Describe The Magic Of Visconti Homo Sapiens

September 16, 2014

I don't own any

Since we're accepting feedback from people who have never owned the pen in question, I wanted to add my contribution in the interests of balance.

I've never owned the Visconti HS but it is far and away my personal grail pen.

I am of Sicilian heritage: the house my grandfather was born in was made of the same lava material as the Visconti. You can see Etna from his village. So the unique material really resonates with me. I see some complaints in the forums about Visconti QC, but frankly not significantly more than for other popular brands.

So why haven't I bought one yet? Price and a concern about the pen's weight (I prefer lighter pens as a rule). But if someone gave me $500 specifically to spend on a pen for my modest collection, you could bet that I would be buying the HS.

September 17, 2014

@thesunshine

Weight is such a personal thing. For me section size, material and weight all interact to tell me if I like a pen or not. Once they are all balanced I then look at how they relate to nib size. Generally speaking the finer the nib the lighter the pen I seem to like, and vice verse.

The HS Bronze (HSB) that I have weighs in (fully inked, never did see the point in weighing a pen with no ink in it!) at 44g capped, 26g uncapped. For reference my half-full Ahab here weights in at 13g uncapped. BUT both pens feel perfect as due to material, section length an diameter etc they both balance out nicely. Looking at nibs, with the Ahab (fine) I write (using pressure) and the HSB (medium) I wipe (no pressure) so the effort to use both seems the same.

Weight then, to me at least, is incredibly subjective! I've never though of the HSB, "this is a heavy pen".

September 17, 2014

Using the sheaffer vac fill system since a long time, I write a lot with a vac fill triumph, I can assume that over the years , there will be some play in the vacuum filler rod, other thing is that with the double reservoir, it is more or less problematic to get the remaining ink flowing correctly.

Ah ok. It'd be interesting to see if new materials and more precise manufacturing tolerances make a difference or not. I guess it is too early to say whether Viscontis will stand the test of time or not, but as far as I can tell from the products i own, they do not seem any more or less well-built than any other premium pen I own.

For what it is worth, the only problem I have with the 8-9 Viscontis I own is one nib with baby bottom (which is a better ratio than with Pelikan, Omas, Montegrappa & Stipula). I havent had any functional issues with the double reservoir - in fact, that's a pretty nifty bit of innovation.

Whatever one's feelings about Visconti, they are one of the few brands out there innovating, instead of taking another resin barrel, putting a piston or CC on it, giving it a fancy name and charging stupid amounts of money for it (Montblanc, Pelikan, Delta, etc - I am looking at you).

September 18, 2014

I was a high school dropout with personal hygiene and self-confidence issues. I used to work the night shift at the Qwik-E Mart, and hadnt had carnal relations with anyone else for years. I couldnt even afford meth - which meant I ended up gaining 60lb and a tendency to sweat profusely. My life, in short, wasnt going anywhere. The most I could aspire to was the day shift at the Qwik-E Mart, and a last-page mail order bride from a former Soviet block nation (one of the desperate ones, not the pretty ones, at that).

And with that, he dropped his weapon and lay down grovelling at my feet.

After the cops took him away, the two ladies looked at me in a whole new way.

"You are so brave" said one.
"You saved our lives" said the other
"How can we thank you" said the first
"Do I smell pee" said the second
"You must come and wash yourself at our place - we are housemates" said the first
"We have a jacuzzi - which fits 3" said the second

As we were leaving and I turned to lock the door, I heard one of them ask the other:
"Is that a Visconti in his pockets or is he happy to see us".

That day changed my life. Thank you, Visconti Homo Sapiens, made of unbreakable basaltic lava.

Best. Post. Ever.

September 18, 2014

I was a high school dropout with personal hygiene and self-confidence issues. I used to work the night shift at the Qwik-E Mart, and hadnt had carnal relations with anyone else for years. I couldnt even afford meth - which meant I ended up gaining 60lb and a tendency to sweat profusely. My life, in short, wasnt going anywhere. The most I could aspire to was the day shift at the Qwik-E Mart, and a last-page mail order bride from a former Soviet block nation (one of the desperate ones, not the pretty ones, at that).

