PDA

View Full Version : New entry level Visconti



carlc
March 13th, 2015, 06:58 AM
This may already be known but I have just received an email from Giardino about a new entry level Visconti. It's called the classic and is based on a previous model of the same name.

The price stated is 80 Euros ($84.64/£57.20) for a medium steel nib (only one type of nib available) but no converter.

I'm rather taken by the red one!

http://www.giardino.it/pens/visconti/newclassic.php

sgtstretch
March 13th, 2015, 06:59 AM
The green and orange/amber ones look very similar to the new Conklin Durograph.

Lady Onogaro
March 13th, 2015, 09:01 AM
I like the one called "blue-nut." It's an unusual color combination.

inlovewithjournals
March 13th, 2015, 09:57 AM
I like the one called "blue-nut." It's an unusual color combination.

Agreed, very different. I would miss the distinctive Visconti clip.

tandaina
March 13th, 2015, 10:03 AM
I know this is going to get me in trouble.... Can only see the orange on my phone. But when the page loaded I immediately thought... "Oh, a Shaeffer No Nonsense! I had a clear plastic one just like that."

carlc
March 13th, 2015, 11:00 AM
Durograph, No Nonsense - feedback is not looking particularly positive for these pens!

I look forward to the first Geek to acquire one giving some feedback on the actuality. Personally I won't be considering one until I get some idea of the size.

carlc
March 13th, 2015, 11:02 AM
I know this is going to get me in trouble.... Can only see the orange on my phone. But when the page loaded I immediately thought... "Oh, a Shaeffer No Nonsense! I had a clear plastic one just like that."


There's a colour selector a bit further down the page.

tandaina
March 13th, 2015, 11:16 AM
I know this is going to get me in trouble.... Can only see the orange on my phone. But when the page loaded I immediately thought... "Oh, a Shaeffer No Nonsense! I had a clear plastic one just like that."


There's a colour selector a bit further down the page.

Yeah, it didn't do anything on my phone. But on the computer I can see the others. The other colors are much prettier, still reminds me of a Non Nonsense. ;)

cwent2
March 13th, 2015, 11:42 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KBcf4pnKh4

The Visconti Classic Limited Edition Fountain and Rollerball pens are available only in Europe. A replica of the first pen ever manufactured by Visconti pens back in 1988, it is available in six beautiful resin colours.

VertOlive
March 13th, 2015, 01:40 PM
The Blue Nut color is nice...

top pen
March 13th, 2015, 06:50 PM
These are interesting pens. However I'm not convinced by the look they have in terms of quality as it appears that these are lower end product (compared to your usual £300 pen) catered to the mid range market and are made to a lower quality looking at the section, nib, clip etc. However the mid range fountain pen market is relatively saturated and I'm not so sure that these pens will be very successful due to the huge amount of competition in this segment from some very well known names.

However this is purely speculation and until someone writes a review on one of these pens we can only guess

youstruckgold
March 14th, 2015, 03:29 AM
They look good (or the cracked ice type ones do). But they 'll need to be good to compete with the Delta Unica which is a fabulous value for money cheaper italian pen.

carlc
March 14th, 2015, 03:55 AM
Ooh - I think I need to go and have a look at the Unica. It looks tempting.

foreign export
March 14th, 2015, 06:05 AM
I like the visconti in red - but have only just received a Van Gogh and a Rembrandt - and the magnet fell out of that one- so won't be buying another for a while

Aside from the magnet issue- I love these pens

Bogon07
March 14th, 2015, 06:34 PM
Waiting on a Black Fleck from the UK. Somewhat disappointed Visconti couldn't include a converter with the pen.


They look good (or the cracked ice type ones do). But they 'll need to be good to compete with the Delta Unica which is a fabulous value for money cheaper Italian pen.

The Delta Vintage is also around that price range - depending on the seller.

john
March 15th, 2015, 07:14 AM
If compare with the Delta Unica, I will take Delta which looks better than this Visconti.

dneal
March 15th, 2015, 07:32 AM
I pulled the trigger on a couple of them (the brown and red ones). We'll see...

