Visconti De Medici black basilica

[SeeksAdvice]

I admit, this was a purchase more for the looks of the pen than anything else.  A sale popped up, and so I bought one with an EF 18K gold nib.  Beautiful think to look at.  Nice grip section diameter, and enough heft to make you realize that you are holding a writing tool in your hand.  In terms of appearance, it is probably the most beautiful pen in my collection, and I really love the cap close mechanism.

 

However, the writing function leaves a *lot* to be desired.  I get line density variation and all that, but man does the flow vary radically.  Not really sure of the "sweet spot" on the nib, as there are flow issues at times with the pen being held at multiple different angles.  It's the first high-end pen I've had that doesn't perform well out of the box.  The other ones usually take me being a klutz, but this one is very stubborn.  Heck, its outperformed by my Sailor Compass, Pilot Kakuno, and Sensa pens... all of which were had at a fraction of the Visconti's price.  Prior to me dropping them (need to go in for repairs), my Pelikan M800, MB 146, and Sailor Pro-Gear blew the Visconti out of the water. 

 

Has anybody else had these issues with a Visconti?  Love their designs, but if they aren't functional, what's the point?

[lionelc]

visconti issue - multiple threads in fpn about quality control.  can you return to seller?

[Uncial]

Is it skipping or burping, running dry, or what?

[buechernarr]

I have the same issues with my Visconti Homo Sapiens Oversize Lava "Terra di Siena", with Viscontis new in-house F-nib. Purchased it in December 2020 and it suffers from hard starts, skips - you name it. When using Diamine ink it is worse; using Monteverde with "ITF" additives works a lot better, the same with Waterman's black ink. Flushing the pen and unscrewing the nib for a long nice bath in water with detergent did help a bit but did not solve the problem. I will now contact the seller for getting a replacement nib.

[SeeksAdvice]

I had seen the threads on issues.  Had hoped they had gotten that resolved.  It alternates between dry and fire hose wet with the same ink, on the same line, and even sometimes in teh same word. 

 

Closest in behavior I have had in pens that I haven't dropped was a very old vintage Waterman that I had received as a gift, and somebody had jammed a ballpoint refill onto the feed (had reduced it to just the ink reservoir from the refill). 

 

Will try thoroughly soaking the nib/feed.  I have run Iroshizuku, Sailor Kiwa-Guro, DeA Document ink, and I want to say

 

I guess it's like Italian cars. 

[SeeksAdvice]

Further update.  I unscrewed the nib/feed from the pen.  There were metal shavings on it from the filling/reservoir system.  In the threads, on the surface, etc.  I'm wondering if some of those might have gotten into the nib/feed and caused the issues.  I don't care how nice their pens look... if they can't be bothered to clean out the machining leftovers... I am not interested.

[bmats]

On 3/11/2021 at 10:30 PM, SeeksAdvice said:

Further update.  I unscrewed the nib/feed from the pen.  There were metal shavings on it from the filling/reservoir system.  In the threads, on the surface, etc.  I'm wondering if some of those might have gotten into the nib/feed and caused the issues.  I don't care how nice their pens look... if they can't be bothered to clean out the machining leftovers... I am not interested.

 

Does it write better now?  I mean setting aside the obvious fact that this shouldn’t have happened, but without those metal shavings in body does the pen flow better?  Also was this an 18 Kt gold nib or a 23 kt palladium one; I was hoping that more recent 18 kt gold ones would be more reliable.

[buechernarr]

Update on the "Terra di Siena": I got a replacement nib from the seller, this time in Medium (also the new in-house). It is far worse than the one I sent back. It is scratchy and makes a terrible noise. The ink flow stops at a variety of strokes, as can be seen on the fotos, I used Monteverde Dark Brown ITF.

 

I have to sent it back, even if the seller already warned me that it takes 6 months for Visconti to take care of it.

[djm1121]

4 hours ago, buechernarr said:

Update on the "Terra di Siena": I got a replacement nib from the seller, this time in Medium (also the new in-house). It is far worse than the one I sent back. It is scratchy and makes a terrible noise. The ink flow stops at a variety of strokes, as can be seen on the fotos, I used Monteverde Dark Brown ITF.

 

I have to sent it back, even if the seller already warned me that it takes 6 months for Visconti to take care of it.

 

 

That looks awful. Good luck to you and please let us know how things turn out, even though there may be a 6 month wait.

[lionelc]

6 hours ago, buechernarr said:

It is far worse than the one I sent back. It is scratchy and makes a terrible noise

 

 

sorry to hear that buechernarr, at what stage would you consider it a lost cause and get a refund?

[buechernarr]

@lionelc I would consider it a lost cause and go for a refund when the F-size nib that the seller today sent me as a replacement also will not write well. Then it would have been 3 nibs, that would be enough chances for Visconti in my opinion. (I will keep my Visconti HS Bronze Age though, always wanted that model, it is an piece of art. Sure, the F-nib in 18ct of the Bronze Age also has it flaws, but the pen is a beauty.)

