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View Full Version : Looking for recommendations for more Visconti's



Llewellyn
January 25th, 2014, 06:11 PM
So my plan over time was to buy five of the remaining eight Van Gogh's that are still to be released to fill up the remaining spaces in my pen box (I have the four that have been issued so far). But I'm wondering if I should be looking at other options in the Visconti stable. So I'm looking for people's suggestions and opinions on some of the other Visconti's that are available (either new or used).

Are the Salvador Dali's or Michelangelo's really much different from the Van Gogh's? I'm not keen on the Wall Street but I've found a black Opera that looks quite nice. What are people's opinions on the Opera?

Any suggestions should be about the same size as the new Van Gogh so that they will fit in the box. Thanks

Bogon07
January 26th, 2014, 12:55 AM
The Salvador Dali, Michealangelo(& Unity of Italy) use the same faceted body as the new Van Gogh.
The Rembrandt is about the same length but in a rounded body like the old VanGogh. The Ragtime is a similar size too.

The WallStreet & Opera have similar 'squaring the circle' bodies, the WallStreet does not have a metal end cap on the barrel like the Opera variants. There are also WallStreet LE piston filler with an ink window. The Opera also comes in the larger Master size some with Chromium tubular SmartTouch nibs.

Tracy Lee
January 26th, 2014, 05:25 AM
I have 7 Operas, and in my opinion one of the best pens they make behind the Homo Sapiens Bronze (or steel) which I recommend as a top choice Visconti to everyone. If you are buying the new Van Gogh's, honestly you have not really experienced the quality a Visconti has to offer in my opinion. If you love those, you might just faint dead away using a higher end pen. They just aren't like the others in terms of quality and the steel nib is nothing like using a Visconti gold nib, or the Dream touch, or the Smart Touch. And to answer your question, no, the others are not much different at all. Watch eBay for an older Van Gogh, for example, and you will be floored by the differences. There are quite a few Voyagers on the market too, also an excellent choice. Homo Sapiens are often floating around the market, too. Spending a bit more, the Divina is a fantastic pen as well. I personally think you should treat yourself and really do some shopping around and splurge a little on a higher end pen for your collection. You won't regret it. Go to some of the big store websites and look at the various collections to see the variety to be had and go from there. Fountain Pen Hospital has the Cosmos Collection at $556 and I will bet Bryant over at Chatterley can do better. It is an amazing pen collection and truly representative of what Visconti can do. It is much larger than your Van Gogh so that might be a consideration, and the Operas are bigger and heavier too. Again, all just my perspective of course, and pen preferences are pretty personal.

Carole
January 26th, 2014, 12:08 PM
Thanks to our resident experts for the advice. ( I'm waiting for an Opera. )

But does anyone know what this pen is? I can't remember where I found this photo.
It looks like a very cheerful pen. 9220

Jon Szanto
January 26th, 2014, 12:41 PM
Are there Visconti pens that don't have that style of clip?

Freddie
January 26th, 2014, 01:23 PM
Consider nos,mib or gently used..Visconti Voyager series...

Kaleido: in five colors and trims c/c filler...

Midnight: black with three different trims c/c filler

Moonlight: black Ag.925 sleeve and trim and rose gold vermeil piston filler

Anniversary: in lapis and coral celluloid dual tank high vacuum filler

Fred
"We meet again..." Randy Mastro, baseball bat totin' legal enforcer

Llewellyn
January 26th, 2014, 02:49 PM
I have 7 Operas, and in my opinion one of the best pens they make behind the Homo Sapiens Bronze (or steel) which I recommend as a top choice Visconti to everyone. If you are buying the new Van Gogh's, honestly you have not really experienced the quality a Visconti has to offer in my opinion. If you love those, you might just faint dead away using a higher end pen. They just aren't like the others in terms of quality and the steel nib is nothing like using a Visconti gold nib, or the Dream touch, or the Smart Touch. And to answer your question, no, the others are not much different at all. Watch eBay for an older Van Gogh, for example, and you will be floored by the differences. There are quite a few Voyagers on the market too, also an excellent choice. Homo Sapiens are often floating around the market, too. Spending a bit more, the Divina is a fantastic pen as well. I personally think you should treat yourself and really do some shopping around and splurge a little on a higher end pen for your collection. You won't regret it. Go to some of the big store websites and look at the various collections to see the variety to be had and go from there. Fountain Pen Hospital has the Cosmos Collection at $556 and I will bet Bryant over at Chatterley can do better. It is an amazing pen collection and truly representative of what Visconti can do. It is much larger than your Van Gogh so that might be a consideration, and the Operas are bigger and heavier too. Again, all just my perspective of course, and pen preferences are pretty personal.

