Visconti Wall Street LE

[Spongebob]

I received a new specimen of the pen and now I'm convinced that SMG was correct about quality control. The new pen, still in its wrapper, suffers the same skipping behavior that the first one did. And the nib is not aligned on the feed, though not nearly as badly as the picture I posted above after the 1st pen went out for tuning.

 

For almost $600, the pen should not need a tune up. I'm exasperated at this point and will not be sending it back. I'll write with it for a few weeks to see if a "break in period" resolves the skipping (it behaves almost as if there's something coating the nib in certain spots); otherwise, I guess I'll have to send it to a nibmeister.

 

Considering this is the most expensive pen I own, I'm sorely disappointed. Customer service was better than can be expected; therefore, I'm left to conclude that it's the product. Needless to say, I won't be purchasing another Visconti in the near future. Something is terribly wrong if a brand new pen arrives and the feed is not centered! I'm getting better service out of my $75 Parker '51', which I dropped and had to re-assemble on my own.

 

 

[Freeloader]

I received a new specimen of the pen and now I'm convinced that SMG was correct about quality control. The new pen, still in its wrapper, suffers the same skipping behavior that the first one did. And the nib is not aligned on the feed, though not nearly as badly as the picture I posted above after the 1st pen went out for tuning.

 

For almost $600, the pen should not need a tune up. I'm exasperated at this point and will not be sending it back. I'll write with it for a few weeks to see if a "break in period" resolves the skipping (it behaves almost as if there's something coating the nib in certain spots); otherwise, I guess I'll have to send it to a nibmeister.

 

Considering this is the most expensive pen I own, I'm sorely disappointed. Customer service was better than can be expected; therefore, I'm left to conclude that it's the product. Needless to say, I won't be purchasing another Visconti in the near future. Something is terribly wrong if a brand new pen arrives and the feed is not centered! I'm getting better service out of my $75 Parker '51', which I dropped and had to re-assemble on my own.

 

Ugh! <_< I feel for you. I would've been terribly upset if this happened to me.

[Ghost Plane]

I'm sorry to hear the high enders are so bad. There goes my fantasy! Guess I'll still to the Skeletons and below. Never had a problem with those nibs - just the usual variance between Bs that write like really wet Ms and Bs that write like Bs

[markc]

I received a new specimen of the pen and now I'm convinced that SMG was correct about quality control. The new pen, still in its wrapper, suffers the same skipping behavior that the first one did. And the nib is not aligned on the feed, though not nearly as badly as the picture I posted above after the 1st pen went out for tuning.

 

For almost $600, the pen should not need a tune up. I'm exasperated at this point and will not be sending it back. I'll write with it for a few weeks to see if a "break in period" resolves the skipping (it behaves almost as if there's something coating the nib in certain spots); otherwise, I guess I'll have to send it to a nibmeister.

 

Considering this is the most expensive pen I own, I'm sorely disappointed. Customer service was better than can be expected; therefore, I'm left to conclude that it's the product. Needless to say, I won't be purchasing another Visconti in the near future. Something is terribly wrong if a brand new pen arrives and the feed is not centered! I'm getting better service out of my $75 Parker '51', which I dropped and had to re-assemble on my own.

 

 

Not to stand up for Visconti, but I bought a brand new opera club honey FP and its perfect. I'm wondering if the pen you just got has some oily residue from nib manufacture that is causing your skipping. I would try running a bit of 10% ammonia/2 drop of dishwashing liquid in water solution through your pen a few times to clean any oil and let it dry.. reload and test..

 

I've also found that filling them properly has its advantages.. I've found that with my Pelikans and Visconti that you have to expel a couple of drops back out and flip the pen nib up and counter rotate the filler to suck the ink down to fill the pen.. I noticed that it was in the instructions for both piston and c/c filler pens..

 

It works.

