Visconti Wall Street LE 'Novelli'

[Idiopathos]

Made by Visconti for Novelli, the Italian retailer, the Wall Street LE 'Novelli' equals:

http://novelli.it/limited/limitedfin.asp?p...=Fountain%20Pen

plus:

http://novelli.it/limited/limitedfin.asp?p...=Fountain%20pen

which results in:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ericzamir/ViscontiNovelli

 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_vQ94NO0pMMA/SDMhy9AjhOI/AAAAAAAAAP8/K4pGtmosMtM/s640/05200002.JPG

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_vQ94NO0pMMA/SDMhxNAjhNI/AAAAAAAAAP0/wmuqjrRUqqk/s640/05200003.JPG

 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_vQ94NO0pMMA/SDMhv9AjhMI/AAAAAAAAAPs/ivsVbecpiGk/s640/05200005.JPG

 

 

 

So, it's a Wall Street LE in Titanic celluloid, in a limited edition of 300, apparently. That said, the pen is un-numbered.

(Web pages attributed in their addresses.)

 

It arrived in a Visconti plastic 'tube'* with an instruction booklet in brand new condition from a first class seller. (*The Visconti box is so awful, you just wouldn't want one.)

 

First impression was that, at 6", it's big, but no longer than, say, my oversize Dunhill AD 2000. Posted, however, it's 7 1/4", which is much longer than the Dunhill. That doesn't account for the Visconti's 'bigness', however, because it's still no longer posted than, say, a 1940s' De La Rue.

 

Second impression was that, just like my Visconti non-LE Wall Street, it's very well made, indeed. Very.

 

Third, it's heavy. (And with its enormous main reservoir filled, it's heavier still.) But the weight doesn't make it big.

 

Finally, I realised that it's big (and heavy) because it has a big (and heavy) cap.

 

Whatever the merits or demerits of this cap, the celluloid of the cap, barrel, section and blind cap is remarkable. The flat, almost liquid, rich blue exterior reveals a brown, crystalline interior. Like Tibaldi celluloid, this has depth and it really seems as if you can see into the material. A little disconcerting, actually.

 

The two-tone, again large, 'S' for stub nib was stuck up to the section into a bottle of Visconti ink, after the blind cap was unscrewed and the piston retracted, and the pen filled with one plunge of the piston and a five-second wait. Then, the pen wrote immediately, with no stutter, smoothly and wet.

 

In use, the nib reminds me of a slightly narrower version of a three-tined Platinum 'music'. This is not as strange as it may seem, because the Platinum nib is absolutely excellent and I use it a lot. (The pen has longitudinally seamed celluloid, which is a shock when you first see it, because the patterns at the joints just don't match, and the dome at each end, where the celluloid is fused, is poorly finished, but it's a very good writer. In contrast, the Visconti celluloid is immaculate.) The Visconti nib has some flex, but it's the stub tip itself that produces interesting line variation without pressure.

 

Now, back to the Visconti cap. Posting it produced a quick reaction: I took it off. Tried the pen unposted ... perfect ... then posted ... and took it off again. This cap is big and heavy, and it really seems to unbalance the pen. So, I shall either use the pen unposted or get used to it posted.

 

So, am I pleased? So far, very much. Particularly by the nib and the celluloid.

 

As for the filling system and cap weight, time will tell.

Edited December 2, 2008 by MYU

[Deirdre]

I prefer that size of pen unposted (I have several similar profile Visconti pens, including this one).

[Martius]

These pens are great. Vacumatic-style celluloid is probably my favorite pen material overall, and the design of the Wall Street is just lovely. I just wish I could afford it.

[andyk]

Hi,

 

Nice review and a great looking pen (with one small complaint, I don't like the Visconti clips, don't ask me why, they just look 'cheap' on pens in this price range), what do I like, that celluloid, the closest we seem to be able to get to Vacs today (why can't Parker make this any more), holds a lot on ink, so less refills and overall just looks great.

