Visconti Van Gogh- Review

First Impressions

I have wanted a Visconti Van Gogh for quite some time. I saw my Dad’s White Van Gogh when he came to visit me about 6 months ago. I thought the color was just fantastic and the feel of the pen was just as good. I decided to buy a Van Gogh a few months ago and I was expecting the pen to have the ‘TRI Cam Locking System” rather than the typical threaded barrel and cap. When the pen arrived, I was quite disappointed when I opened the box. The pen did not have the Cam Locking System that I really wanted, the clip was turned around 180 degrees and scratched up and there was no ink well included. The website stated that the pen includes Visconti’s revolutionary locking system and an inkwell in a presentation box.

I contacted the online store that I bought it from and they were more than willing to either refund my money, give me a store credit OR a good deal on another pen of my choice. I took them up on the offer of a pen that I wanted at a MAJOR discount. I was told that Visconti quit producing the Van Gogh pens with the Cam locking system due to the fact that there were a lot of complaints and problems. So they opted for the typical thread locking system that has been used for the longest time. I was happy to have the problem rectified but there was still something missing. I had a feeling of being incomplete and a piece of my heart missing. I really wanted a Visconti Van Gogh with the older locking system.

The Visconti that I sent back was a wonderful and masculine “Musk Green” color. It looked very earthy and unusual, considering the color of pens that I usually buy. There has been several Visconti Van Gogh fountain pens sold on the Pentrace “Green Board” but only very few in the color I was looking for and most importantly the nib width. I am a Medium Nib kind of guy and low and behold a Van Gogh for sale with a medium nib but not a Musk Green; this was what they call a Sandal Brown/Red color. I never seen it in person until the day that it arrived. If looks could kill, I would be dead on the floor but looks has nothing to do with the writing performance of a pen. So lets see how this pen matches up through the rigorous tests that The Noble Savage throws at it!!


Appearance/ Finish 5 out of 5

Ok, this is pen came quick and was at my doorstep around 3 days after ordering. The color on this pen is truly stunning. It is rather hard to describe in words, that’s why I always include pictures with my reviews!!! The pen has a turd brown and tan color with swirls with the barrel being semi-translucent. The pen was buffed to a mirror polish that is reflective. This makes the pen a bit on the slippery side so you have to be very careful handling this pen. Since I have butter fingers, everything seems to slip out of my hands and this pen is no different. So I made sure that I use this pen while I sit down and then put it away in my pen case when not in use. This reduces the chance of having fountain pen causalities and ruining my day!! The section is metal and it is a high polished metal. The same goes for the clip and the engraved cap band. Overall, this is a very stunning sight to see, when it comes to this pen. Fantastic job Visconti, Bravo, Bravo!!!




Design/Size/Weight 4 out of 5

Guess what? There are no threads on this pen, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! This is what I wanted on this pen and I waited very patiently for it!! The Tri Cam Locks are a rather interesting way to secure the cap to the pen when not in use. Rather than using threads, which has been traditionally used in fountain pens, Visconti decided to go out on a limb and try something new. Rather than having threads on the section or barrel to screw the cap on to the pen, there are 3 raised notches on the barrel and 3 cut out notches on the inside of the cap. To apply and lock the cap on to the pen, you have to turn the cap or barrel less than ¼ of a turn in fact, much less. The cap is nice and snug and it takes greater force to open it up with the cams versus the traditional threads.

Sounds good, right? Well, kind of sort of a problem. The cap does not always lock down the first time you try to tighten it up. The twisting action takes much more force than you would ever consider on a traditional threaded pen. Don’t be afraid because if it is not tight enough then the cap will come off and leave a mark on your shirt pocket called a stain!!! What I generally do is tighten it up very snug and t then slightly tug on the barrel and cap in opposite directions using minimum force. Too much force will cause stripping or breaking the locking system. But if the cap stays on then you have properly secured the cap to the barrel. I can see where people get bent out of shape when the pen cap pops open. As long as you get this technique down, this cap will not open up unless you drop it from the roof on to the concrete. This cap is locked on!!!



The length of this pen capped is roughly 5 ¾ inches in length. With the cap posted, the length is around 6 ¾ inches in length. Sorry, us Yanks really didn’t catch on to the metric system and what little we did, we do not use all that often!! Regardless, this is a nice sized pen and not necessarily an oversized pen, this is a very comfortable length for me.



They used an interesting new concept for the clip on the cap of the pen. It seems to be adjustable by a flathead screw on the backside of the cap. You are able to increase or decrease the tension to the clip by screwing or unscrewing the flathead screw on the cap. I found this to be very useful especially if you use a thick pocket, you clip the pen without having to worry about bending the clip or tearing your shirt or coat pocket. I found this to be a wonderful design and I know Visconti is using this kind of clip on some of their other fountain pen models.