 

-Mark

[skipwilliams]

Your overall experience isn't highly unusual, IMO. And it's not confined to Visconti's pens. I've had my share of problems with most every brand. Interestingly enough, the smaller the brand, the more likely you are to have issues until you get to the boutique shops like Broadwell, etc. Mid-size companies like Omas, Visconti, Krone, Conklin, etc. seem to have more than their fair share of QC issues. The best overall quality, IME, comes from Waterman, where I haven't had a problem....ever.

 

IME, the #1 best way to make sure that you get a great writing pen is to buy from a hands-on, pen-friendly dealer who will guarantee that the pen will write well out of the box.....and then adjust it if it's still not right. Unfortunately, there aren't many of these specialist dealers. Richard is the only one that I know of off hand. I think that the vast majority of dealers wouldn't know how to adjust a pen....or wouldn't even dare to try. Most just warehouse the pens and send them off to you, while you have to deal with the importers for service.

 

And.....most of the importers and manufactures that I've dealt with don't really know how to tweak a pen like sophisticated repairmen like Richard. The art of pen adjustment is GONE from most service centers. They just diagnose big issues and replace parts.

 

and yep, I'm cynical today.

 

Skip

[georges zaslavsky]

In all honesty, the second hand pens (vintage and modern pens) I had baught have perfectly aligned nibs. Include in these purchase two omases: a 360 magnum with a medium nib and an arte italiana paragon. Omas is perhaps the best italian brand with Montegrappa. The rest of italian pen brands like Visconti, Delta, Ferrari di Varese and Taccia I avoid them. I have never had troubles with my Omases, Parkers, MBs and my Pelikan. I baught all my second hand pens from Mr Mora from http://www.morastylos.com. He is a pen restorer, pen repairer and can readjust nibs too. Mora is the oldest and most known penshop of Paris since 1930. And I have to agree with skipwilliams that buying from a professional is the best way to avoid probs.

[alvarez57]

Salut, Georges!

 

Well, you have a superb advantage here above some of us and that is you are buying directly from a prestigious pen restorer. I'll bet you maybe that troublesome Visconti would behave MUCH better if it came already from M. Mora's hands...

I have two Delta, three Viscontis as well as Montegrappa and Omas. I will not even mention the Omas for I have already made my opinion on their "leakiness".

[Shabubu]

I recently acquired a Wall Street LE from the showroom in Florence (Highly advise a visit to this city). As you may know, Visconti's are made in Florence so you'd think that this would be the ideal place to get one.

 

Now, Silvano (the Visconti dude as he shall now be known) let me patiently try all 4 they had in, 2 broads, a medium and a fine. Finally chose a broad as the medium, in my hand, was scratchy. He re assured my that there was a lifetime warranty, and that I could send the pen back to the factory for any reason at all.

 

Now a guy came in before me and bought two limited eds, which they were getting the nibs swapped on over the weekend for him (he was apparently a Prince from Vienna), and I suspect if I was really bothered about the scratchiness they would have done the same.

 

Reading back over this post I kind of see that it's more bragging about my new acquisition than anything else Just trying to say that as Visconti struck me as a company that take their pens, and the satisfaction of the people that buy them, very very seriously. It's unfortunate that some people here are having bad experiences with their Visconti's, but if you stick with it I'm sure that they'll see you right.

 

BTW, if anyone is going to Florence, nip into Silvano in the main showroom, with enough notice he can arrange a tour of the factory, the Wall Street I bought was EUR 130 cheaper than my other source in the UK, he gave me a ton of free stuff and even gave a bookmark shaped like a nib to my wife (because she looked so bored).

Edited May 19, 2007 by Shabubu

[Ghost Plane]

Dang. And there I was stuck in the Air College all day with no time to nip out to the pen stores. I really must take up my next vacation plans with my commanding officer.

[georges zaslavsky]

Salut, Georges!

 

Well, you have a superb advantage here above some of us and that is you are buying directly from a prestigious pen restorer. I'll bet you maybe that troublesome Visconti would behave MUCH better if it came already from M. Mora's hands...

I have two Delta, three Viscontis as well as Montegrappa and Omas. I will not even mention the Omas for I have already made my opinion on their "leakiness".

