Delta Out Of Business?

[aardvarkbark]

 

I love Delta, I have 16 pens from that manufacturer, but Delta diminished the originality of the Dolcevita long before Martemodena was ever involved.

 

Maybe just semantics. As you point out, Delta made that style with several materials (and some in different sizes as you say), but I don't think they 'diminished the originality' any more than OMAS diminished the originality of the Paragon by offering it in a wide assortment of those lovely celluloids and other materials, plus offering the similar body shape in the Milord.

 

sansenri's point seems to be that MM used lesser grade materials (that's certainly true) which compromised the quality of the pen. I don't think it's a matter of introducing multiple variations, per se.

[aardvarkbark]

Corsani has the Rosewood ebonite in the limited edition as well

 

Hubba-hubba!! This is such a handsome pen. I just personally don't care for a stepped down tapered section. But I do luvs that rosewood ebonite!

[sansenri]

yes, that is what I meant, the DolceVita line involved several different models from the start (size variants, Soire' finish, etc) but there was a strong correlation in materials and finishes that would distinguish the pens as Dolce Vita range.

Many of the LE editions that followed were then tied to collaborations with Distributors and pen shops, like the Blue Jay, the Mezza Notte, the Chatterley models. The Gallery was quite a nice own Delta LE based on the Dolce Vita especially in the black caps and finial versions.

(I personally dislike the masterpiece, and I am not quite sure whether this is still a 100% Delta design/idea)

 

The following MM modifications however, with an infinite range of different colours of body and barrel just loses that Dolce Vita feeling.

As long as they could fit delta niibs on them they would still be good writers. Then that stopped too...

That's how I read it anyway, but anyone is free to disagree.

 

To clarify about Leonardo, as far as I know, both the dark blue celluloid Momento zero (together with a new lighter blue Mediterraneo celluloid version) and the ebonite version are not exclusive to Corsani.

They are the LE versions on offer by Leonardo, together with other resin versions, (steel nib)

the numbered version resin

– Horn resin (rhodium plated trim)
– Positano blue resin (swirl) (gold plated trim)
– matt black (gun metal trim, reuthenium plated).

and the "ordinary" resin

– deep blue

– red marble

– brown vintage

And these can also be found in other shops (goldpen, casa della stilografica, etc)

 

the one specific resin which is exclusive to Corsani is the blue striped version (and this version uses the same resin as was used for the Delta Blue jay)

i.e. this one

[aardvarkbark]

...(I personally dislike the masterpiece, and I am not quite sure whether this is still a 100% Delta design/idea)...

 

 

 

I agree! One might (I'm sure mistakenly) speculate that this brought about the demise of the company, given the timing of its introduction and the company's closing. As much as I like the pen shape and would welcome additional alternatives in my collection, I cannot bring myself to buy one of these. I still get a giggle when I recall a FPN member's assessment at its release: 'this is why you must separate colors before doing the laundry'.

 

The other 'miss' IMO was the Oro. That orange 'cracked ice' is wonderful to behold, but only in moderation. I think they were wise to combine it with a black cap for the DVs (I also never could warm to the white capped version), but a pen of solid orange was just too much for me.

 

I think I see rods of this orange in the Leonardo tour video. I hope Leonardo uses it sparingly.

[sansenri]

I agree with you also on the Oro, this version was not popular on the Italian market and there are very few around. The beauty of the Dolce Vita was the contrast black cap/finial with the orange barrel.

One full orange Delta which does find justification (IMO) is the fusion Oro,

In the standard Dolce Vita, such a big pen just provides too much orange surface, and, as women know, light colours fatten...

It looks bulky!

 

in the fusion the slimmer line makes the full orange look more acceptable.

(one nice aspect about the fusion Oro is that the pen is actually made in cellulose nitrate)

 

[Weaveras]

Does anyone know if they do their own nibs, or if they are purchased?

[clear1]

Does anyone know if they do their own nibs, or if they are purchased?

 

It's a Bock nib. But they do the finish job very nicely.

