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I could not decide which pen to buy as my first pen after getting a job. I wanted something special and unique. After searching for more than a year I bought this pen, a Visconti Homo Sapiens with 23k Palladium Fine nib. Packaging (2/2) The pen came in a rectangular box along with a cleaning cloth. The box had a Visconti logo on the inside of cover. Appearance and Design (3/4) The pen was gorgeous, it was made from a mix of basaltic lava and resin. It had a unique locking mechanism instead of threads and a spring loaded clip made of brass. The pen had a vacuum filler similar to Pilot 823. Over the years, the pen developed a beautiful patina on the clip and rings. Weight and Balance (0/4) The lava-resin mix made the pen heavy at nearly 44gms. The pen had a poor balance, it was way more heavier on the piston side. Due to poor balance it was constant struggle to keep the nib in place. Due to its weight it was not possible to write more than two A4 size pages without having a wrist fatigue. The pen was more suitable for occasional note taking rather than a long duration writer. Nib (2/10) The nib was a 23k Palladium Fine with the most beautiful scrollwork I have ever seen. Unfortunately, that was the only positive thing about the nib. I learned later and with my own experience that Visconti nibs are not known for quality control. The nib skipped frequently and even after changing inks and flushing it several there was no change in the performance. Overall Rating - 07/20 After experimenting with the pen several times I came to the conclusion that it is not a good writer. Not even an average one actually. It's more of a collector's pen than a writer's pen. It is heavy, has poor balance and is equipped with a nib which is practically unusable. After keeping - not much using - it for more than six years, I sold it. I have decided not to buy another Visconti pen and to be cautious with other Italian brands.

I think I've made a terrible and expensive mistake. I have a Visconti Homo Sapiens fountain pen, the one with the excellent "dream touch" nib in fine point. Based upon the recommendation of someone who showed me how his Homo Sapiens wrote an elegant italicized line after he had it worked on, I took the pen to the same place and had the repairman italicize mine. The problem is that my nib was already a fine point, and now that it's been italicized, it's virtually a needle point. It writes scratchy on the page, and it only suggests the smoooooth flow it used to have if you use it on the right kind of paper and hold it at just the exact proper angle. I feel sick about this. I don't want to pay $350 (or thereabouts) for a new Visconti nib. I can't do a nib exchange with Visconti because the existing nib isn't in "like new" condition now. Is there anything another repair could do to make the nib write smoother? Is there any way to un-italicize a nib once it's been ground down? Thanks, : Allen

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1653_zps5edefb0e.jpg Hi As title says, I'm aware that there are already several reviews about this "modern classic" so I will not repeat for the 100th time technical details and such. This is more like some thoughts' gathering about the pen. Special thanks go to my russian friend Yuri, FPN fellow, who sent me the Dostoevskij book you see in the pictures and which I'll use to learn some russian (wish me good luck! ). The iteration I am talking about is the oversize bronze one. http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1646_zpsbafd4840.jpg General feel. As some people know, I prefer hefty pens over light ones, therefore I appreciate how the HS weighs in my hand. After all I love my Ripple, so I definitely have no problems using the HS even for long writing sessions (although I don't post it, as it would be - of course - unbalanced toward the back. The cap issues 2 bronze rings and is quite thick, so it weighs quite a bit: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1638_zpse7a9f201.jpg http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1642_zps8deb3ed5.jpg ). The pen screams solidity from each atom it's composed of, no way it's gonna break. Whenever someone asks me if it's "really indestructible" (granted that everything, with the right commitment can be destroyed) I answer with a small anecdote: I had a third degree close encounter with a very well polished glass wall. As my face was getting smashed by the treacherous wall my thoughts went to the HS, that was ejected, no, propelled in the stratosphere at Mac 5 speed. I saw the scene in slow motion, the pen rolling and after what seemed to be a lifetime it hit the concrete pavement... and kept rolling and rolling till it stopped. No scratches. I was breathless (maybe cause of the facecrash too? ). The basaltic lava material, as we all know, is porous and hygroscopic therefore it'll absorb humidity such as sweat or ..uhm.. steam or whatever. You get the drift. The color might vary, depending on how you "treat" it, literally: if you gently rub it with hands cream - I promise it won't have an impact on your sexual orientation - it'll always be dark gray, leaning to black. If you prefer it lighter, just let it "dry" and it'll assume a light shade of gray. Aesthetically, I love the juxtaposition between sober elegance and originality. http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1650_zps36886613.jpg http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1648_zps39b35170.jpg Filling system and techie stuff (or something like that). You charge this pen with the Power Filler system, which I think is the best compromise between functionality and capacity. Chapeau. The cap locking system is the patented Hook Lock Safe, bayonet system for friends. No way you can lose the cap. I own this pen since May 2011 and the notches hasn't even started deteriorating, I hope it'll go on like this. http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1645_zps8893fe4e.jpg Nib and writing sample. The nib is the 23kt Dreamtouch Visconti nib. It's the best one in my collection, smooth and responsive. I have talked about it elsewhere too, so I won't add much. http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1649_zps381cdea1.jpg http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1652_zpsea1226e4.jpg http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1655_zps2cea446e.jpg http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/DSCN1639_zps4f7004d0.jpg http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c234/Towelfree/HSwritingsample_zps7877dee6.jpg Cost/value. It's always hard for me to comment on such parameter, as I only buy the few pens I adore and which make my life slightly better , therefore to me each pen I review has a favourable compromise between price and value. Should I be forced to try and be objective, I think that this pen is a perfect balance between what it gives you and what it takes from you It's a perfect workhorse and I'm sure it'll accompany me for the years to come. Sorry if I haven't said anything new on this pen, but I wanted to share my appreciation nevertheless. Bye!