Ste_S
March 15th, 2015, 10:50 AM
On the YouTube video from Write Here, you can see 'iridium point' engraved on the nib. Price seems a bit steep for a IPG pen, the Delta Unica seems to be a much better pen for the same money

dneal
March 15th, 2015, 02:07 PM
Both have cheap steel nibs. The Delta might be a marginally better value, but I'm not sure either is a "better" pen.

Ste_S
March 16th, 2015, 06:47 AM
Both have cheap steel nibs. The Delta might be a marginally better value, but I'm not sure either is a "better" pen.

I'm not sure who makes Delta nibs, anyone know ?

Anyway, the Delta nib/feed on the Unica is very much to my liking - smooth and wet, and to the broader side of medium. The only Visconti pen I have, a Rembrandt, is very much not to my liking. It's Bock unit is dry by default and has flow issues - that's across two different nib units, the original and a replacement.

I can safely say the Unica is a better pen (at least for me) than the Rembrandt

No experience with the IPG nib on the Classic, but as it comes in medium only (F,M,B on the Unica) and is cheaper than the Rembrandt, it doesn't give me much hope.

Lexaf
March 16th, 2015, 07:16 AM
I looked at the pictures in the link from OP and I like them very much. The nib could have a more classic form to my taste, it would fit better with the very attractive old Parker Duofold like design. Very classic, very classy pen with the silver trim. The silver ring on the end of the barrel is a nice detail. Love the marbled colors in particular. These color patterns give the pen more than a hint of a 1920's design. Back to the roots. If they were only not CC, but with a button filling system... Just dreaming.



http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4599_zps2yvi9jie.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4599_zps2yvi9jie.jpg.html)

dneal
March 16th, 2015, 08:43 AM
Both have cheap steel nibs. The Delta might be a marginally better value, but I'm not sure either is a "better" pen.

I'm not sure who makes Delta nibs, anyone know ?

Anyway, the Delta nib/feed on the Unica is very much to my liking - smooth and wet, and to the broader side of medium. The only Visconti pen I have, a Rembrandt, is very much not to my liking. It's Bock unit is dry by default and has flow issues - that's across two different nib units, the original and a replacement.

I can safely say the Unica is a better pen (at least for me) than the Rembrandt

No experience with the IPG nib on the Classic, but as it comes in medium only (F,M,B on the Unica) and is cheaper than the Rembrandt, it doesn't give me much hope.


Absolutely no idea who makes Delta nibs. That's a good question.

I find Bock nibs fairly dry and with a little baby's bottom "out of the box", but they can be adjusted to suit. It's like criticizing a bicycle manufacturer because those Shimano XT gears just didn't shift well... That can (and should) be adjusted.

The IPG nib (with no other branding) on the Classic raised a skeptical eyebrow, but the fat blob of tipping shown means I can grind it to my preferences. As an aside, amount of tipping is why I like Bock nibs. Anyway, the nib on the Classic looks to be a #5, and I suspect I'll swap it out for a gold nib if the rest of the pen is decent build quality. Generally I don't care for Visconti's designs, and a LE Kaweco Sport is the only Visconti I own at the moment. The color/pattern of the acrylic, and the "old school" aesthetics are why I bought them (not to mention the relatively inexpensive price). I have some concerns on the quality of the trim rings and clip, but we'll see when they get here tomorrow or Wednesday.

The Unica was never a consideration for me. I'm not a fan of Yafa's brands in general (which includes Delta). Conklin has a lot of brand potential that's been shamefully squandered. The Stipula "rebranded" Dollar pen (with corresponding Stipula price) is insulting. The BS with the Delta "fusion" nib was the last straw for me.

In fairness, my grievances don't make the Unica a better or worse pen than the Visconti.

--edit--

Lexaf posted the pic of that Parker as I was typing this. That's exactly the look that drew me to the Visconti Classic.