Hi sonia

 

There are some brands I avoid to buy for these reasons:

-not enough long or significant history

-flashy colors

-no piston filling system available

-scratchiness of nibs.

-too expensive and not durable.

I have tried several deltas and visconti that there were for sale in second hand at Mr Mora's shop and even new ones. None of these pens were as perfect as is my 1965 MB 146 or my 1987 pelikan. The Montegrappa I have tried was the extra but I didn't buy it for these reasons:

-it wasn't a fat pen

-it needs to much turns to lock the cap

But in terms of nibs the Extra is a marvel beating Aurora, Visconti, Delta, Ferrari di Varese and Taccia. The Extra is on par with the Paragon in terms of nib smoothness. Aside from that I stopped collecting or buying italian pens. I am now more focused into vintage parkers.

 

regards

 

georges

[antoniosz]

I enjoyed the discussion so far but I think that we are starting to digress. I dont think that the problems that people are refering to are nib related.

It appears that they are more feed related or overall ink system related. Is there a concensus on that? I would particularly like to here from those that complained that the problem persisted even after the pens was tweaked by a professional (like Mike S.).

[eric.zamir]

The two best italian pen brands are OMAS and Montegrappa.

 

Well, Georges, it's all a matter of opinion. I have had problems with each and every Italian pen I have ever bought, with the exception of Delta. I have had more problems with Omas than with Visconti, and that's saying a lot. The thing that really counts is customer service. I have had nothing but the best from all of them EXCEPT Omas. Omas now has a new director of service, and from what I can tell, matters have improved. But I would never talk in absolutes (which you sometimes have a tendency to do) when it comes to pens. I have had problems with Duponts, Montblancs, Pelikans and Lamys. The only pen which has given me absolutely no problem in three years of constant use is my 1934 oversized burgundy Vacumatic. A real workhorse. And, of the occasional winter's day, when I come in from the cold with my vac, open it to write, and it burps out a drop of ink... I look at that as the fountain part of the fountain pen... nobody is perfect, and neither are pens.

 

[eric.zamir]

In all honesty, the second hand pens (vintage and modern pens) I had baught have perfectly aligned nibs. Include in these purchase two omases: a 360 magnum with a medium nib and an arte italiana paragon. Omas is perhaps the best italian brand with Montegrappa. The rest of italian pen brands like Visconti, Delta, Ferrari di Varese and Taccia I avoid them. I have never had troubles with my Omases, Parkers, MBs and my Pelikan. I baught all my second hand pens from Mr Mora from http://www.morastylos.com. He is a pen restorer, pen repairer and can readjust nibs too. Mora is the oldest and most known penshop of Paris since 1930. And I have to agree with skipwilliams that buying from a professional is the best way to avoid probs.

 

Why would you stay away from Delta and Ferrari da Varese if you never even bought one? And why would you put Taccia in the same league with the others? And why would someone buy from a professional that charges double because he has to pay Paris, New York, or other rent, when companies like the ones you stay away from offer excellent after-sales warranty servce to the rest of us poor slobs who can't or won't pay list?

 

I've also had problems with Montegrappa pens. There is no infallible pen. I'm not a Visconti employee, but I've owned quite a few, and very few other companies can boast Visconti's level of dedication and commitment to the customer. Furthermore, the owner of Visconti, Dante del Vecchio, is a pen collector himself. This is a small company, not a conglomerate like Richemont or LVMH, and the owner takes a personal interest in each and every detail of everything that relates to his pens. I sent my first Wall Street in five (5) times to be fixed. It turned out the Swiss supplier of the double vacuum filler had changed a spec, and they burst after one or two fillings for a particular batch of WS LE's. Dante called me personally to explain and apologise. They fixed that and it worked great.

With Delta (which you stay away from), they'll replace a nib as many times as I want until I get one I like. They also have no problem sending me spare sacs, feeds, etc., knowing I like to fiddle.

 

Finally, with regard to the off-center nib - that moves quite easily with gentle use of one's fingers. And the whole nib unit unscrews out like a Pelikan unit. I've had the same issue with lots of pens, and it's really a non-issue.

