How Useful is the Visconti Travelling Inkwell?

[Niner]

I have two Visconti travelling inkwells. (Vendor photos here: https://www.gouletpens.com/products/...veling-inkwell.) I find them expensive and less practical than a bottle of ink.

The inkwells come with a glass syringe for filling. There is a long story for each of my syringes, ending in the syringes being broken. The loss of a syringe can be overcome, as any syringe can be used to fill the inkwell. So far, two black marks (cost and risk of broken syringes) against the inkwells.

The stopper for opening the older of the two inkwells is rounded, making opening difficult. It looks nice, though. The newer inkwell has a flat stopper, making it less difficult (I wouldn't say easy) to open. Filling a pen from the inkwell is a bit of an art, I would almost call it a parlor trick. One more black mark, then, for difficulty of use.

I have found that a bottle of ink properly packed for travelling is not at risk of breaking, holds more ink than the Visconti inkwell, and is easier to use.

I would be interested to hear others' views about the traveling inkwell.

[OCArt]

I have four inks that are my standard 'go-to' choice and I have a inkwell for each. I use the inkwell both at home and traveling. One can get a far more effective fill on vacuum-filler pens with the inkwell than with a bottle. My piston-filler Pelikans also work very well with the inkwell but I've filled Parker 51's too. My suggestion is to practice a bit with water until the procedure becomes second nature.

The round stopper inkwell is, as you said, older and the stopper may need a bit of lubrication. I put just a trace amount of silicone grease on my round stopper.

[rickap]

I have one and it has a flat stopper and is not difficult to open.

I use it mainly to fill pens with large nibs (M1000, 149, etc.) when bottled ink is low. I use a syringe to transfer the ink to the inkwell. This works fine for me and makes it easier to get all the ink from a bottle when the ink level is low.

Rick

[Jaguarish]

I have read that the Pineider traveling inkwell works better and is much less costly (but won't feel as premium in material). I have toyed with the idea of getting one, but in truth I usually do fine with a few ink sample vials and a few pens at hand. Plus, I stash one bottle of standby ink at the office in case of emergency, but it's not my favorite option (Parker Quink black).

[dneal]

I had two. One I purchased, and the other I can't recall how I ended up with. I never used either, and gave them away in a PIF.

• MSRP is $95, and market price is around $75. I agree they are not worth that.
• The glass eyedropper they come with are cheap, and various syringes are better alternatives. Syringes are ubiquitous and cheap. Not an issue worth troubling oneself over, IMHO.
• Mine had the flat stoppers. I don't know how you're measuring "difficult" or "easy", but my subjective opinion is that it's easy.
• Although I never used them, I did experiment with water and a Pelikan M400. I didn't find anything about that a black art or parlor trick either.

I think perhaps they're best suited for someone who has a preferred pen and ink, and takes business or holiday trips where a refill would be needed but bringing an entire bottle is impractical. Should disaster strike, I'd rather deal with the loss (and mess) of a few ml of ink in the Traveling Inkwell as opposed to an entire bottle. You won't put all $40 of ink (for the more expensive varieties) at risk.

In my case of somewhat regular and sometimes lengthy trips, I found that I didn't write enough to require an inkwell (due to amount of pens... 3-6 or so); and that I tended to choose cartridges - convenient, sealed and easy to transport refills being a key point of them.

[Chrissy]

I think perhaps they're best suited for someone who has a preferred pen and ink, and takes business or holiday trips where a refill would be needed but bringing an entire bottle is impractical. Should disaster strike, I'd rather deal with the loss (and mess) of a few ml of ink in the Traveling Inkwell as opposed to an entire bottle. You won't put all $40 of ink (for the more expensive varieties) at risk.

This is an excellent reason to have a Travelling Inkwell of some sort.

[DaChad]

I find the concept very useful, but the Visconti overpriced. I have the Pineider and a TWSBI vac bottle. I wouldn’t travel with the TWSBI, as I don’t fully trust the closure.

The Pineider holds a few fills (ymmv on an Opus 88 eye dropper) and fills easily. I keep one in my laptop bag when traveling. Paid like $25 on Amazon. Fits the purpose very well.

[Kgbenson]

The only downside to the Pineider is that it is too chunky to fit in a pen wallet or holder as a pen. I like the Visconti for that (three pen holder, two pens and the inkpot). Truth be told, they both function equally well in use.

Keith

[msw]

while i will concede that they are pricey (and i bought mine when they weren't nearly as expensive as they are now) i use mine on a regular basis, and i don't see anything particularly arcane about the use or deployment.
other thoughts: i use it at my desk. for every day, i run a TWSBI Vac 700 which i fill with their inkwell & this works OK ... i work in a machine shop, so i don't bring the very good (expensive) pens there. hope this helps.

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