The interview of Mr Dante del Vecchio is now online there Thank you
VISCONTI
Thursday, April 15 2010
Interview: Mr Dante del Vecchio, founder of Visconti
By Penandco on Thursday, April 15 2010, 23:23
Wednesday, February 17 2010
Visconti: Palladium nib
By Penandco on Wednesday, February 17 2010, 19:57
Visconti introduces the first ever produced DREAMTOUCH nib in 23 ct 950 Palladium .
The international classification system lists only four precious metals and their related percentages of content: platinum, palladium, gold and silver. According to these precious metals Visconti has been producing 18 ct gold nibs and 14 ct gold nibs on a regular basis and some years ago also produced a Platinum 800 nib.
The advantages and disadvantages of gold nibs are well-known, while platinum nibs have proved to be excessively stiff. Although it is a precious metal in itself, silver is not suitable to fountain pen nibs manufacturing due to the strong corrosive power of ink on silver.
Palladium however has very interesting physical features for the fountain pen nibs production due to its strength and resistance to corrosion and for these reasons, unlike gold, it can be used almost pure.
Palladium melts at much higher temperatures than gold – 1522°C against only 1063°C – hence it is obvious that any manufacturing process is more difficult and more expensive by using palladium. Being more resistant than gold it has also better mechanical features, but it is at the same time more expensive. Nowadays manufacturing palladium nibs is possible thanks to new metal fusion technologies and to the welding of iridium points.
Dreamtouch is the term Visconti registered to define a soft nib that requires no pressure whatsoever in order to put thoughts and words on paper in a gentle and smooth way for a dream handwriting.
Main features:
Value: the 23 ct 950/1000 palladium nib is the nib with the highest content of palladium ever manufactured in the fountain pen history. In other words, it contains 95% of pure palladium against the 75% of pure gold in the 18 ct nib and the 58% of gold in the 14 ct nib. Flexibility and Memory: best possible for any type of writing, enhanced of 30% compared to the same nib in 18 ct gold. Writing comfort and reliability are guaranteed. Resistance to ink corrosion: improved up to 100% thanks to the pureness of the material to an extent to which no protection treatment or plating is needed. Originality: the palladium nib will make your Visconti even more exclusive, either as a collection piece or as a daily use instrument.
Broadness range: XXF (extra extra fine) XF (extra fine) F (fine) M (medium) B (broad) BB (double broad) S (stub) OM (oblique medium) OF (oblique fine) OB (oblique broad)
This new nib will be find on the brand new limited edition from Visconti: Homo Sapiens
Visconti: Homo Sapiens
By Penandco on Wednesday, February 17 2010, 19:55
You will also find our test of this pen here
More than five thousand years ago Homo Sapiens marked the dawn of human history and the invention of writing thus began. The same age discovers metallurgy, allowing the mastery of metals which signified the beginning of human evolution all the way to the invention of the wheel. The first great civilizations arose on the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates river banks and soon began the development of sciences like algebra, geometry, astronomy and engineering.
Visconti conceived the Homo Sapiens range of writing instruments for real writers, for those to whom the fountain pen continues to represent an essential travelling companion, a daily friend to share the same civilization that writing helped create.
The pen is made from a material that is as antique as the world around us: lava from the Etna volcano. Lava has many characteristics that make it very unique in the manufacturing of writing instruments. Visconti has successfully produced a 
material containing over 50% pure basaltic lava, catalysed together with resin in a formula that is patented and obviously kept secret. The extraordinary characteristics of basaltic lava practically transform it into a material perfectly fit to writing instruments.
Visconti Lava is:
Virtually unbreakable: It has a high degree of resilience Flame-proof: Visconti lava has a resistance to heat of over 100°C Slightly hygroscopic: allows to absorb hand sweat during use Dense: to the touch, rubber- like, providing the best finger-relaxing grip Unquestionably new in the range of materials employed in the making of fountain pens
All metallic parts of the pen were inspired by the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age, almost contemporary to the invention of writing, marked the dawn of human civilization. The clip, the decorative rings and the metal accessories, with the exception of the power filler, are all in bronze. Homo Sapiens is made with 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 high vacuum power filler charging system is made of titanium, the only material resistant to ink aggressiveness.
