Delta - in trouble?

[adhoc]

I have found, in general, that Italian pen manufacturers (just like cars) seem to charge a hefty mark up their product putting them into a higher price bracket. This has been done by many Italian companies asking premium price for C/C pens with steel nibs... I'm honestly not surprised so many are having difficulty in the current market.

Don't get me wrong, they make beautiful pens, and the Dolce Vita was a real player on my list of pens I wanted... However, I ended up getting the Federico model due to the extreme prices they charge.

I hope they don't go anywhere, but sometimes you can price and market yourself out of business by being too fickle!

As Italian neighbour, I still primarily connect "Made in Italy" as cheap and low quality (speaking in general, not pens). I was amazed with the prices some of their pens reach for. I guess in terms of Visconti, one should really connect it with expensive and low quality.

From experience, if you want quality, you buy German or Japan made. And lately, it seems like Germany is going to have to be crossed from that list as well, given current trends.

I've been renovating my home past year and actively worked on avoiding anything Italian made. The new bathroom had an italian made toilet installed (didn't check it, my girlfriend picked it). It is the single worst piece of furniture in my home right now to the point of being barely usable.

EDIT: I am, of course, speaking in generalities. This doesn't apply to *absolutely everything*.

[Fabri00]

I do not think we can produce in Italy cheap goods in general, as the cost of handlabour is relatively high in our country, and our average Industry size is smaller, and therefore less efficient, then other European countries.
I'm sorry for the disappointing consideration you have in Italian goods, but normally the importers from your country ask specifically for bottom cheap prices. It happened also to me, with the distributor for the company I work for, in your country. I refused to supply them with the prices they wanted and i preferred to not sell there.

Often there are specific product lines, in particular for kitchens, bathrooms and house furniture, specifically produced for that countries, and often even not produced in Italy, but just branded ad italian.
Often also Chinese products are counterfited as Italian, and then exported.
One big chinese industry producing ceramics for bathrooms and kitchens bought an Italian ceramic company in Carpi, only to do that.

On the other way I can tell you that several reliable Italian companies supply high quality products like the aboves, to the more expansive and luxury markets like Dubai, Arabia, Japan, China, Russia, USA, and many others. I think if that peoples spend a lot of money, is not to buy the worst quality in the market.

Similar situation is for clothes and fashion goods.

This is not to say that Italian products are good or not good, but to suggest that maybe your experience has been considering only some cathegories of Italian goods, and I do not think you can assume that those represent the total Italian production.

[adhoc]

I absolutely agree with everything you wrote. So there's that. It is quite possible we get high prices for some cheap goods from Italy. Keep in mind we're a country that so much wants to be European, but mentality is mostly balkan. I would say sorry for dealing with my fellow country men, but I have to deal with them too.

My mother, for example, outfitted her apartment entirely in Italian furniture. We're not talking cheap here, we're talking 40k€ for a kitchen. 15k€ for a sofa, etc. The kitchen is in massive cherry wood (massive as in full wood, not just stickers plastered on top and ground wood in the middle). The whole thing is in Biedermeier style. It is absolutely beautiful - the tables and chairs are hand cut and lacquered, but just in few short years, things started falling apart. As a mechanical engineer, some of the joints and stuff I see baffle me as a technical solution.

Then there's for example Visconti - they used to send out instructions that were worse than google translate ... on pens worth 1k€+. Visconti still keeps sending out pens that have damaged finishes, non-writing nibs, etc. Old Lamborghinis, before VW bought them, frequently caught on fire and the translations on warning labels there were...laughable. Ceramica Dolomite, ...

These are not no-name brands. I'm sorry, but I have a lot of experience with Italian companies, as we're a small country and import a lot from you guys, but I can't recall a single positive experience with anything Italian made. Beautiful, but low quality. My experiences are limited and as you said, there are possibly some outside factors that impacted those experiences, of course. This is why I stressed out I am talking in generalities and that does not apply to everything.

German made, on the other hand, has rarely been beautiful. But it's mostly practical and high quality. Function over form.

Now, after talking bad about italian companies and products, back to ordering an Aurora 88 Nebulosa...I guess I'm just a hypocrite.

EDIT: Ah - I forgot to add this. Yes, you are right in that it is quite possible we get lower quality stuff here. Trust me, it doesn't reflect on the price WE pay! I see this ... shit ... everywhere. Lower quality food from same company from different markets. Which is amazing, as a Milka costs more here than in Germany, but it's made in Albania, where quality is much lower.

[adhoc]

Funny, as we were on the subject...I received the Aurora 88 Nebulosa today, a pen with MSRP of $895 and street price of $720, with italic nib. The italic nib is so badly made, that it is actually a right foot oblique and doesn't write at all. Like, at all. I have never seen a nib so bad before.

The pen was ordered from an authorized dealer and while not extremely expensive, certainly not cheap either. Although I can't say I'm really surprised, Aurora being an Italian company and all, but I just found it ironic, given the topic at hand.

I should probably mention I have 7 crisp italics at home, so I do know how to use them. The pen is beautiful, though.

[Ahriman4891]

That's unfortunate.