Hello all! Newcomer here! I thought I'd come here and ask for some advice from some of you who may have some experience with this pen and similar ones. I am very new to this pen obsession and I have been doing as much research as I can about what to get, how to maintain, what to look for, etc. For some reason I have been drawn to the Visconti brand. I like a lot, if not all, of their designs, their aesthetics and history. Keep in mind prior to two weeks ago I knew little to nothing about fountain pens and less about companies like Visconti, Namiki or Lamy. So as I researched these pens the Visconti HS Bronze started to peak my interest more and more to the point I now feel this may be the pen I want to get. Though I do have some reservations and would like to see if owners that have had these pens for a while could pipe in and advise yay or nay. Some of the Pros for me are of course the look of the pen. I know there is the Silver Age sibling out there, but the Bronze to me has a special look I like. I like the filling system that it has, I like that if I am not mistaken you can unscrew the feed and nib assembly easy and potentially swap it out for another size relatively on the fly as opposed to other pens where this is difficult or not even possible. ( Please correct me if this is not the case!). I like the material it is made out of and what people say it feels like and how sturdy and strong it is. What I don't like or am worried about though are some of the reviews that talk about Visconti less than stellar quality control. I know the original run used to have some sort of bleed through issue that has since been corrected. But many of the older reviews talk about faulty nibs, low quality control on the Nib coloration, on the machining of the cap latching groves, skipping on some nibs, railroading and failures to start. (See! I have been doing my homework!). Something I also wonder about, since the material is quite porous and absorbing (I forget the correct word they use for this), do you find the pen gets a permanent stain down at the section where you hold it? Does the pen do well with washing and cleaning? One comparison that I have come across regarding these quality control issues with these pens and the Visconti brand that I think may fit well, albeit a shame, is Italian cars. Stunning to look at while sitting in the garage, but finicky and a nightmare for everyday use. Is this too generalized a statement? I would love to hear from owners of this pen, and maybe Viscontis in general. People that have maybe had these for a while and could give me a rundown of what they think of their pen after some time. Basically, would you buy this pen all over again after living with it and using it? I like pens that write a fine line and I think I would go for the EF nib on this. Anyone have this nib, how do you like it? Am I over reaching myself here a bit as a first fountain pen choice? I know I could get tons of probably more reliable and less expensive alternatives. But I don't know, Visconti speaks to me for some reason. Before closing this out, I did get in touch with Bryant at Pen Time and I mentioned some of these things to him. Really cool guy and helpful and he said he could go ahead and test it out for me for nib issues before sending me one. So that makes me feel a lot better about purchasing something without being able to see it first, as I have no shops close by where I can see these pens in person. But still, owner stories are greatly appreciated! Excuse this loooong post with so many questions, I'm being a total newbie here! Cheers!