Hi Tracy Lee

Thanks so much for this. I agree with you about the Van Gogh's and their place in the Visconti hierarchy. I'm also fortunate to have some of the higher-end pens you mention - a Homo Sapiens, Desert Springs, a 25th Anniversary Divina Proporzione, and I completely agree with you that the nibs on these are a step up from the ones on the current VG's (although I do like the VG's). And the old Van Gogh's I managed to find recently are very different to the current range.

I've decided that I now probably have enough examples of the current Van Gogh's and want to diversify the remainder of my collection - I will check out the Opera I have found and I'm suggesting a Ragtime to my wife as my next birthday gift.

Does anyone have a Ragtime and what do they think of it?

Jon Szanto
January 26th, 2014, 03:08 PM
Consider nos,mib or gently used..Visconti Voyager series...

Kaleido: in five colors and trims c/c filler...

Midnight: black with three different trims c/c filler

Moonlight: black Ag.925 sleeve and trim and rose gold vermeil piston filler

Anniversary: in lapis and coral celluloid dual tank high vacuum filler


Thanks, Fred, I'm assuming that's for me (the clip issue). I've got the LA Pen Show coming up in a couple of weeks so I'm going to take a look in person at some Visconti's, and I'll make note of the above.

Tracy Lee
January 26th, 2014, 03:33 PM
Consider nos,mib or gently used..Visconti Voyager series...

Kaleido: in five colors and trims c/c filler...

Midnight: black with three different trims c/c filler

Moonlight: black Ag.925 sleeve and trim and rose gold vermeil piston filler

Anniversary: in lapis and coral celluloid dual tank high vacuum filler


Thanks, Fred, I'm assuming that's for me (the clip issue). I've got the LA Pen Show coming up in a couple of weeks so I'm going to take a look in person at some Visconti's, and I'll make note of the above.

Ragtimes have a different clip as well, as do the new Cosmos Collection that reach back to the Voyager clip. The Pericles, both 2001 and older, have a unique clip and different than one another and different from other Visconti's in general. very plain and straight. Some versions of the clip you see most often (intended as a portrayal of a bridge to symbolize friendship and the union of people Mr. Del Vecchio says), have a split down the center instead of the name of the company. But the bridge is by far the most common and most distinctive of a Visconti.

Bogon07
January 26th, 2014, 08:20 PM
Thanks to our resident experts for the advice. ( I'm waiting for an Opera. )

But does anyone know what this pen is? I can't remember where I found this photo.
It looks like a very cheerful pen. 9220
the Girontondo per il Meyer - Merry-go-round for the Meyer (Hospital) from Casa Della Stilografica.
A donation pen from the Florence pen shop for the Meyer children's hospital. Appears to be a Rembrandt with a special cap band and grey Visconti logo on the clip. I think it comes in a special box and has a steel nib.

Carole
January 26th, 2014, 09:55 PM
Thanks to our resident experts for the advice. ( I'm waiting for an Opera. )

But does anyone know what this pen is? I can't remember where I found this photo.
It looks like a very cheerful pen. 9220
the Girontondo per il Meyer - Merry-go-round for the Meyer (Hospital) from Casa Della Stilografica.
A donation pen from the Florence pen shop for the Meyer children's hospital. Appears to be a Rembrandt with a special cap band and grey Visconti logo on the clip. I think it comes in a special box and has a steel nib.