Then, one day, while i was sifting through the dumpster for my dinner, I heard a sound. Something had fallen from one of the windows of the apartment above me. I looked and I couldnt see anything except a chip in the concrete that hadn't been there a few moments ago. I searched some more, and found it - a lambent shaft of smooth basaltic rock adorned with brass, with the words Visconti written on it. Hmm, an old-style pen. Who uses these things anymore, I wondered. I grabbed it and stuck it in my pockets, thinking i could sell it for some meth later, and went back to searching the dumpster for my meal, after which I walked into the Qwik-E Mart to start my shift.

"Damn, DPD, ever heard of a shower?", the departing evening shift guy, Todd, said as he walked away. Todd and I are good friends. This is our daily banter. He lives either alone or with his family (I am not sure, we dont talk much) somewhere in town (dont know where, never been invited to his house) and has a lot of hobbies (dont know which ones - as I said, we dont talk much).

Later that night, I was sitting there trying to do something about an itch in a private location when 2 very pretty ladies walked in, obviously after a party. As they were in line to pay, a guy walking in with a gun and pointed it at me, asking me for the money in the till. My brain was frozen in terror, i didnt know what to do and I think I may have peed a little into my shorts. The mugger then shot me - the bullet hit me in the chest and I collapsed, with only the fleeting thought that even though my life hadnt turned out the way I had envisaged when I was at Caltech, i still had many more miles to go and that this wasnt supposed to be how it ended.

As I lay on the ground, waiting for the Death, the mugger turned and pointed his gun at the two ladies, who were shocked by this casual display of violence. However, as he was rifling through their purse, I realized something - my heart was still beating. I reached towards my pocket and found that same piece of smooth, basaltic rock that had fallen from an apartment. Or had it been dropped by my guardian angel? Regardless. a new hope flooded through me. Anything from now on would be an additional bonus to my life, so I decided to stop fearing the Reaper and stood up. Righteous rage flowed through my body into the pen and I walked up to the mugger and brandishing that Palladium soft BB nib at him, said "Hey buddy, miss me?".

He turned in surprise - and his eyes wandered down to the pen in my hand and widened in shock.

"A... a Visc.. Visconti! I am sorry, I did not know"

And with that, he dropped his weapon and lay down grovelling at my feet.

After the cops took him away, the two ladies looked at me in a whole new way.

"You are so brave" said one.
"You saved our lives" said the other
"How can we thank you" said the first
"Do I smell pee" said the second
"You must come and wash yourself at our place - we are housemates" said the first
"We have a jacuzzi - which fits 3" said the second

As we were leaving and I turned to lock the door, I heard one of them ask the other:
"Is that a Visconti in his pockets or is he happy to see us".

That day changed my life. Thank you, Visconti Homo Sapiens, made of unbreakable basaltic lava.

Worth the price of admission to FPN

I can just see the look on his face as he sits in the Jacuzzi with HS in hand

September 19, 2014

Thanks guys.

January 22, 2015

I don't believe anyone has mentioned the scent. Yes, it has vaguely familiar but hard to describe scent that is pleasant and unique. I am speaking of the large lava bronze model, which I have. Love the way it writes and it is quite an attention getter.

February 4, 2015

I won't add any particular reasons (others have done a great job with this already) why, but I love my Bronze Age Visconti Homo Sapiens. It has the 1.3 stub which I really enjoy using.

I don't have large hands, but I'll write with it posted. No complaints.

I usually test fill with water from the traveling ink pot first before putting ink in the TIP to fill the HS. It is my favorite pen.

Edited here: I do admit that if you don't use Visconti pens with internal fillers for a couple days, they don't want to write. The C/C will, but you have to rinse the nib to get the internal fillers back to writing shape.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Misfit

April 6, 2015

well my bronze one is being made by visconti now - and should be shipped later this month

im hoping that i wont encounter any of the issues some have written about

fingers crossed

April 7, 2015

I really like Visconti and think some of the criticisms are misguided. I had the steel version and it wasn't my favorite, but the Silver version power filler Bryant has introduced is fabulous. Couldn't be happier with a pen.....