VISCONTI Homo Sapiens Bronze Age Fountain Pen - Medium, black/bronze

Product Information

It closes with what Visconti describe as a bayonet system. It takes a fraction of a turn to cap or uncap yet is held closed securely. It’s a great system that adds to the feeling of quality while also being very practical. The pen filled well with a nice smooth action, although there’s no ink window so you’re flying blind about how much ink you actually take up, or how much you have left. I found that out today when I came to write my final notes for this review after a few days and discovered the pen bone dry. Although I’ve not had the kind of regular hard-starting that would lead me to believe this pen suffers from a big evaporation problem, the last time I used it it was writing fine, and yet today, zip, zilch, nada. So something is going on.

The clip and trim are plated in ruthenium. This gives the pen a kind of stealth look and also gives it its name. Some people love the clip design, some people hate it. I’ve always loved it. It does work as a clip but you have to lift it up to use it: it doesn’t just slide over whatever you’re clipping it onto. The monochromatic Lava Dark Age collection was inspired by the intense dark grey colour of lava stone. The Visconti logo engraving on the polished metal clip and the ruthenium-finished gold nib are discreet, refined and elegant. The Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi fountain pen is made from volcanic lava from Mount Etna mixed with a patented resin formula creating a virtually unbreakable material. This unique material makes the pen flameproof, warm to the touch and it also absorbs moisture from your hand. The branding on the side of the clip and around the body band is not engraved or cast then filled, but laser-etched. The body band, which reads HOMO SAPIENS, uses a very stately serif font that clashes horribly with the new-style extralight sans serif Visconti wordmark on the clip, and also happens to be different from the Courier-style typewriter font used on my Florence and London. Good flow but not the usual Visconti wetness, and sometimes a bit of hesitation to start on the first word. As a fan of the old Dreamtouch nibs with their smooth, wet and slightly bouncy personality, this doesn’t wow me, but it’s OK. I’ve done a fair bit of writing with this nib now and I enjoyed it.Each Visconti Homo Sapiens fountain pen comes with a power filler mechanism and an 18kt nib. Buy your Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi fountain pen today! This is a piston-style fountain pen. So, to actuate the piston, you have a little knob here at the end to fill the ink. The cap on the pen can be posted. It's a pretty good size pen, it feels a little top-heavy with that cap posted. I think I would use it without posting it. There is a prominent double bubble on the tip, like two scoops of ice cream on a cone. If the second scoop also had visible baby’s bottom. But now I’m mixing my metaphors.

Inspiration was drawn from the Bronze Age for all metallic parts. The Bronze Age, almost contemporary to the invention of writing, marked the eve of human civilization. The clip, the rings and the metal accessories -with the exception of the piston only- are all in bronze: natural bronze like the antique formula, that does not require plating or protection treatments which alter its original almost pink colour and which can be easily polished with special products. The Visconti Homo Sapiens Midi fountain pen is made from a revolutionary material created from real basaltic volcanic lava mixed with a patented resin for a virtually unbreakable compound. This lava material makes the pen dense at touch and absorbent to pull moisture from your hand.Although I am a fan of Visconti, the Sailor was a looker, light but with enough weight and thus stability while writing,has a perfect size and the nib is just… something else! A juicy, smooth, 21 carat gold nib laying down a wet line without being a gusher. No hard stops or drying out during long writing sessions. And the Sailor can be used as an eyedropper out of the box: the thread of the grip section is long and fine and the grip has a rubber o-ring incorporated. The material in this pen is as antique as the world: lava from the Etna volcano. Visconti lava is: Virtually unbreakable, it has a high degree of resilience. Flameproof, Visconti lava has a resistance to heat of over 100°C. Slightly hygroscopic, allowing to absorb hand sweat during use. The interior's a nice soft leather, the Visconti logo there on the underside of the lid. And of course we have the Visconti Homo Sapiens Midi Fountain Pen. This happens to be the steel version of the pen, it is also available in a bronze version. Chrome colored accents on the pen. The Homo Sapiens really has become the [pen] industry’s ‘grail pen,’ the ‘perfect writing instrument,’ and I think the key reason for its success is here we have a pen with real innovation that delivers the complete luxury writing experience, especially for the everyday write,” explains Cole.

I change my mind too often to have a true grail pen but a posh Visconti of some kind has been consistently on my wish list. None of them are cheap and I had to sell quite a few pens to be able to afford this one. Despite having gathered the funds by selling other pens, I still had some sleepless nights about spending this much on a writing implement. Am I glad I bought it? Read on! Inside is Visconti’s power filler, a vac-filling mechanism with a single chamber and no seal at the nib end — you can write indefinitely without having to unscrew the filling knob.

Visconti Pens

and their weight in the cap, which is suddenly much more substantial than I’m used to from a Homo Sapiens. Replacement Visconti fountain pen nibs are available in extra fine, fine, medium, broad, double broad and stub/italic. See the nib chart for the finishes available and nib grades for your Visconti pen. Model The writing experience won’t set the world on fire, judging by the sample I received (ironic perhaps for a pen made from lava and named after ashes), but there’s plenty else going for this pen. It’s a welcome addition to the Homo Sapiens range. This is the Visconti Homo Sapiens Midi Fountain Pen. It comes in a large leather box with the Visconti logo embossed there on the top of the center of the box lid. Rounded edges on the corners, and a small tray that pulls out with information about the Visconti brand. Clamshell style lid, hinged top, opens up.