The collection can be personalized using the well-known Visconti patent- My Pen System – with the instant application of the initials, the zodiac sign or the semi-precious stone preferred by the fortunate future owner of a Visconti pen. The My Pen System applications can be found in our webstore. This is the Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi Fountain Pen. It comes in a large, leather box that has rounded edges. Visconti Logo is embossed, on the center of the box lid. It has a small tray or compartment that slides out and there's a pamphlet in here, information about the Visconti brand. Hinged-style lid lifts open, has a leather interior. Also included with the pen is a rag, for cleaning and taking care of it. On the underside of the box lid, the Visconti logo is printed there. 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. 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 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.

Barrel options: same barrel but available with bronze trim (‘Bronze Age’) or steel trim (‘Steel Age’) 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. The cap pushes on to post. This is a large pen to start with and posted it’s very long and quite unwieldy. (My pen is the ‘oversize’ version. There was also a smaller ‘midi’ version but that will soon be discontinued.) 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. Visconti conceived the Homo Sapiens fountain pen for real writers, for those to whom the pen continues to represent a travelling mate, a daily friend to share with the same civilization that writing contributed to create.

Mailing Address

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

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. 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!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. It depends on the pen's filling mechanism, which you can find in the Technical Specs section above. But: it actually writes quite nicely. The Lava Color writes fairly true to a European fine. There’s a bit of tooth. No flex as such.