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http://kephost.com/images/2016/07/02/999018175359fb2c6f0fb295d1bf095a.jpg Visconti came out with the Homo Sapiens back in 2009, when I was starting to get into this hobby. The lava-resin with the bronze accessories was haunting me ever since, but things were not going in that direction what could lead me to get one. With the new editions coming out, the temptation got stronger. The Crystal Swirls came out in 2014 which was limited to 1000 pieces and it’s still a favorite for many! Lovely deep blue patterns and rhodium trim! Then came the Florentine Hills. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the colors on that pen, it’s still a lovely addition to the line. This year (2016) I made a decision that I need an Italian pen in my life. I was about to pull the trigger on the bigger Bronze HS, but I’ve been told that a grey-blue LE is on the way! There were some good signs that I might like this new family member in the Homo Sapiens line. Grey and blue are among my favorite colors, it’s a demonstrator, and it has a rhodium trim. Even though I would choose the bronze age over the steel age with the regular HS, I generally prefer the rhodium trim. Then I saw the first photos of the LONDON FOG Limited Edition and I pretty much fell in love. There was no turning back form there. Filippo in the „Fountain Pen Group Buying” group on Facebook could get a pretty sweet deal on it, so I couldn’t be happier! Placed my order on my most expensive pen so far! I did have a few concerns though. With the previous two editions some people received pens with less than satisfying patterns on their pens even though these were meant to have nice busy swirls over the barrel. It’s hard to foresee, so it’s a risk unless the seller is willing to send you photos of the pen. The other thing was the nib. The dream touch nibs are not always a dream out of the box (based on some reviews and user experiences), and they mostly run wide and wet, so you need to take that into consideration when choosing the nib size. I won’t save the punchline for the end of this, so all I need to say is that it didn’t disappoint in either of those areas! And after this long prelude, here it is! 537/888 http://kephost.com/images/2016/07/02/619388e8daab978273be8b3e8485e36e.jpg The body is made of a mixture of acrylic and celluloid = 'arcyloid’ . This is how they got the swirls on the body. This material was used on the Florentine Hills as well, just like the sterling silver rings on the cap and barrel. The cap has some transparency, but that’s not the main feature. I love the twist-lock action of the cap! The play of blue-grey-white colors of the material on the cap, end cap and grip section is really interesting and has some chatoyance which is fun to watch in the light! http://kephost.com/images/2016/07/02/4c3b453c553a2f7484bc075cc2d6bad3.jpg http://kephost.com/images/2016/07/02/44ea72cd9b93b9499d22c9d03395f3bc.jpg The London Fog also has Visconti’s power filler with the double reservoir. Some love it, some don’t. Especially cleaning is said to be more time consuming, but I’m yet to see that. Filling the pen is not a big hassle, buti f it’s your first pen with such filling system, it can take a little getting used to. It’s more about how to hold the pen (and depending on the ink, the bottle as well) to fill it though. Aside from the fancy name it’s basically a vacuum filler, but you don’t need to unscrew the endcap after a short while to keep writing, because the smaller reservoir holds a good amount of ink too! It can last a few pages with a fine nib. The other, more advertised advantage is that you can empty the smaller ink reservoir to avoid ink from leaking during air travel. After Sheaffer years ago, it’s Visconti who rediscovered the Palladium nibs and added the catchy ’Deam Touch’ name to them. This pen has a 23k Palladium EF nib on it. Actually, a surprisingly true EF with great flow and smoothness to it! I was expecting a F/M line to be honest, but never a better surprise! Finer than the EF on my Pelikan M805, but those run pretty wide too anyway. What people love about the Dream touch nibs is that they are springy! This nib is really responsive to general writing pressure differences, but I don’t really feel comfortable „flexing” it. It has a really nice softness to it, but I wouldn’t go further than that. I love the overall writing experience! http://kephost.com/images/2016/07/02/de96e054a00a9027d9aa864f1d486680.jpg http://kephost.com/images/2016/07/02/9dc8e603f835d287f6c48b5e27eeb722.jpg http://kephost.com/images/2016/07/02/624792ac8b0846171bf28e3b26ef9f20.jpg It is my most expensive pen, also my first Italian pen, and I have to say it really lived up to my expectations! The Bronze age HS is still on my list though! Maybe even got higher!

Friends, This is arriving in just a few days and I'd like your help deciding what ink should I use with it. I am not a fan of blue but could consider using it. Personally I'm thinking about Iroshizuku Yama-Budo (my all time favourite) or some kind of Bordeaux, because I think these colours would really match well. I think, however, that a darker tone of Yama-Budo would match the gray and blue tone of this pen, somehow resembling the dark reddish wine color that is so common in old Hammer horror movies. Please leave your suggestions. These are the inks that came to mind: Diamine syrah (Might be a bit darker than what I want) Black Swan in English (Australian) roses (really like this one, even though I prefer the old formula) Ottoman rose (really like it too, but fear it will be too bright) PR Burgundy Mist (ambiguous about this one) Edelstein Amethyst (maybe) Newly added options: Sailor Yama-Dori and Mont Black burgundy (these two are great). http://i63.tinypic.com/ifsr9w.jpg