 

If they could change the clip, maybe I could love it more, but then I guess that's one of the reasons Visconti fans probably love them, so you can't please everyone.

 

Andy

[Deirdre]

I love the clip.

[Idiopathos]

I love the clip.

I appreciate its ergonomics, but still find it less than elegant. The rest of the pen, however, is excellent, especially the nib and the celluloid.

 

[Idiopathos]

I love the clip.

I appreciate its ergonomics, but still find it less than elegant. The rest of the pen, however, is excellent, especially the nib and the celluloid.

 

Nearly a year later, however, I've come to be able to use the pen posted and be comfortable with it.

[Joehek]

I had no idea this pen exisited, thanks for the update. So is this pen a standard Wall Street size? I was curious because I have been looking at the Visconti Titanic LE but it was just too large for me. Thanks again.

[Titivillus]

I love the clip.

I appreciate its ergonomics, but still find it less than elegant. The rest of the pen, however, is excellent, especially the nib and the celluloid.

 

 

Wish they would continue to make the ship prow clip on at least some of their pens.

 

K

[Bryant]

Great pen! I would love to come across this pen, I love the celluloid and... The trim is silver

[kazoolaw]

Nice to see this pen bounce to the top again.

 

Looking at the material your eyes will think the blue is the surface,and the brown is in the interior, and then the colors reverse and it looks like the brown has been rubbed away, revealing the blue beneath.

 

Mine is also a stub nib: were they all? I need a dark blue ink to match the smooth flowing line the nib/feed puts down. For this performance I can overlook the gap in the pen caused by the ink window.

 

It is a hefty pen, no doubt. It is one of the first pens that I have been happy to use without the cap posted. But if I post I can choke up on the pen, gripping above the threads, and the pen balances nicely.

 

The Novelli also brought me a flash of self-revelation: I am a snob. When I look at the pen and see that there are only 299 others out there I feel "special". Of course, that may only be the realization that I've spent way more money on a pen that doesn't write significantly better than the Pelikan with the steel plated nib I pulled out of the close-out tray from the Flax store in Chicago 20 years ago.

 

But, oh, that celluloid!

 

gary

[bugmd]

Okay, here goes my ignorance. I thought this pen was made for outletime on ebay. The Augusta is different from the squared circle of the Wall Street. I love the celluloid of this pen. I have been meaning to get a photo of this pen along side my Augusta and Titanic but have just not done it yet. FWIW, mine came with the 14K single tone rhodium plated nib. BTW, I don't post this one either.

 

Bry, do you know the story of this one???

 

Don

Edited April 11, 2009 by bugmd

[kazoolaw]

Story of the Novelli Augusta? Limited Edition of 300 manufactured for Novelli Pens of Italy for its 50th year.

Pics and story at

http://www.nibs.com/NovelliAugustaPage.htm

gary

Edited April 11, 2009 by gary

[bugmd]

Story of the Novelli Augusta? Limited Edition of 300 manufactured for Novelli Pens of Italy for its 50th year.

Pics and story at

http://www.nibs.com/NovelliAugustaPage.htm

gary

 

Yeah, I know that. Also Marco had a survey that he sent customers to get input on the design of the Augusta. The pen that started this post however is NOT the Augusta. Same material and filler but trim is different, clip is different and the shape is different (squared circle v octagon). What is the story with the pen that Idiopathos posted???????

[kazoolaw]

Yeah, I know that. Also Marco had a survey that he sent customers to get input on the design of the Augusta. The pen that started this post however is NOT the Augusta. Same material and filler but trim is different, clip is different and the shape is different (squared circle v octagon).

 

Thank you for politely telling me that I missed the point of the original post entirely.

Not only do I hear what I want to hear, now I see what I want to see.

My apologies for cluttering the thread,

gary

[georges zaslavsky]

nice pen I am starting to think about buying a visconti. If not a novelli, a standard edition of the wall street in second hand.

[breaker]

nice review