Awww, thank you Mr. Bogon! My first thought was, Hey, that's Jerry Garcia's pen! (Not sure why. I love the colors though.) Very good of the Florence shop to do this, I'll go look them up. And speaking of Florence, I haven't been online for a while, so I'm also going to go look for stories about Mrs. Bogon's trip to Italia. I'm thinking there were some pen-related adventures along the way. :cool:

raging.dragon
January 26th, 2014, 10:02 PM
Are there Visconti pens that don't have that style of clip?

Yes. Most current Viscontis have the bridge clip, I forget when the bridge clip was introduced but before that most had the voyager clip, and before that were simple ball ended clips. The Ragtime, Pericles and a few other models had their own unique clips. And more recently a few limited editions have brought back the voyager clip.

Bogon07
January 27th, 2014, 02:29 AM
Thanks to our resident experts for the advice. ( I'm waiting for an Opera. )

But does anyone know what this pen is? I can't remember where I found this photo.
It looks like a very cheerful pen. 9220
the Girontondo per il Meyer - Merry-go-round for the Meyer (Hospital) from Casa Della Stilografica.
A donation pen from the Florence pen shop for the Meyer children's hospital. Appears to be a Rembrandt with a special cap band and grey Visconti logo on the clip. I think it comes in a special box and has a steel nib.

Awww, thank you Mr. Bogon! My first thought was, Hey, that's Jerry Garcia's pen! (Not sure why. I love the colors though.) Very good of the Florence shop to do this, I'll go look them up. And speaking of Florence, I haven't been online for a while, so I'm also going to go look for stories about Mrs. Bogon's trip to Italia. I'm thinking there were some pen-related adventures along the way. :cool:

The colours make me think of "hokky pokky" icecream from those sellers with big tubs of icecream where you select the flavours you want.
It is for the Meyer Childrens Hospital's Hematology Department.
http://www.stilografica.it/Visconti/Visconti_Pens/Visconti_Girotondo_per_il_Meyer_3028.htm

Unfortunately the shop did not have this pen in when Mrs Bogon visited Florence but she did come away with a Delta BlueJay.

"Does anyone have a Ragtime and what do they think of it?" great pen nice to hold, mine is a wonderful writer but a pain to fill or clean due to the captive converter arrangement.
9269
It is also a much heavier pen than you expect for it's size.

Tracy Lee
January 27th, 2014, 06:45 AM
I'll echo Bogon07 on the Ragtime, I have one and it writes beautifully though is is one of their skinnier pens and I like a beefy pen. The captive converter is in more of their pens than you would think, even at the high end, and is truly not ideal. The one in my Divina failed and spent three months away in Italy for repair.

Llewellyn
January 27th, 2014, 02:45 PM
Thanks Tracy Lee and Bogon. I like prefer a bigger pen, so that, combined with the cleaning issue might dissuade me from the Ragtime. That Opera I found though is looking pretty good.

Freddie
January 28th, 2014, 02:34 PM
Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Freddie View Post
Consider nos,mib or gently used..Visconti Voyager series...

Kaleido: in five colors and trims c/c filler...

Midnight: black with three different trims c/c filler

Moonlight: black Ag.925 sleeve and trim and rose gold vermeil piston filler

Anniversary: in lapis and coral celluloid dual tank high vacuum filler
Thanks, Fred, I'm assuming that's for me (the clip issue). I've got the LA Pen Show coming up in a couple of weeks so I'm going to take a look in person at some Visconti's, and I'll make note of the above.


At the show consider looking for the following.....
Visconti pens:

Ponte Vecchio:flat-top c/c filler in three beautiful celluoids..Adriatic Stone..Silver Granite..and Pomeii Blue...
Copernicus: cigar shape crescent filler in horizontally straited celluloid in red..green..and blue..
Millenium Arc: cigar shape crescent filler bridge clip c. 2000 in Visconti's Acryloid..red..green..and blue..
Manhattan: stepped cap and barrel end high vacuum filler in straited celluloid in Ruby Red..Sapphire Blue..and Emerald Green..

Enjoy the show..

Fred