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I had thought I was done buying Visconti for a while since I have the models I want an am happy with then, but the PenChalet sends me an email over the weekend about some Ragtimes they were able to get ahold of. At $99 (paid $86 with coupon code) it was an impulse buy. It's not the same Ragtime from long again. The model has a steel nib and is a C/C model not a captured converter. I believe this was a 2016 model they the distributor must have found on the shelves. Back then I think it came in five or six colors. Only the green marble was available in the Fountain Pen version in this sale. I think they had more colors in stock on the rollerball model, but I didn't look. I could tell this is a budget model, but it's actually quite nice. The section is a lot like a Pelikan m200/m400 in size and it has a 11mm barrel diameter, but the pen is longer then a m200 at 124mm barrel length including nib, 165mm posted. It's 139mm closed, but with the lowered clip design like a Pelikan m10x it fits even small t-shirt pockets. I think the pen is better for me unposted. The material is very nice and the pen does support the mypen system. One thing I found really strange was the converter and cartridges don't fit very deep into the section. The stepped area of a cartridge or converter does not go into the section just outer most flange. The included converter is held tightly and I tested a long international cartridge which also seems to hold good enough but I would worry it could become dislodged. I have had converters drop off the section before and those fitted deeper. You can see what I am talking about in my second picture. The supplied converter (pictured) was one of the cheep ones no the deluxe ones Visconti supplies on their nicer pens. On first filling ink actually got between the two ribs on the plunger head making me worry it could get behind the plunger. I tried with rubber strips to unscrew the metal fitting on converter to take it apart for some silicon but was not able to budge it. I also tested a Schmitt international converter which was held on the section but not as tight as the supplied one. I was also not able to take that one apart, but I had no need to at this time. I know I have taken them apart before but those had gone with pens I had sold in the past. Maybe a quick hit from a heat gun would loses any thread locker that may be there. Currently it has a Pelikan Edelstein Aventurine long cartridge in the pen. In any case the pen writes really nice and I am happy I bought it. It has a vintage like design in a modern pen. http://driften.dragonsightsoftware.com/images/ViscontiRagtime-1.png http://driften.dragonsightsoftware.com/images/ViscontiRagtime-2.png

Does anyone else feel that the company's pens have degraded in terms of aesthetics and beauty? To me, its most beautiful models are/were Voyager, Wall Street and Ragtime, and the newer ones appear flashy, tacky and severely lacking in aesthetics. I know this is highly subjective, but would like to hear your opinions.