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Product Description
Inspired by the work of Vincent van Gogh, this collection of fountain pens from Visconti features natural resin mixed to resemble palettes of oil paint. Each pen represents a different painting and pays homage to the famous Dutch artist’s use of color and technique Read More
I am really happy to see people are finally realizing that Visconti is an art first quality second kind of company. They make pretty pens which often have issues with build quality as well as functionality itself. Those pens that do work, people seem happy with them, but their poor reputation comes from frequent cases when they don't. Even limited edition pens sent for review had frequent issues with starting or at all working.
Personally if you ask me, 180$ for a steel nib that might not work is simply not worth it, no matter how pretty the pen is. After all we are buying a premium cost tool which can be had for far less. With premium price you should get premium quality. No excuses! Average, few cents here and there, ballpoints are at this point far more reliable than Visconti pens.
This is also a trend that I have noticed as well. Lots of gorgeous looking pens with terrible reviews. I was beginning to think that it was just my perception.
It depends on the priorities of the manufacturer. Visconti to me is like a Lamborghini/Ferrari. It's expensive, beautiful, stylized, loud, exciting, uses unusual materials, and it will probably require more maintenance/care than other pens/cars. In the same vein, a Pilot/Sailor/Platinum could be equated to a Toyota/Honda/Mazda as reliable, no-fuss, and affordable. A Pelikan/Montblanc could be compared to a Mercedes/BMW/Audi with their elegant design, perfectly engineered function and look, and above average prices.
You just have to decide what tier you want to go for. I think, based on the excitement and feeling my Visconti pens bring me, they're totally worth the occasional need for warranty servicing. But I completely understand that's not what everyone wants out of their pen.
I received one recently and I am not impressed by it , it is very light in weight and touch cheap in hands , its fine nib is more like M to me than being F , writing is slightly feathery ( I used the ink cartridge within pen package ), otherwise it looks beautiful and it is writer without fussing scratching or skipping , fast writing is great and reverse writing is nice .....and as expected its steel nib dose not show any variation .... personally I think 150$ is fair price for this pen with steel F nib
The nib on these pens is not the one shown in pictures, it is a smaller sized steel nib. I have the nib in the pictures on another pen and it is superior to the one that is actually on these pens. This is the nib that is installed-
Look at the price point.
I have an older Van Gogh somewhere...I think it's in the bigger pen case. The cap never worked that well for me, as someone else noted, so it's never been high on my list of users. I'm pretty sure it cost me more than the list shown for this one...and that was a LONG time ago. At least 20 years, I believe.
Many makers have switched from gold to steel.
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That's the price of gold, from GoldPrice.org, for the last 15 years. That huge spike in prices in a 5 year span strikes me as a BIG problem for most pen makers...IIRC, at least some of the Japanese makers actually own some mine resources.
And what's the least expensive gold-nibbed *European* pen? Looks like it's the Lamy 2000, and one reason its cost is mitigated is, it's got a very small nib. Hooded nibs have that advantage. nibs.com shows quite a few nib units for sale...a Pelikan M200 steel is about $50, whereas the M400 gold is $200. They're interchangeable, so the difference is the metal. So there's considerable price pressure, particularly for any secondary brand. I'm still on Fahrney's mailing list, and see *quite* a few pens...quite often higher priced than this...with steel nibs.
There was even a brief exchange on the Zoss pens list a couple years ago on this point.
CraigLewisI was not talking about gold nibs at all. I have never used a Visconti gold nib only steel or Palladium. I was only referring to two different steel nibs - the one shown in the photos here and the one I posted- both steel but different designs
I got the Starry Night version from Italy back in 2015 and I'm not happy with it's magnetic cap. After a few months the magnetic ring inside started corroding, and now it's barely magnetic and leaves some sediments on the nib.
Before anyone judges me, I do take care of my pens very well. I've searched in fountain pen forums and I'm not the only one with this problem. A few users theorized that the moisture comes from the ink in the nib.
These are lovely pens, though in the end, the steel nib isn't what I really want. The pricier "dreamtouch" is supposed to be outstanding.
KC2536
Feb 15, 2018
FranknsI got one of these recently, and while it would have been great to have a "dreamtouch" nib, I gotta say, the steel nib on the Van Gogh is truly outstanding. Amazingly smooth, well-tuned out of the box, and so far very reliable. Mine is a medium, which is about right for me on good-quality or even medium-quality paper. On crummy paper a fine might work better. It is not a flex by any means, but with a little pressure it does offer a small amount of line variation. But that's not what you'd buy this pen for. As I say, I would love to get something with a Dreamtouch nib, but good luck finding anything with a Dreamtouch that isn't twice the Massdrop price for the Van Gogh. If I get a decent tax refund this year, maybe I'll think about it.