Ste_S
March 16th, 2015, 09:51 AM
If i'm buying a new bike I fully expect the gears to shift smoothly on purchase. Bought a Giant TCX (105, Cross is as far as I want to go in mud-plugging ;)) five months ago, and I haven't had to tinker with the gearing yet apart from a turn on the adjuster to take up a bit of cable stretch.

Much as I expect Visconti to get their Bock nibs sorted at the factory. I can tinker with a bike or a pen to get it right, but the companies that offer it working 'out of the box' get my repeated business.

I own two Bock nibbed pens - the Rembrandt and a Kaweco Student, both behave identically. I've tried working on the nibs to increase the flow, but it looks as though it's the feed that's at fault. Hacking a feed is at my limit of what I think is reasonable for a customer to correct.

Delta, for what it's worth, look as though they work on their nibs in-house as compared to Kaweco and Visconti who look as though they stick the Bock units straight into their pens without further modification.

Lexaf
March 16th, 2015, 10:47 AM
I find Bock nibs fairly dry and with a little baby's bottom "out of the box", but they can be adjusted to suit. It's like criticizing a bicycle manufacturer because those Shimano XT gears just didn't shift well... That can (and should) be adjusted.

I find a price/quality problem here. First: issues like baby's bottom should not occur with nibs of Bock reputation. Ajustment should be Bock's concern, not that of the buyer, even for a < us$ 100,-- pen. For a non branded generic IPG nib in the Visconti Classic that could probably Bock, but might as well be of Chinese origin, I find the price of us$ 80,-- actually too high also because it is just a simple CC filler. ( The Visconti button fillers are totally different price story!). In the CC filler / IPG nib quality segment there are quite a lot of well designed Chinese pens available for half that price. So its primarily the nice old school celluloid lookalike + flat top design and the attractive silver (plated?) furniture that will make the Visconty Classic (what's in a name!) sell. It's is not very expensive, but certainly not a bargain (IMHO).


Lexaf posted the pic of that Parker as I was typing this. That's exactly the look that drew me to the Visconti Classic.

Another reason I showed the Parker is that for us$80,-- I'd prefer a genuine vintage pen. You might not easily find a good working Parker Duofold for around us$ 80,-- but there are still quite a lot of European pens from that era around, in the same style.

So here are some more pictures of 3 old school 1925 - 1935 celluloid button fillers:
The gray & red marbled pen: An undocumented Dutch manufactured 'PROMINENT' with a generic '1st Quality 14K' EF nib.
The pearl & black marbled pen: A Dutch 'VENDEX' (made by Osmia Germany), with a generic 'Warranted 14 Ct 1st Quality' B nib
The blue & brown marbled pen: An undocumented No Name, of probably Belgian or French origin, with also a generic 'Warranted 14 Ct 1st Quality' B stub nib.

Resuming: spectacular colors (as are the marbled Visconti's!), original pre WWII celluloid, all black parts ebonite (not plastic!), reliable button fillers and 14K nibs.
All 3 pens did not cost me more than us$ 25,-- plus the fun of some cleaning, polishing and placing new rubber ink sacs.
In their actual restored state I would rate the value somewhere between us$75,-- and us$125,-- if (IF) they were offered for sale.
That is not super cheap, but not expensive either, for about the same price as a nice modern Visconti Classic, but basically a plastic (acrylic?) CC filler, with a steel nib.

The Visconti's: ( picture borrowed from http://blog.giardino.it/2015/03/12/visconti-new-classic-entry-level/ )


http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/Classic_zpsx4htwy6r.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/Classic_zpsx4htwy6r.jpg.html)


My own Vintage Celluloids:



http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4609_zpsqo9clc2e.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4609_zpsqo9clc2e.jpg.html)

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4610_zpsgop3pkin.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4610_zpsgop3pkin.jpg.html)

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4612_zpsgot5za06.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4612_zpsgot5za06.jpg.html)

dneal
March 16th, 2015, 11:07 AM
The bike makes for a good analogy. Unless you buy one from an actual bike shop with a tech on hand, you should expect to have to adjust the derailleurs, shifters and brakes. Is that Shimano's or SRAM's fault? They're still good components. Is it the bike manufacturer's fault? I don't think so.

