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Hello there! This is a rather in-depth review of the Leonardo Magico DNA! I got this a month ago but I just had no time to do reviews and stuff due to the finals season. Anyways, here we are with this review! - Price 7/10 This pen is worth 200 USD. For a pen with a rather generic steel nib (more on that later), I find this to be quite pricey. But I do understand that this is an Italian pen, from a solid bar of resin. And with a piston filler. So it's not that bad I guess. - Packaging 9/10 The box doesn't necessarily affects the overall well-being of the pen. But I must say, I like the box quite a bit! Tho my paranoid self is telling me that the metal clamps (there must be a better term) is rather tight. - Build Quality 10/10 I have no flaws to say about the build quality of this pen! I could definitely feel the fantastic craftsmanship that went with this writing instrument! Nothing about this pen feels cheap. And the fact that it's not injection molded (the lovely orange barrel that is, not sure with the black resin parts) but from a solid bar of acrylic, is just wonderful! It is very different from Japanese pens in this price range. - Design 10/10 Absolutely wonderful! The orange and black design pops outs very easily! If you want an understated pen, this one's not for you haha. As the name suggest, the color scheme was based on the Delta Dolcevita pens. Gotta love their bold and pretentious designs! The Magico also has the pointy ends which looks very nice! - Cap 10/10 The cap has a minimalist look and I like it a lot! On the back there's the Leonardo name, and the number of the pen which is 626. The wheeled clip is very good! The cap band is rather simplistic and I would prefer a much bolder design. It also says Italy on the band. It takes exactly one whole turn to uncap which is excellent! - Piston Mechanism 9/10 One of the Magico's unique features! The piston is smooth! And it feels quality! I could feel that the piston mechanism can go on very well with very little maintenance. Though I only rated it a 9 as it takes quite a bit (8 twists approximately) to fully turn the piston all the way to the end. This makes cleaning a bit more challenging haha. It can take up to 1.5 ml of ink which is A LOT. One of the pros of this pen indeed, compared to let's say, a Sailor, haha. - Ink Window 10/10 A wonderful design! I like this better compared to the original/first release. It is very functional. - The Writing/Nib 6/10 The moment of truth. The pen has a laser engraved (by Leonardo) Jowo #6 steel broad nib. Out of the box, the pen has a bit of tooth on a specific cross stroke and baby's bottom. And the wetness can still be improved. I had the pen tuned twice, and tho it now writes decent, it still feels rather plain for my own personal preferences. Maybe because it's my first time to try a Jowo nib? Or that I was in awe of Naginata Togi nibs? Not sure. The steel nib is also hard, like a nail. I would say that for the price, I would prefer an in-house nib, with more personality. I believe Leonardo is working on it so I'm excited! I might have this nib ground to a stub in the future, as to make it more of a unique writer. - Comfort 10/10 The Magico has more of a traditional section compared to most Leonardo Pens. It is very comfortable! The threads are not sharp so I can grip it there, no problem. Posted, the balance seems a tiny bit back-heavy, but nothing too serious. It also posts super well btw - Weight and Measurements The pen is similar in size with the Pelikan M800. The Leonardo is bit longer due to the pointy ends buy is noticeably lighter than the M800. - Others One minor thing I observed is that the pen would stop writing even tho there's still a few drops of ink left inside. I find it rather strange as my other piston filler pens would only stop writing once the barrel is fully empty. I found that the nipple of the nib unit, has a certain level needed in order for it to accept ink. Once the ink level can't reach that, the nib and feed would run dry, even tho there's still a few drops of ink still left, below the nipple. This is not necessarily a problem, but I'm personally quite OCD about that haha. I felt I needed to mention this as this is a long review haha. - Overall Rating 7/10 The pen is wonderful! I love the build quality and the design! I like the piston mechanism too! There's not much cons about this pen but that, the steel nibs (the one on my Magico at least) could have more personality. I'm sure Leonardo will also make their steel nibs in-house in the near future. That makes me excited and afraid at the same time as it would drag me deeper into the Leonardo craze hahahaha I hope you enjoyed this in-depth review of the Leonardo Magico DNA! Please follow me on Instagram @jv.espino for more pen related content! Till the next one!

