Visconti/Swisher Laguna Verte LE Van Gogh

May 9, 2007

This is a review of the limited edition Visconti/Swisher Laguna Verte Van Gogh. I got it on a close out special for $175 and think it's a great buy for a LE Visconti, even though as you'll read, I'm not taken with the Van Gogh series from Visconti for a few small details. The photo at the bottom is not of my particular pen but rather a stock photo from the vendors site. I'll remove it if that causes a problem. My camera battery failed when I went to photograph my pen.

First Impression 5/5

My first impression on the Swisher Laguna Verde LE wasn’t much of a surprise. I knew what I was getting and after all it was a Visconti so I expected and got a quality pen. I was surprised to see the pens issue number is on the underside of the section, a nice touch that wasn’t expected. Mine is 053/188. Basically the 5 rating is for the fact I received nothing less than I expected from Visconti. I should mention the Van Gogh is one of my least favorite Visconti pens.

Appearance 4/5

The coloring on the Laguna Verde is a little dull when compared to the standard Van Goghs. The light green pen has a lot of muted shades with the cap being the most interesting, bearing most of the shading and swirls while the pen body was a little boring. I prefer celluloid material for its rich colors; this is resin so it has none of that. The palladium trim is bright and works with the pen. Still a good looking Visconti. One thing though, I don’t like the tension screw on the cap for the clip. Granted it’s bright palladium but it’s an eye sore. So big! Where’s my Craftsman ¼” slotted driver? If this weren’t a Visconti, the rating would be a 3 for appearance because of this screw.

Design 3/5

I’m not wild about the Van Gogh in the first place. It’s an all right looking pen but something doesn’t gel with me on it. It might be the straight lines, there’s no eye pleasing curves to it or interesting shapes like the majority of the current Visconti line up. I really like the “squaring the circle” concept Visconti is using currently and I enjoy looking at the more curvaceous cigar shape of the Stipula Etruria. None of that here. And that screw? Industrial design at it’s best. There’s a lot of metal work on this pen, all tastefully designed, and it works on the pen.

Nib 5/5

No surprise here either. I don’t know who makes the Visconti nibs but they are so good right out of the box. This is the same nib that’s on my Operas and they are smooth, this is no exception. The nib isn’t two tone but that makes no difference on the way it writes. It would have picked the appearance up a bit. Mine is a fine nib and puts down a medium wet, true fine line (or my perception of a fine). And as I mentioned before, extremely smooth. The Visconti nibs are to say the least, pretty. Not overly worked with engraving, just enough to make them classic.

Filling System 4.5/5

This is a converter fill. I gave it a 4.5 only because I prefer a piston fill. The converter works very well, no problems here. And something I like a lot, the converter screws in. So I’ll add another .5 to the rating.

Cost and Value 5/5

At $175, I think this is a very good price for a Visconti limited edition 14k Van Gogh, so yes, some serious value for the money. Visconti and Van Gogh fans should be all over this one while the pen is on close out. You get your moneys worth here. A decent pen, in a limited edition, by a respected Italian maker. If you want an 18k version it’s around $100 more. Right now only the 14k is on close out special.

Conclusion 4.4/5

Your getting Visconti quality along with a 14k nib on a limited edition pen for a short price tag. If this were the Opera, one of the Manhattans or Wall Street, this would have gotten closer to a perfect score. I just can’t warm up to the Van Gogh series, but its appearance is the reason. To those who own and use the VG’s, it’s just my opinion. You do have a quality pen. I think if you are shopping for a Van Gogh, look at the Swisher/Visconti Laguna Verde LE.