I've built all my bikes from components, so adjustment was mandatory. I always expect to adjust a nib to my preferences if I don't buy it from a shop like Nibs.com I also always expect to adjust the action on a new guitar to suit my preferences (sorry to switch analogies).

You like Delta, I don't particularly. I like Bock nibs, you don't seem to (although I'm not sure two pens are a representative sample). I'm ok with not agreeing though. ;)

On a different note, I doubt the feed is your problem and there's no need to "hack" one. At most it needs cleaned with some dish soap and a couple of strokes in the main channel with a brass shim. The flow is in the tines. What method did you use to adjust them?

Ste_S
March 16th, 2015, 02:55 PM
I guess we disagree there. Whilst I'm perfectly capable of building a bike from the ground up (apart from wheels, until I get around to buying a truing stand), I expect a new bike to work without having to tinker with it.
Likewise with nibs - I expect the pen to write without me having to tinker with it. I don't mind basic adjustments to make the pen more to my taste though.
As you say, ok to not agree though ;)

As for the Rembrandt I've chucked most things at it. Flushed more times than you can shake a stick. Used multiple converters and cartridges with muitplie brands of inks. Had the nib and feed out to soak and scrub with a toothbrush. Flossed the nib slit and feed channel with a brass shim. Spread the shoulders of nib with my thumb nails to open up the slit. Had the supplier kindly send me a new nib unit. Went through all of the above again with the new nib unit.

I've had four Bock nib units - two for a Kaweco Student, two for the Visconti Rembrandt and they all have inconsistant flow (despite going through all the above measures). Pen starts out ok with a full feed, but then dries out as you write. I suspect it's the feed, perhaps not getting air back into the cartridge/converter and starving the ink flow.

Lexaf
March 16th, 2015, 05:54 PM
I guess we disagree there. Whilst I'm perfectly capable of building a bike from the ground up (apart from wheels, until I get around to buying a truing stand), I expect a new bike to work without having to tinker with it.
Likewise with nibs - I expect the pen to write without me having to tinker with it. I don't mind basic adjustments to make the pen more to my taste though.
As you say, ok to not agree though ;)

+1 on this. when I buy a brand new bike, it should function flawlessly, same for a new pen.


As for the Rembrandt I've chucked most things at it. Flushed more times than you can shake a stick. Used multiple converters and cartridges with muitplie brands of inks. Had the nib and feed out to soak and scrub with a toothbrush. Flossed the nib slit and feed channel with a brass shim. Spread the shoulders of nib with my thumb nails to open up the slit. Had the supplier kindly send me a new nib unit. Went through all of the above again with the new nib unit.

I've had four Bock nib units - two for a Kaweco Student, two for the Visconti Rembrandt and they all have inconsistant flow (despite going through all the above measures). Pen starts out ok with a full feed, but then dries out as you write. I suspect it's the feed, perhaps not getting air back into the cartridge/converter and starving the ink flow.


Wow, seems like lot more work than I had on my 80 years old $25,-- vintage pens! Go figure! :shocked:

Ste_S
March 17th, 2015, 02:20 AM
Heh, likewise. All of my vintage pens I've bought from reputable sellers have worked flawlessly. I had one Parker 45 ebay purchase where the previous owner had sprung the nib - took me 5mins to sort it out.

ilangai
March 17th, 2015, 08:45 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KBcf4pnKh4

The Visconti Classic Limited Edition Fountain and Rollerball pens are available only in Europe. A replica of the first pen ever manufactured by Visconti pens back in 1988, it is available in six beautiful resin colours.

