Visconti
Home Sapiens Steel Age
25th Anniversary set
Part 1
The Pen
*note, if you are interested in this pen please read the section on filling mechanism first*
Home Sapiens Steel Age
25th Anniversary set
Part 1
The Pen
*note, if you are interested in this pen please read the section on filling mechanism first*
While this pen is the 25th Anniversary Addition, the only difference is a special button on the top of the pen, and the inclusion of a two pen case from Viscontis Dream Touch Leather line, and a Travelling Ink Pot, which we will look at in the second part of this review, for the pen, we will just look at it as a normal Steel age for the review purposes. the pen is a lot like its bronze brother that Dave(258) reviewed sometime back, with a few exceptions we will look at below.
The Steel age pen has similar markings to the Bronze Age, but instead of the bronze used this pen uses, well, Steel. The body is made up of the grayish black Lava Resin (We will go into that further in the next paragraph) and the bright polished steel rings upon the cap, and large pocket clip stand out beautifully that dark canvas that holds it. While the rings are perfectly marked some of the placement seems a bit off. the "Homo Sapiens" markings on the main ring upon the body doesnt align center with the nib, it seems kind of odd, but then while the italian pens I own are good with fitment, most of them lack in Finish as we see here. Also the two steel rings on the cap can spin on the cap, but there is no wiggle or play otherwise, they sit perfect, just are not glued down.
the body as you may have heard about in the past, is made of a unique lava resin, this stuff is as awesome as it is odd. to feel it for the first time it almost feels a bit rubbery, but a tap with your fingernail has it sound as if its hard. I pressed my thumbnail into it fully expecting a mark to show up, but its very hard and not a single mark was present. With very dry hands the pen body feels hard again with some texture that helps you grip it. its very cool, very unique, and im glad I own at least one pen in the material.
This is the MAXI sized pen, which is a large body pen. If you have a look at the Visconti Homo Sapiens Crystal Swirl edition review you can see (As this is the same size) the pen against some other popular pens to see just how big this is. The pen is much lighter then the Crystal though, and is very well balanced and fits great into my medium sized hands.
The cap has some heft to it because of the large arc clip, and it wont post very deep on the body, as a result trying to write with the pen posted is very unbalanced and not a joy at all, if your a poster you may wish to think if you would use a pen that doesnt post before buying this one, as even though it can post, odds are you will not want to write with it that way.
The Nib
once again we meet the pleasure of having the pleasure of meeting the dreamtouch nib. the 23kt palladium nib, this time in EF, which to my surprise was as "EF" as any of my Japanese "Ef" nibs. while it has a great feel to it, almost like my pilot nibs, this pen having a hairline (And I meen like 40 year old hairline not 18 year old) thickness, doesnt have that same dreamtouch numbness that a medium or stub will have. Its still an absolute joy to use though. its soft but not so much you will get flex of any kind, but I do see some variation as I write. The nib came perfectly flowing and aligned out of the box and has been used non stop since I have inked it up.FILLING SYSTEM
Okay pay attention to this part kiddies, we are going to get a bit complex here. the 25th edition I have comes with the "Piston" type filler, which is really a trapped converter of sorts, it only hold somewhere around .7 ml of ink. but thats not exactly what the Steel age will come with... follow along with me here
-Steel age releases comes with the power filler that hold 1.3ml or so of ink.
-all of a sudden Visconti changes it to the "Piston" filler
-and once again goes back to the power filler
Thats right depending on when the pen was made there is TWO choices in filling options. in this case the Power filler has twice the fill capacity of the piston, and is almost as easy to clean if you remove the nib unit from both pens, if not then they are both about the same meaning you will probably want the power filler in all cases unless you want to keep the weight down. Bryant at Chatterly Luxuries (Where I bought this pen from, clearly states that his steel age pens have the power filler, but if your not buying from him it is possible unless the seller opened and checked, doesnt know himself what filler type is on the pen, so make sure you ask before you buy so you know which one of the two you are getting.
I did know ahead of time, but as both the regular power filling steel age, and the 25th anniversary pens were the same price, I opted for the one with the included accessories over the ink capacity as I like to change ink colours often, and carry at least two pens anyway. plus I have a travelling ink pot to fill from now as well.
Any questions on the filling type mess here ??? just ask below
When I opened the box I was a bit disappointed with the cheapness of the box, my other Viscontis even the rembrandts had some heft and a great finish, but hey its only a box, and this round the money wasn't put so much into the fake alligator housing, but the additional items inside. I had the chance to play with Daves Bronze age in NY, as well as playing with a Midi sized Steel age at the pen show in toronto, I knew I wanted this pen for a while now, and Am so glad to have it now, it is now at the top of my daily driver list. The material is touch and up to workhorse daily tasks, the nib is not a hard starter like the 1.3 stub, and man does it just fit the hand nicely. The cap lock is effortless, much more then the acrylic materials on the Crystal, here things are a bit more round and the cap locks into place and removes so easy I like it better then the clutch cap of a 51 or the magnetic cap of the rembrandt. All in all, the Homo Sapiens are a great line of pen in any variety, but the steel age at $500USD this is not a cheap pen, but for that price you are getting a large fill capacity (With the power filler) a great nib and feed, and high quality build, things you can have at a cheaper price, but only in this pen can you package it in a great shaped and balanced pen with something as unique as the Lave resin, which feels great in the hand and is very tough, and should last several lifetimes.
This is one of my, if not my favourite pen in my collection now. if you have been on the fence about one of these... everyone I know who has one, loves it.
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