but would not 'fire'. even after vigorous filling, emptying and re-filling several times. Kick-started it by dipping several times. Thereafter, it has been smooth, with a large sweet spot. 'Medium' produces quite a fine but well saturated line. It flexes well, but the feed can't deliver enough ink at fast, full flex.

 

So, a good buy? Yep.

 

[i forgot to say that the pen is significantly shorter than the LE. The 'ordinary' pen has an ordinary length, at just over 5 1/4" capped and just over 6 1/4" posted. And, posted, it balances well. Indeed, it does unposted, too.]

 

A dozen days down the road and the Visconti has been a daily pen. The nib has settled to a smooth, wet fine-medium, with good feedback, using Diamine, Jentle, Visconti and Quink. The ugly clip grips ideally, the cap has stayed on (well, it hasn't been in a really expensive jacket yet) and I'm still surprised at the high quality of the finish to all parts of the pen. The metal section remains a disappointment but, given the choice between it and a flawless converter versus the celluloid section and quirky piston filler of the LE, I consider it an acceptable compromise.

 

[lowks]

I like your review! I have one as well (in gray) and I really like it.

 

I did have the same kind of nib problems, but the pen has settled down (or have I?) and it was working great the last time I used it.

 

You're right on the tackiness of the clip, though you can loosen the small screw on the other side of the clip with a screwdriver and then it clips easier.

 

I look forward to using it again...

 

Erick

 

So that what that screw is for .... thank you for turning my defect into a feature.

[lowks]

This has a sad ending .... I loosened the screw and the pen fell out of my pocket. Now the body of the pen is cracked

[langere]

Ouch! That's too bad! Sorry I even suggested loosening the screw...

 

Erick

[lowks]

Ouch! That's too bad! Sorry I even suggested loosening the screw...

 

Erick

 

Nah, it's okay. Great way for me to test out visconti support!

[chas]

I visited the Visconti website to see what you all were talking about...

 

The WallStreet looks to me like a Parker Vacumatic knock off...

 

Nice website tho with some unique pens...

[breaker]

nice review