The 23 ct 950 Palladium DREAMTOUCH Nib
With Homo-Sapiens Visconti introduces the first ever made 23 ct 950 palladium Dreamtouch nib. Dreamtouch is the term we coined to define a nib that requires no pressure whatsoever in order to write, it traces in a gentle way thoughts and words for dream-like handwriting.
Palladium has interesting physical features that allow the production of fountain pen nibs; its manufacturing is possible today thanks to new metal-fusion technologies and to the welding of iridium tips. This metal has been the fundamental element in 1989’s Pons and Fleischmann cold fusion theory.
Palladium actually melts at much higher temperatures than gold: 1552°C against 1063°C. It is therefore obvious that this metal has better mechanical features; being more resistant than gold and that any manufacturing process involving palladium becomes a lot more challenging.
The international classification system lists only four precious metals and their related titles: platinum, palladium, gold and silver.
To get more informations about this new nib, please click here
Friday, October 16 2009
Visconti: The Knight Templars
By Penandco on Friday, October 16 2009, 14:39
About 700 years ago with an infamous charge of heresy the Order of the Knight Templars was outlawed, the knights killed and their fortunes confiscated.
The Order, founded around the year 1118, ows its name to the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic sanctuary located in the whereabouts of the Biblical Temple of Jerusalem; the Templars used to call this Dome ‘‘Templum Domini’’
The Knight Templars are remembered for the economic and cultural development they had brought throughout Europe and they are still cited today as shining example of honesty utter devotion and faithfulness.
In the common iconography the Knight Templars represent the right thing that can only be destroyed by mere economical interests.
This fountain pen has been inspired by the legendary white robe with the red cross the Knight Templars used to wear.
Since they were a military order the metal trims of the pen were inspired by the iron and the steel and have been duly aged.
The seal bears a significant historical weight as well: it portrays two knights, symbol of poverty and of the duality monk –soldier.
Main Features:
Limited edition to 312 fountain pens Material: ivory-colour resin Artwork: aged filigree Filling system: Double Reservoir Power Filler Nib: bi-tone 23 ct 950 palladium
Wednesday, January 7 2009
Visconti: The Bible Limited Edition
By Penandco on Wednesday, January 7 2009, 22:30
Visconti has always been very attentive in giving importance with its creations to aspects and themes that have impact, change or describe our life: this Limited Edition fountain pen collection is dedicated to all religions of the world and the name chosen to describe it is (not by chance) MYSTIC PENS.
The Bible, the most read and printed book of the world will give the start to this collection with two editions that reflect the two great religions linked to it: The Christian and the Judaic.
THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE
This pen is turned into single resin ivory (coloured) bars and the cap has the same dimensions of the pen shaft. This choice reminds us to the partition in Old Testament (the pen body) and New Testament (the cap). In the shaft our artist has represented the story of the Old Testament according to its most significant scenes: Adam and Eve, Noah’s Arch, David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac, Moses and the Decalogue, while on the cap we find scenes of Jesus’ life: His Birth, His Baptism, the Last Supper, and the Ascent to Heaven. The head and blind cap, with their 10 lateral facets, remind us of the Decalogue- their form and the engraving in Hebrew on the blind cap recall the two stone tablets. The Holy Graal is hidden inside the blind cap and has the function of activating the Power Filler.
Painting Technique: entirely made in Florence and inspired by Dürer’s xylographies, it’s a PAINTED SCRIMSHAW which has never been performed before on a pen and it’s very rare on other objects being a very difficult technique. According to this technique, resin is drypoint engraved, and then filled in with calcography ink and finally coloured, thanks to the fine artwork of CLAUDIO MAZZI.
Limited Edition to 999 pens in vermeil silver (black painted scrimshaw) Limited Edition to 199 rollers in vermeil silver (black painted scrimshaw) Limited Edition to 99 pens in antique 750 gold (painted sepia scrimshaw) Material : Ivory coloured resin Pen Nib: 18 kt 750 with ivory feeder Filling System : Power Filler Artwork : Scrimshaw painted by Claudio Mazzi
THE JEWISH BIBLE
The basic characteristics of this pen are naturally identical to the Christian Bible pen: the materials, the metals employed and the engraving of the Decalogue in Hebrew on the blind cap are the same. The Christian edition is more Renaissance- related according to its painted designs, while the Jewish edition has a more ancient shape, in a way more solemn, in one word, more orthodox. Here we have matched the vermeil gold to the sepia colour, the antique gold to platinum and silver to classical grey lead. The engraving technique is a typical SCRIMSHAW- firstly, the resin is dry engraved and the spaces are filled by calligraphy ink. After the drying phase the exceeding ink is removed with a very fine glass paper and then hand polished. The entire work is entirely done internally by our best engravers. In the shaft our artists have represented the story of the Old Testament with its most significant images: Adam and Eve, Noah’s Arch, David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac, Moses and the Decalogue, while on the cap we have represented the prayer in front of the Wailing Wall, a very important spiritual moment. The Temple, is so sacred to the Jewish people, is hidden inside the pen. You can find it by unscrewing the blind cap and it has the function of activating the filling system.