Last month, I received a Leonardo Officina Italian pen. This was a limited edition (10 made) in redwood ebonite with a 14 kt gold stub nib. It is a piston loader. I posted a detailed review of that pen. (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/334672-leonardo-officina-italiana-momento-zero-ebonite/?do=findComment&comment=4029696) I liked it so much I bought another, but one of the "numbered" (not "limited") editions. This review will be less detailed, emphasizing the differences. Numbered Edition above, Limited edition below Numbered Edition, uncapped The size and form of these pens is exactly the same. The quality of fit and finish is the same also, as far as I can tell. However, the cap of the Numbered edition unscrews, revealing the end of a captive converter. The section also unscrews, giving access to the converter. As far as I can tell, the converter is not removable, at least not easily. It seems to be standard, good quality converter. Another significant difference is that the Limited edition comes with 14 kt. gold nib while the Numbered edition comes with a steel nib. The Numbered edition comes in several materials - Positano (blue), a "Horn" resin and a black resin. I chose the pen in Positano. The photos I saw online made this material look very similar if not identical to the material Montegrappa used in their Modigliani limited edition writing instruments. Rods of this material are available to pen turners, and I had a custom binde made of this material for a Pelikan M600 by Shawn Newton. Putting that pen next to my new Leonardo shows they are almost (but not quite) identical. Pelikan above, Leonardo below As many of you know, my daily handwriting is in italic script, so most of my fountain pens have italic or stub nibs. I found one of the select few pen shops that carry Leonardo pens that had the model I wanted with a stub nib. This was a bit of a gamble for me, but I found it writes almost identically to the gold stub on my ebonite Limited edition Leonardo. Bottom line: I find this to be a beautiful, well-made pen which is comfortable to use and writes beautifully. With a price that is about one fifth of the Limited edition, it is a real bargain, in my opinion. David

I first heard about Leonardo Officina Italiana pens from an Instagram posting by Glenn Marcus. His pen looked gorgeous, and he spoke very highly of it. Looking into this “new” company, I find it has been around for several decades, but, while they have made pens for a number of other well-known Italian pen companies, they only recently began making pens with their own branding. They call the first of their models “Momento Zero,” meaning for them “a new beginning.” Given the recent demise of several highly esteemed Italian pen makers and the rumored distress of some others, it is wonderful to see new Italian pen makers appearing, especially ones producing writing instruments of such high quality. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Leonardo Officina Italiana is making two lines of Momento Zero pens. One line has resin bodies, captive converter inking systems and steel nibs. It is priced in what I would regard as the middle range for a pen with these features. The other line is produced in very limited numbers. It has bodies either of celluloid or ebonite, a true piston filling system and 14 Ct gold nibs. It is priced in the lower range of top quality Italian pens - still rather expensive. The pen I chose was the Ebonite model. This was a limited edition of 10 pens. I found one at Stilograph Corsani in Rome. I had a lovely email exchange with the owner, Stefano Senatore. He had one ebonite pen left, but I wanted one with an italic nib. Stefano determined that he could obtain one from the manufacturer, but it would be outside of the limited edition. It would be numbered “00/10.” That was fine with me. The pen arrived today, and I inked it with OMAS sepia. General appearance/aesthetics The pen is made of a dark, reddish “Rosewood” ebonite. both the cap and barrel have a subtle taper. The ends of both the cap and barrel have slight points. There are two thin gold cap bands, another band between the barrel and the section and another between the barrel and the piston cap. Size/Ergonomics The Momento Zero is about the length of a Pelikan M800 or an old-style OMAS Paragon. Its barrel is significantly bigger around than the Paragon and just a bit bigger than the M800. There is a slight step off to the section, so the sections diameter is probably about 14 mm (my estimate). The ebonite pen is quite light, and it feels well balanced both posted and un-posted. Left to right: Leonardo Officina Italiana, OMAS Paragon, Pelikan M620, Pelikan M800 The gold clip has a roller at the end. It goes into and out of a dress shirt pocket smoothly and seems to keep securely in the pocket. Piston/filling The pen fills with 4 turns of the piston. The piston turns smoothly with a solid, positive feel. I have not measured the ink capacity. Stefano told me that the piston mechanism was modeled after the one used by OMAS. The nib, feed and writing experience The nib is a 14Ct gold, “semi-flexible” stub. I believe I read somewhere that the stub was 1.3 mm. However, it writes a line that is 0.8 mm wide. This is well within the practical range for my everyday italic handwriting. The nib is buttery smooth, but, with smooth Rhodia R paper and OMAS ink, it has very respectable thick/thin line variation. Together with the pen’s excellent balance, this makes for a very comfortable, fluid writing experience. When I looked at the feed, I remarked that it appeared identical to that on my OMAS pens. The nib itself is about the size of a vintage Paragon or 360 nib. Its shape is a bit different, with more flare in the shoulders. Top to bottom: OMAS Ogiva, Leonardo Officina Italiana, OMAS Paragon, OMAS old-style Milord General quality/fit and finish The fit and finish of this pen is flawless. It impresses me as being of very high quality but in no way flashy. This is clearly a pen to use, not one to merely display. That suits me fine! As a rather unique and certainly unanticipated bonus, the pen came with a little package of the swarf from it's turning. A cute touch! Last, a writing sample - my "thank you" note to Sr. Senatore. Happy writing! David