Something I was glad to see is a solid medal section and metal threads inside the barrel. There has been a fair amount of issues with stripped threads on fountain pens. This seems to solve the issue of stripped threads. With the metal on metal fit, this provides a firm and snug feel and it is very solid.

Now here is the not so nice thing about the metal section. The section is slippery and my fingers tend to slip down the section. This is especially the case when the cap is posted. Is this a major flaw? Yes and no!! Now let me explain, if you have all the excess weight from the cap being posted then it becomes a problem. If you choose to write without the cap posted, then this flaw is less apparent and I am sure you won’t have any major issues. I usually write with my fingers low on the section but with this pen, I have to adjust my grip by going further up the section. No big deal, it just takes a little getting used to.

Ok, let’s get to the section about weight. This pen is heavy!! Nuff said!! Just kidding, this pen is very heavy with the cap posted. I would say it is weighs more than a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck 149 but not as much as the Pelikan M1000. There is a good amount of metal on this pen and that accounts for the majority of the weight on this pen. Believe it or not, this is one of the few pens I do not post while I write. For me, I find that posting the pen really counters the even balance, thus I have a difficult time writing. You have to consider all of the parts of the pen that are metal and then you will understand why this pen is so heavy. There is the clip system on the cap, solid cap band, solid metal section and metal threads inside the barrel. Now I am sure you understand why I call this a very heavy pen.


Nib Design and Performance 4.5 out of 5

This is where the rubber meets the road, or something like that!! The nib is a two toned 14 Karat gold nib that is close to 1 inch in length. If you were to remove the nib from the section, I am sure it would be substantially longer in length. There are typical Visconti engravings and designs on the nib itself. With the words “Visconti” and under that “14 K 585” and right under that is the nib width and this one is a medium thus having the letter “M”. This is a very nice smooth nib that seems to glide effortlessly across the page that you are writing. One thing I had to report is that the nib is a medium/stiff with minimal amount of spring to it. Regardless, the nib needed no smoothing unlike most of my other pens in my collection. This nib was created with perfection in mind and with that said, they did a wonderful job with it.



The nib lays down a nice medium to heavy line of ink and that is just the perfect amount I need for what I use this pen for. There has been ZERO episodes of skipping and what not. As a rule of thumb, before I do a pen review, I need to at least go through 3 to 4 ink filling before I can get a really good feel of how the pen performs. This gives me a chance to try a couple of different inks to see the difference in flow. I guess it is like meeting someone for the first time, it takes a few time to get to know that person, well the same goes for fountain pens.

Now when it comes to the actual act of writing, I noticed a couple of things that needed to be reported. First of all, the weight of the pen while I am writing. Like I said before, I cannot post the cap on the pen while I write due to the excessive weight. For example, if I were to write with the cap posted, the pen becomes top heavy and it seems that I have to fight gravity. After a while it becomes a bit annoying and also causes my hand to become tired. To remedy that, I just write without the cap posted. This makes using the pen less strenuous and also a nice balanced feel to it. Plus the pen is long enough to write with without the cap being posted.

This pen is a very nice writer and it seems to have been made rock solid with all of the metal. The nib is the brains in this pen and as far as I am concerned it comes in as a genius!!


The Filling System 4.5 out of 5

Booooo!!! This is a cartridge converter system BUT I can understand the reason why they went with it. This pen is heavy to begin with; I cannot imagine a piston system with brass components in this pen. It would be so heavy you would need a weightlifters belt to lift it up and you would need to strap it on to your hand!! Yes, I think cartridge converter filling systems suck BUT there is a time and place for it and I think this is the time and place.


Cost 5 out of 5

The price for the regular size Visconti Van Gogh (this one) are usually around $160.00 or so. Well I bought this one used but I do not think that this pen has seen much writing time. It was completely clean and I couldn’t see a trace of any ink. This one set me back $90.00 on the PenTrace “Green board” and I think that was a steal. I have paid more money for pens that were very disappointing when it comes to the performance. This one was a real pleasure to use and I finally bought the version that I really wanted

Conclusion

This is my first Visconti, well second if you include the one I sent back the same day. Anyways, this pen met my expectations and it surpassed them in a few details. There were a couple of minor things that I found to be a bit disappointing but as I said, they were minor. This is an all around solid pen that really is a pleasure to use and also a pleasure to look at. Should I recommend it?? You betcha!!! If the price is right and there is a color that really tickles you then crack open that wallet of yours and thrown down the greenbacks. I don’t think you will be disappointed with your decision!!