Visconti pen? Is it worth anything?

[Leah Noel]

Hi all,

My dad (now deceased) received a pen from a client. It says it’s a Visconti pen, but I’m not sure. A piece broke off the end (are fake luxury pens a thing?) and it looks pretty worn on one end. It comes with the magnetic ring stand, it’s missing what I believe is the eyedropper tool.

There’s no sentimental value in it to me as my dad never did get around to using it. I’m pretty sure he was gifted it without the eyedropper. Also, the ink included is by Fahrney’s and spilled on part of the display box.

To be honest, I’m not even sure what I have and if it’s worth anything. I originally joined this forum with the hope of finding out if it was worth selling (my mom was about to give it away or pitch it). But now after actually looking at the pen, I’m not sure if there’s any value. This May be a silly question but Are fake luxury pens an actual thing? It just seems weird that the piece where the magnet is at the end would come off!

I’ll attach pictures. Sorry I’m so clueless, to be honest I never knew there was such a thing as pens over a couple hundred!

I’m pretty sure what I have wouldn’t be worth much because of the broken magnetic and (somewhat sticks on still), the missing eyedropper and the spilled ink (ink unrelated to Visconti). But wanted to post my question still!

Thank you so much for reading.

Edit: in the last picture you can kind of see the black ink in the left corner in back

[Leah Noel]

Also, if it’s not worth selling,... I’m so new to pens. And I am becoming more intrigued by the idea of dipping and writing. Maybe I could benefit from it!

[Wile E Coyote]

What you have is the Visconti Jung Alchemy pen and stand. Original MSRP was $4,950. Chatterly has a page about it here (https://chatterleyluxuries.com/product/visconti-limited-edition-jung-alchemy-fountain-pen/) where they were selling it for $1,695.

Yes, the end is supposed to come off. It was removable to allow you to purchase a customized replacement which you could then easily swap out. It was called My Pen or something along those lines. Take a piece of tape to get the iron filings off and the piece will stay on much better.

[Leah Noel]

Thank you Wile,
I did find on Google with the help of alchemy, but that price blew my mind and then with the ink stain and missing eye dropper, I figured it may only be worth a couple hundred if I was lucky!

[Jon Szanto]

Yes, I'd certainly think twice before hauling this off to Goodwill or something. It is often hard to put a price tag on very unusual, limited-edition items (such as this one), but if you just look at a few examples you can see that the pen and accessories certainly have a fair amount of monetary value. Once you have enough information, it's up to you to decide what to do.

[Leah Noel]

Thank you for your reply, Joe!

I’m definitely doing more research. I also learned the inside of the stand you can hold ink, and there is clearly leftover ink in there. So it is definitely used. I’m wondering if I could get like $800 or $900 for it. I know there’s no eyedropper with it and the red velvety display case is ruined with an ink stain. Another friend suggested I hold onto it, see if it becomes more valuable. Whoever gave it to my dad included other ink with it (which spilled).

I’m a recent grad and part of me is thinking “sell it for whatever you can get, use that money towards paying student loans “. But the other part of me is fascinated with it and considering the day I have my dream job and can display it at a desk someday.

The reason I wonder if I could still get $800 for it is because I’ve seen Visconti pens sell at that price without a stand.

Thank you for you input!

[BayesianPrior]

Thank you for your reply, Joe!

I’m definitely doing more research. I also learned the inside of the stand you can hold ink, and there is clearly leftover ink in there. So it is definitely used. I’m wondering if I could get like $800 or $900 for it. I know there’s no eyedropper with it and the red velvety display case is ruined with an ink stain. Another friend suggested I hold onto it, see if it becomes more valuable. Whoever gave it to my dad included other ink with it (which spilled).

I’m a recent grad and part of me is thinking “sell it for whatever you can get, use that money towards paying student loans “. But the other part of me is fascinated with it and considering the day I have my dream job and can display it at a desk someday.

The reason I wonder if I could still get $800 for it is because I’ve seen Visconti pens sell at that price without a stand.

Thank you for you input!

If you were sure you wanted to sell it, there is no harm is listing it for sale at the higher end of your expectations. If it doesn't sell, you can always lower the price. It depends how you value "selling it quickly" against "not leaving any money on the table."

I can't advise you on whether to sell it, or how much to ask for it if you do sell it. But the market will assist you in assessing the "true" value. It just might take some time...