The nib in the video looks exactly like the Schmidt nib we got with the KarasKustoms Ink. Even the ornament and lack of breather hole looks similar..
Now, I really like those Schmidt nibs, and I think they're one of the best steal nibs, very smooth.. But you still don't get a full Made in Italy pen..
So, I think, the Unica is still a better choice.

dneal
March 17th, 2015, 11:42 AM
They came in the mail today, and I'll do a review shortly. Bottom line? A good (not great) pen, but well worth 80 dollars / euros IMHO.

ChrisC
March 17th, 2015, 11:50 AM
I think the brown/red cracked ice material is the same, or at laest very similar to their Opera Elements materials. Too bad such a beautiful material is paired with a very standard IPG nib.

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/monthly_03_2009/post-32-1236808352.jpg

dneal
March 17th, 2015, 11:53 AM
It's not very attractive, but the nib is quite good actually.

tandaina
March 17th, 2015, 11:57 AM
It's not the nib I dislike (OK I find it totally MEH and see no reason they couldn't have used the steel nibs they already use on some of their pens. It's the section and 'finials' that give the whole thing the look of a kit pen. Make the *whole* pen, including section out of that material and we'd have an interesting lower tier pen. But the black plastic section and end bits just look cheap to me.

ilangai
March 17th, 2015, 12:10 PM
It's not the nib I dislike (OK I find it totally MEH and see no reason they couldn't have used the steel nibs they already use on some of their pens. It's the section and 'finials' that give the whole thing the look of a kit pen. Make the *whole* pen, including section out of that material and we'd have an interesting lower tier pen. But the black plastic section and end bits just look cheap to me.

I'll second that!

dneal
March 17th, 2015, 01:01 PM
It's not the nib I dislike (OK I find it totally MEH and see no reason they couldn't have used the steel nibs they already use on some of their pens. It's the section and 'finials' that give the whole thing the look of a kit pen. Make the *whole* pen, including section out of that material and we'd have an interesting lower tier pen. But the black plastic section and end bits just look cheap to me.

I don't mind that so much. It's the metal bits that I don't care for and makes it seem "cheap". I really, really like the cracked ice acrylics (well, the two colors I bought anyway). "Expensive" is relative, and the price is nominal to me; but I'm at the end of my peak earning years with no kids in the house. It was an impulse buy, but the wife and I each have a reasonably attractive pen that we don't have to worry about losing, breaking, dropping, whatever... for what I think is a fair price.

Oh, totally agree that they should have just used their "normal" steel nibs.

dneal
March 18th, 2015, 02:00 AM
I've had four Bock nib units - two for a Kaweco Student, two for the Visconti Rembrandt and they all have inconsistant flow (despite going through all the above measures). Pen starts out ok with a full feed, but then dries out as you write. I suspect it's the feed, perhaps not getting air back into the cartridge/converter and starving the ink flow.

I did some research, and it looks like Delta uses Bock nibs.

Ste_S
March 18th, 2015, 02:26 AM
I've had four Bock nib units - two for a Kaweco Student, two for the Visconti Rembrandt and they all have inconsistant flow (despite going through all the above measures). Pen starts out ok with a full feed, but then dries out as you write. I suspect it's the feed, perhaps not getting air back into the cartridge/converter and starving the ink flow.

I did some research, and it looks like Delta uses Bock nibs.

Interesting, as no seemed to know up until know. If they do, they use a completely different unit to the one that's supplied to Kaweco and Visconti

erpe
March 18th, 2015, 04:18 AM
Interesting, as no seemed to know up until know. If they do, they use a completely different unit to the one that's supplied to Kaweco and Visconti

It's pretty easy to check, the names are on their site http://www.peter-bock.com/content/e417/e506/index_eng.html
Which of course does not mean all brands just use rebranded standard products. I expect a bit of customization.

dneal
March 18th, 2015, 09:30 AM
Interesting, as no seemed to know up until know. If they do, they use a completely different unit to the one that's supplied to Kaweco and Visconti

It's pretty easy to check, the names are on their site http://www.peter-bock.com/content/e417/e506/index_eng.html
Which of course does not mean all brands just use rebranded standard products. I expect a bit of customization.