Limited Edition to 999 fountain pens in sterling silver (black scrimshaw) Limited Edition to 199 rollers in sterling silver (black scrimshaw) Limited Edition to 99 fountain pens in antique gold 750 (sepia scrimshaw) Material : Ivory coloured resin Pen Nib: 18 kt 750 with ivory feeder Filling System : Power Filler Artwork : Classical Scrimshaw
Monday, December 1 2008
Visconti: The Bible Limited Edition
By Penandco on Monday, December 1 2008, 17:57
Visconti has always been very attentive in giving importance with its creations to aspects and themes that have impact, change or describe our life: this Limited Edition fountain pen collection is dedicated to all religions of the world and the name chosen to describe it is (not by chance) MYSTIC PENS.
The Bible, the most read and printed book of the world will give the start to this collection with two editions that reflect the two great religions linked to it: The Christian and the Judaic.
THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE
This pen is turned into single resin ivory (coloured) bars and the cap has the same dimensions of the pen shaft. This choice reminds us to the partition in Old Testament (the pen body) and New Testament (the cap).
In the shaft our artist has represented the story of the Old Testament according to its most significant scenes: Adam and Eve, Noah’s Arch, David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac, Moses and the Decalogue, while on the cap we find scenes of Jesus’ life: His Birth, His Baptism, the Last Supper, and the Ascent to Heaven.
The Holy Graal is hidden inside the blind cap and has the function of activating the Power Filler.
Painting Technique: entirely made in Florence and inspired by Dürer’s xylographies, it’s a PAINTED SCRIMSHAW which has never been performed before on a pen and it’s very rare on other objects being a very difficult technique.
According to this technique, resin is drypoint engraved, and then filled in with calcography ink and finally coloured, thanks to the fine artwork of CLAUDIO MAZZI.
Limited Edition to 999 pens in vermeil silver (black painted scrimshaw) Limited Edition to 199 rollers in vermeil silver (black painted scrimshaw) Limited Edition to 99 pens in antique 750 gold (painted sepia scrimshaw) Material : Ivory coloured resin Pen Nib: 18 kt 750 with ivory feeder Filling System : Power Filler Artwork : Scrimshaw painted by Claudio Mazzi
THE JEWISH BIBLE
The basic characteristics of this pen are naturally identical to the Christian Bible pen: the materials, the metals employed and the engraving of the Decalogue in Hebrew on the blind cap are the same.
The Christian edition is more Renaissance- related according to its painted designs, while the Jewish edition has a more ancient shape, in a way more solemn, in one word, more orthodox. Here we have matched the vermeil gold to the sepia colour, the antique gold to platinum and silver to classical grey lead.
The engraving technique is a typical SCRIMSHAW- firstly, the resin is dry engraved and the spaces are filled by calligraphy ink. After the drying phase the exceeding ink is removed with a very fine glass paper and then hand polished.
The entire work is entirely done internally by our best engravers.
In the shaft our artists have represented the story of the Old Testament with its most significant images: Adam and Eve, Noah’s Arch, David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac, Moses and the Decalogue, while on the cap we have represented the prayer in front of the Wailing Wall, a very important spiritual moment.
The Temple, is so sacred to the Jewish people, is hidden inside the pen. You can find it by unscrewing the blind cap and it has the function of activating the filling system.
Limited Edition to 999 fountain pens in sterling silver (black scrimshaw)
Limited Edition to 199 rollers in sterling silver (black scrimshaw)
Limited Edition to 99 fountain pens in antique gold 750 (sepia scrimshaw)
Material : Ivory coloured resin
Pen Nib: 18 kt 750 with ivory feeder
Filling System : Power Filler
Artwork : Classical Scrimshaw