To provide a counterpoint - one of the comforting factors during the purchase of my Aurora 88 was that there were comparatively few complaints about them (I won't bother buying a Pelikan or Visconti at all, with all the reports of atrocious QC). Thankfully, my 88 writes very well. Guess you were one of the unlucky ones.

[adhoc]

Even though Lamy has been the most consistent out of all brands I've tried (which is pretty much every brand out there save for those one man operations) and well over 100 pens, Pelikan is still my favorite. This Aurora, on the other hand...I'm not sure if you completely understand the full picture (if I expressed myself clearly). I ordered an italic and got a right foot oblique. If it was left foot oblique, then at least I could call it a happy accident, because left foot oblique nibs are fun to use. This means they weren't able to cut a straight line. This is on a level of incompetence I didn't imagine was even possible. The oblique is actually at such an angle, you can see it just with your naked eyes.

[RocketRyan]

Even though Lamy has been the most consistent out of all brands I've tried (which is pretty much every brand out there save for those one man operations) and well over 100 pens, Pelikan is still my favorite. This Aurora, on the other hand...I'm not sure if you completely understand the full picture (if I expressed myself clearly). I ordered an italic and got a right foot oblique. If it was left foot oblique, then at least I could call it a happy accident, because left foot oblique nibs are fun to use. This means they weren't able to cut a straight line. This is on a level of incompetence I didn't imagine was even possible. The oblique is actually at such an angle, you can see it just with your naked eyes.

Was that your only dealing with Aurora, seems a touch harsh to condemn a company over one mistake.

[adhoc]

First and last, yes. Any sort of quality control whatsoever would not let a single nib in such poor condition slip. As said, you can see the nib is not ok with naked eye already, without any magnification.

True, harsh, but fortunately we're in capitalism and I can condemn anyone I choose with my wallet.

[Fabri00]

"Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum"
(Seneca, 55 ac )

[RocketRyan]

First and last, yes. Any sort of quality control whatsoever would not let a single nib in such poor condition slip. As said, you can see the nib is not ok with naked eye already, without any magnification.

True, harsh, but fortunately we're in capitalism and I can condemn anyone I choose with my wallet.

True, but 50% of the lamy pens I have bought have been unusable, yet 100% of the parker pens I've brought have been brilliant. Which is pretty much the opposite of what I read on line.
I own two Aurora optima fountain pens and they are amazing. So indeed you can form your own opinion of a brand, and are entitled to it. However I asked the question for the simple reason, we're you unlucky and having a whinge, or is there a problem with the brand. On this occasion I would surmise you are just unlucky. Thanks for replying though.

[VertOlive]

Sorry to think this might be true (and happy I have my four Deltas in hand). I do have to say I detest the one fusion nib I have.

What did Delta say about the fusion nib?

[youstruckgold]

Sorry to think this might be true (and happy I have my four Deltas in hand). I do have to say I detest the one fusion nib I have.

What did Delta say about the fusion nib?

I have a couple of fusion nibs and actually quite like them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[grainweevil]

What did Delta say about the fusion nib?

CAUTION! You may wish to dial down the sensitivity of your b*llsh*t meter to prevent catastrophic overload before reading the following:

...the patent-pending Fusion nib - a revolution in design by Delta. The nib was developed to improve the efficiency of the fountain pen by enhancing the physical-chemical properties of ink within its assembly system. The foundation of the Fusion nib is a steel alloy covered and decorated with a layer of precious 18K gold: the ink is made more viscous on the tip of the nib because the thermal conductivity of the precious metal plate will heat the underlying steel - the higher temperature makes the ink flow more smoothly. The combination of gold and steel on the flexible nib gives it a unique and appealing look. It is strong and durable for long writing sessions - much more so than solid gold nibs. Hence, the fountain pen is more precious and at the same time less expensive!

[stub]

What did Delta say about the fusion nib?

It cures cancer.

[RocketRyan]

I'd forgotten how funny that was .

[stub]

I'd forgotten how funny that was .

Funny also that the price of the pen really didn't seem to be any different than a full golf nib.

& that the gold never even touches the ink

&

Fuuniest of all was that the gold doohickey on top often fell off anyway.

[RocketRyan]

I'd forgotten how funny that was .

Funny also that the price of the pen really didn't seem to be any different than a full golf nib.

& that the gold never even touches the ink

&

Fuuniest of all was that the gold doohickey on top often fell off anyway.

Yes I heard the build was a bit shoddy.
I have a delta with a steel nib, and a delta with a 14k nib, both are fantastic writers.
I wonder what ever possessed them to do this. From what I gather they were bock nibs anyway, either use the Titanium or Palladium nibs surely.

[stub]

I was really really tempted but the Delta Matte Journal. Really temped but that ship has sailed. That model lasted a Scaramucci and was gone.

[VertOlive]

I used this thread as an excuse to buy a Federico Stantuffo with a regular gold nib in case they really do close up shop!

[Jon Szanto]

I used this thread as an excuse to buy a Federico Stantuffo with a regular gold nib in case they really do close up shop!

This must be a wildly synchronous coincidence: I opened up this thread to see the announcement, but I've just seen, over on reddit, someone claiming to have been informed by Yafa that Delta has closed it's doors. I'll keep my eyes open for a more official statement.