That's where I found it too, and the pictures of feeds on the Dolcevita look just like the other #6 Bock feeds I have.

I don't think it was a mystery, but just something most folks don't bother to look up.

Ste_S
March 18th, 2015, 02:41 PM
The feed on the Unica is completely different to the feed on the standard Bock unit that Visconti and Kaweco employ. That doesn't discount it from being made by Bock of course.

dneal
March 18th, 2015, 10:18 PM
I am at a loss on where you're trying to go with this...

Ste_S
March 19th, 2015, 02:22 AM
I am at a loss on where you're trying to go with this...

I'd suggest re-reading the thread.

There was discussion about the Unica being a better value pen. Discussion about the quality of the nib on the Classic, which then span off to a discussion about other Visconti steel nibs and Bock nibs in general *shrugs*

dneal
March 19th, 2015, 05:30 AM
I got the general intent of the thread, and where it's been. I'm confused on where you're going with:
The feed on the Unica is completely different to the feed on the standard Bock unit that Visconti and Kaweco employ.
Is there a point to that? Neither Visconti, Kaweco nor Delta use the same feed and nib across every model, and often there are changes over the production years.

Ste_S
March 19th, 2015, 06:42 AM
The feed and housing on the Bock units for Kaweco and Visconti are identical. I can unscrew the Kaweco unit and put it in a Rembrandt, and vice versa. The Kaweco nib is obviously smaller than the Visconti though.
I don't have one to hand to compare, but in pictures it looks as though Edison uses the same Bock unit as Kaweco and Visconti. I expect many other companies do too.

The Delta Unica feed is completely different to the Bock one for Kaweco and Visconti, and doesn't use a screw in nib unit.

Bock produce an "off the shelf" nib unit for many companies, with custom options available on nib size and engraving, and markings on the bottom of the feed.
Visconti, Kaweco, Edison (maybe), previously TWSBI (now using JoWo apparently) amongst many others, essentialy use the same nib and feed.

Potter
March 19th, 2015, 06:49 AM
My Edison #5 nibs fit my TWSBI 580 without any adjustments and vica versa, so it does look like the standard screw in nib and feed units are fully interchangable.

erpe
March 19th, 2015, 07:49 AM
My Edison #5 nibs fit my TWSBI 580 without any adjustments and vica versa, so it does look like the standard screw in nib and feed units are fully interchangable.

Still interested to see if a TWSBI 530/40/80 nib would fit the Visconti classic. If so, I would have no scruples putting a TWSBI/JoWo stub on it. With a bit of luck, the Visconti should be here next week, then I can also compare to the Unica.

dneal
March 19th, 2015, 10:45 AM
The feed and housing on the Bock units for Kaweco and Visconti are identical. I can unscrew the Kaweco unit and put it in a Rembrandt, and vice versa. The Kaweco nib is obviously smaller than the Visconti though.
I don't have one to hand to compare, but in pictures it looks as though Edison uses the same Bock unit as Kaweco and Visconti. I expect many other companies do too.

The Delta Unica feed is completely different to the Bock one for Kaweco and Visconti, and doesn't use a screw in nib unit.

Bock produce an "off the shelf" nib unit for many companies, with custom options available on nib size and engraving, and markings on the bottom of the feed.
Visconti, Kaweco, Edison (maybe), previously TWSBI (now using JoWo apparently) amongst many others, essentialy use the same nib and feed.

"Identical" or "interchangeable"?

5ea #5 Bock nibs. From left to right: Kaweco Sport Classic, Kaweco Art Sport, Kaweco Sport 883 (made by Visconti), Faber Castell Ambition, Conway Stewart 58.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa163/roomdog/Pens/Bock%20Nibs%20001%201_zpsqlsffnv7.jpg

They're certainly not identical. In some cases they are interchangeable. Generally you can put any #5 nib on any #5 feed (with some exceptions). Bock uses the same thread pitch across their #5 housings, so yes in most cases they are interchangeable. You could also theoretically pull the nib from your Kaweco or Visconti and fit them in the Unica using its feed, or use the nib and feed from either of the two and friction fit them to the Delta.