 

Besides the seller told me that there are plenty complaints about the thinner line of the new in-house nibs comparing with the old 23ct Paladium and 18ct nibs.

 

Another issue from my point of view is the layer which is supposed to seal and secure the body of the pen, it does not cover the body fully around in the same thickness. Instead there are clearly visible long dark stains where the pen was pinned when they poured the sealing liquid over it. All the new red Lava-Pens suffer from that. There seems to be no QC at Visconti anywhere.

[bmats]

1 hour ago, buechernarr said:

@lionelc I would consider it a lost cause and go for a refund when the F-size nib that the seller today sent me as a replacement also will not write well. Then it would have been 3 nibs, that would be enough chances for Visconti in my opinion. (I will keep my Visconti HS Bronze Age though, always wanted that model, it is an piece of art. Sure, the F-nib in 18ct of the Bronze Age also has it flaws, but the pen is a beauty.)

 

Besides the seller told me that there are plenty complaints about the thinner line of the new in-house nibs comparing with the old 23ct Paladium and 18ct nibs.

 

Another issue from my point of view is the layer which is supposed to seal and secure the body of the pen, it does not cover the body fully around in the same thickness. Instead there are clearly visible long dark stains where the pen was pinned when they poured the sealing liquid over it. All the new red Lava-Pens suffer from that. There seems to be no QC at Visconti anywhere.

 

Well, now I'm cringing as I have a Visconti in the mail on its way to me...

[bmats]

So... I guess I won the lottery, or something like that.  But I got my Visconti Medici with 18 k nib, and it’s really wet but smooth, with just the slightest bit of feedback.  No skips, and close enough to a western fine.  So overall, I’m very happy, and thrilled given this thread.  I hope that those who got nibs that don’t work as well get theirs fixed, but at least some out there seem ok.

[buechernarr]

Update: The seller sent me a replacement nib in "F", 14 ct. I am very happy to announce that this nib writes very well: extra fine, smooth, no skips, with a decent line variation. Please see the attached image to get an impression.

 

So yes, there are some nibs out there that are good. But I agree with @bmats that it is a lottery run by Visconti, at our, the buyers' cost.

[buechernarr]

On 3/23/2021 at 5:06 PM, buechernarr said:

Another issue from my point of view is the layer which is supposed to seal and secure the body of the pen, it does not cover the body fully around in the same thickness. Instead there are clearly visible long dark stains where the pen was pinned when they poured the sealing liquid over it. All the new red Lava-Pens suffer from that. There seems to be no QC at Visconti anywhere.

 

Please see the attached picture for details of the stains.

[Nikaa]

On 3/28/2021 at 1:31 PM, buechernarr said:

Update: The seller sent me a replacement nib in "F", 14 ct. I am very happy to announce that this nib writes very well: extra fine, smooth, no skips, with a decent line variation. Please see the attached image to get an impression.

 

So yes, there are some nibs out there that are good. But I agree with @bmats that it is a lottery run by Visconti, at our, the buyers' cost.

 

Happy to see that you finally got a good nib   Can you show me which 14k nibs it is? I'm curious about those 14k  Visconti nibs (especially new model in Voyager 2020). 

[buechernarr]

Can you show me which 14k nibs it is?

Sure.

[Eric Lyu]

I am quite curious how you normally hold the pen. I tried 5 different Visconti new in-house nib and they all write smoothly. The only issue I observed is that, the nib tends to run dry when you are writing upwards( Writing towards the direction of the slits). And the new nib is significantly dryer then the Pd nibs as well.

 

Talking about the stains, are they coming out of the box? I really loved the colour but I don't enjoy the stain-like shade at all

 

Bests,

Eric

[Honeybadgers]

I've had 3/5 of my visconti pens be completely unusable from the factory and 1/5 required tuning to be good. It's a COMMON problem, though much less with the gold nibs than the old palladium nibs, but visconti is well known for stunning designs and stunningly bad quality control.

 

That material is going to stain. You just have to live with it. It's porous. You want the stains hidden, the black version is what I recommend (and have)

 

As for the nib, Coles of London is the USA repair partner for visconti. They'll warranty bum nibs for 30 days, no cost. Rest of the pen is 90 days.

 

And if you're outside the 30 days, see if your retailer will cover it. Goulet covers the nib for 90 days. They solved my first bum homosapiens, coles handled my divina metro.

 

Otherwise, a nib tuner will generally charge about $40 to get the pen writing perfectly. It sucks, and i'm in NO way saying that Visconti should get away with it, but if you HAVE to have one of their glorious designs, just be prepared to add another $40 to get it set up perfectly.