[columela]

Hello

 

So this is the end of Delta then. I can only regret their demise as they produced some of the most beautiful and reliable pens in my collection. On the other hand had they not started to liquidate stock in 2014-15 by the Martemodena website it would have been impossible for me to get so many nice Delta pens at the price that I got them. I hope that they can revive the spirit of the company somehow as they have done with OMAS to a certain extent. However I suspect that this is just a way of liquidating the remaining high quality materials left by the parent companies. so in a way is just some caretakers liquidating what can be salvaged but without much hope for a renaissance of their former selves as fully functioning companies.

It is worrying when these respectable names are not worth saving inside one of these luxury conglomerates that dominate other fields like watchmaking, fashion or jewellery. It might suggest that pens are no longer considered a potential luxury item but for a bunch of eccentric aficionados like us.

[Fatalpotato]

It's a Bock nib. But they do the finish job very nicely.

Do you by any chance know which other pens have previously used their new semi-flex nibs? I don't remember Bock having a #6 size semi flex gold nib before

[clear1]

Do you by any chance know which other pens have previously used their new semi-flex nibs? I don't remember Bock having a #6 size semi flex gold nib before

 

Hmm. I thought you were asking about Leonardo Officina pens. As you mention about semi-flex nibs, I guess you were not.

[Fatalpotato]

Hmm. I thought you were asking about Leonardo Officina pens. As you mention about semi-flex nibs, I guess you were not.

 

Yeah my question is about the semi flex nibs I've seen on some of the leonardo Celluloid models. Should've been more elaborate, my bad

[clear1]

Yeah my question is about the semi flex nibs I've seen on some of the leonardo Celluloid models. Should've been more elaborate, my bad

 

Ah, I see.

 

I own a Celluloid model, but it's not a semi-flex nib. It has some nice soft cushion, but not a flexible nib.

[Fatalpotato]

Ah, I see.

 

I own a Celluloid model, but it's not a semi-flex nib. It has some nice soft cushion, but not a flexible nib.

Thanks for the answer. I asked this because I've seen in one of the major retailers website the pen advertised with a semi flex nib. So I assume this is just the standard Bock nib, which can be quite soft sometimes

[clear1]

Thanks for the answer. I asked this because I've seen in one of the major retailers website the pen advertised with a semi flex nib. So I assume this is just the standard Bock nib, which can be quite soft sometimes

 

I see. Well, I believe Leonardo has only one kind of gold nib for now.

But the designation of 'semi-flex' varies quite a bit nowadays, I think.

Some may feel Leonardo's nib is semi-flex. Anyway, it's quite a pleasant nib to use.

 

By the way, which pen shop was it? I'd like to see the full description.

[Fatalpotato]

Exactly, the word is thrown around more than it should be these days Imho

https://www.stilografica.it/products/leonardo-officina-italiana-pens/leonardo-momento-zero-blue-abyss-limited-edition-blue-5366.htm

This is the website I checked the brand out. From the pictures posted there, the pen reminds me of some of the new asc pens with Omas celluloids, probably because they produce them as well . The build quality of my asc pen is very good, and their materials look very nice. Bock nibs are some of my favorites as well, so I'm pretty interested in this space right now.

[dapprman]

Don't forget that the major manufacturers who get their nibs made for them by Bock, JoWo, etc, do so to their own specification and so they tend to be rather different from the standard fare the smaller manufacturers use and we can buy - it may well be that Leonardo are buying nibs from Boch the same way they were made for Delta - just as ScriBo are doing with OMAS designed nibs.

[Fatalpotato]

I'm not pretty sure they can afford the mass production(250 nibs?) necessary for the customization though. But I personally prefer standard Bock nibs to anything jowo produces, and they're better than some of the in house nibs I've used by some small manufacturers as well imo.

[Stylo_dOr]

In case you are interested the is a video showing the Officina Italiana workshop.

 

 

Thank you, AidenMark, for posting the video last month about Leonardo Officina Italiana!

[Ste_S]

A bit late to this. Googled Delta Fountain Pens as I wondered what happened to them, and discovered this thread.

 

Sad to hear of their passing. I have a few pens from the MarteModena sell-off, but perhaps by favourite is the Unica.  A simple design, nice acrylic, and a nice writing frosted steel nib (who's coating has proved more durable than Pelikan's gold plating).