All 5 of those pens write great. Perhaps the problem with your non-writing Bock nibs has nothing to do with Bock, Kaweco or Visconti...

dneal
March 19th, 2015, 10:48 AM
My Edison #5 nibs fit my TWSBI 580 without any adjustments and vica versa, so it does look like the standard screw in nib and feed units are fully interchangable.

Still interested to see if a TWSBI 530/40/80 nib would fit the Visconti classic. If so, I would have no scruples putting a TWSBI/JoWo stub on it. With a bit of luck, the Visconti should be here next week, then I can also compare to the Unica.

The Visconti doesn't have a housing and is just friction fit into the section. The TWSBI should fit, although you'll have to pull it from the feed assembly.

Let us know if it works, and looking forward to the comparison with the Unica!

Ste_S
March 20th, 2015, 02:17 AM
The feed and housing on the Bock units for Kaweco and Visconti are identical. I can unscrew the Kaweco unit and put it in a Rembrandt, and vice versa. The Kaweco nib is obviously smaller than the Visconti though.
I don't have one to hand to compare, but in pictures it looks as though Edison uses the same Bock unit as Kaweco and Visconti. I expect many other companies do too.

The Delta Unica feed is completely different to the Bock one for Kaweco and Visconti, and doesn't use a screw in nib unit.

Bock produce an "off the shelf" nib unit for many companies, with custom options available on nib size and engraving, and markings on the bottom of the feed.
Visconti, Kaweco, Edison (maybe), previously TWSBI (now using JoWo apparently) amongst many others, essentialy use the same nib and feed.

"Identical" or "interchangeable"?

5ea #5 Bock nibs. From left to right: Kaweco Sport Classic, Kaweco Art Sport, Kaweco Sport 883 (made by Visconti), Faber Castell Ambition, Conway Stewart 58.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa163/roomdog/Pens/Bock%20Nibs%20001%201_zpsqlsffnv7.jpg

They're certainly not identical. In some cases they are interchangeable. Generally you can put any #5 nib on any #5 feed (with some exceptions). Bock uses the same thread pitch across their #5 housings, so yes in most cases they are interchangeable. You could also theoretically pull the nib from your Kaweco or Visconti and fit them in the Unica using its feed, or use the nib and feed from either of the two and friction fit them to the Delta.

All 5 of those pens write great. Perhaps the problem with your non-writing Bock nibs has nothing to do with Bock, Kaweco or Visconti...

If I get a chance I'll post up pictures of the nib unit and feeds from the Kaweco Student and Vicosnti Rembrandt which are indentical.

I'm not sure who else you're insinuating is to blame, certainly not me I hope ?

erpe
March 20th, 2015, 04:38 AM
[QUOTE=Ste_S;121453]You could also theoretically pull the nib from your Kaweco or Visconti and fit them in the Unica using its feed, or use the nib and feed from either of the two and friction fit them to the Delta.

Not sure I'm gonna wanna try that...

dneal
March 20th, 2015, 05:18 AM
You could also theoretically pull the nib from your Kaweco or Visconti and fit them in the Unica using its feed, or use the nib and feed from either of the two and friction fit them to the Delta.

Not sure I'm gonna wanna try that...

That Delta looks like a #6 and not a #5.

erpe
March 20th, 2015, 06:22 AM
That Delta looks like a #6 and not a #5.

Possible, the size is approximately the same as on my Edison Collier. I think that is a JoWo #6.

Ste_S
March 20th, 2015, 05:59 PM
The Unica (and Serena) using a JoWo would explain a lot.

I've seen pictures of other steel nibbed Delta pens (Capri, Italiana, Virtuosa) and they don't half look as though they use the Bock unit that's used in the Rembrandt.
In this video at the 11min mark he compares the Rembrandt and Capri

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR-IQMExtO4