Visconti Homo Sapiens (stub-nib)

Visconti (from Florence, Italy) made a beautiful pen out of really ancient materials, bronze, lava and palladium. They introduced the pen at the Philadelphia Pen show in january 2010.


Package

The package contains, the pen, a beautiful luxury leather-feel box, a booklet on Visconti, a impregnate cloth for cleaning the bronze parts. Inside the booklet is a DVD on Visconti and on how to use the fountain pen. It also contains a seal with the serial number (mine is CG0015945459).

The pen

First thing that I noticed when I touched the pen was it's smoothness. The barrel feels like rubber or leather it gives a great writing experience. The material is a mixture of 50% lava (from the volcano Etna) and a precious resin. It has nice bronze details and rings on it. The material is hygroscopic and can handle some sweat from the hands. The material is heat-resistent up untill 100 degrees Celcius. Visconti claims it is practically unbreakable and is resistant for scratches.


Filling the pen
At first I was a bit confused on how to fill it. But after seeing the DVD it was clear to me how to fill it. Visconti calls it the Powerfiller. Unscrew the rear end of the barrel and pull the piston out. Then put the nib in the ink and push the piston down again and wait for a few seconds. That last step can be repeated for completely filling the pen.


The nib

I choose the stub-nib 1.3. The palladium use for the nib is a great choice I think. It has some flex to it, but certainly not to much.

The cap

Visconti used the same closing on the cap as on the Divina Proportion. It is a bayonet closing with a little feather in the cap I think. It works great.

Writing

Writing with this nib is really a great experience. As you can see in the picture it gives even my handwriting something nice.

Facts

lenght: 145mm (5,7") - with cap over the nib-side (I think you call it capped??)
lenght: 131mm (5,2") - without cap and ready to write
niblength: 24mm (0,94")
barrel: 14mm (0,55")
price: about $ 565,= to $ 595,= (€ 420,= to € 450,=)

Nice use of materials and because of that a great feel
Hygroscopic barrel for sweaty hands
Good size if you like big pens
Really nice palladium nib

Can bee seen as a minor. It is a mens-pen.
Design is a little bit squarish (German, not the flair of a Italian pen)