 

[georges zaslavsky]

Why would you stay away from Delta and Ferrari da Varese if you never even bought one? And why would you put Taccia in the same league with the others? And why would someone buy from a professional that charges double because he has to pay Paris, New York, or other rent, when companies like the ones you stay away from offer excellent after-sales warranty servce to the rest of us poor slobs who can't or won't pay list?

 

I've also had problems with Montegrappa pens. There is no infallible pen. I'm not a Visconti employee, but I've owned quite a few, and very few other companies can boast Visconti's level of dedication and commitment to the customer. Furthermore, the owner of Visconti, Dante del Vecchio, is a pen collector himself. This is a small company, not a conglomerate like Richemont or LVMH, and the owner takes a personal interest in each and every detail of everything that relates to his pens. I sent my first Wall Street in five (5) times to be fixed. It turned out the Swiss supplier of the double vacuum filler had changed a spec, and they burst after one or two fillings for a particular batch of WS LE's. Dante called me personally to explain and apologise. They fixed that and it worked great.

With Delta (which you stay away from), they'll replace a nib as many times as I want until I get one I like. They also have no problem sending me spare sacs, feeds, etc., knowing I like to fiddle.

 

Finally, with regard to the off-center nib - that moves quite easily with gentle use of one's fingers. And the whole nib unit unscrews out like a Pelikan unit. I've had the same issue with lots of pens, and it's really a non-issue.

 

Hi Eric

 

I don't like Delta because of their too flashy colors, they are not available as piston fillers and because I don't like their nibs. A professional charging the double on which proofs are you basing your accusations? Because buying through ebay is a warranty of serious after sales service???? Sorry I don't buy that theory. I am not a fan of Visconti and Delta and will never be.

 

regards

 

georges

 

[alvarez57]

I've had NO problems with neither..... maybe one Visconti nib that later Richard Binder fixed. Omas, well, if you read a post some weeks ago about the NIGHTMARE I went through...all just because they were horribly leaking. Nope, none are new and may be more than 6yrs old the model. Vintage? Only from reliable sources.

I like Omas but don't trust them. Montblanc? Maybe the vintage and the Meisterstück 146 (?) but not the Bohème retractable.

[scribe75]

I add to the view here that my Wall Street is a wonderful writer, but the filling system is not successful for all the reasons mentioned in the original view. While much ballyhooed, the double vaccum filler system is not as good as Visconti's single vaccuum fill system (I have two Manhattans with the single - great feed, no problems cleaning and drying, etc; much more preferable). Most distracting is the need to keep refilling the front chamber with ink after a third of a page of writing. You end up fiddling with the piston more than writing. I found cleaning hard, even when removing teh nib & feed to clean and attempt to remove the water trapped in the front chamber. Sad to say, I prefer the lower tech single fill/one ink chamber model, acquired for a fraction of the price. I will, however, stand up for Visconti's service. Simply excellent and timely.

[nick1]

This is a little off the subject, but I purchased one of these limited editions, but the packaging was different - no ink? Is it possible they have different packages......

[Bill Smith]

I own a Van Gogh Maxi with no real issues at all other than it's a pretty pen and it's nice to write with. I would suggest flushing the hell out of any new pen before using it as pile of (bleep) does remain behind from the manufacturing process. Will I ever get one of those funky double Vaccum fillers, I don't know, I do prefer piston fillers. If you want a trouble free Italian, may suggest the Aurora Optima or 88.

 

Bill

[jaytaylor]

I have recently purchased a Wall Street LE, I have not yet received it as it is currently with a nib meister for a custom grind and smooth.

 

This review has been insightful but left me worried about my purchase.

 

I guess any alignment/skipping and smoothness issues will have been taken care of at the nib meister stage but the filler performance isn't living up to how good it sounds on paper.

 

Can any of you Wall Street LE users out there reply with any good feed back on this pen.

 

I need to hear something /anything positive about this pen.