Visconti Casanova Erotic Art Pen

[Sazerac]

Sometime a few years ago, I purchased a Visconti Casanova Erotic Art pen (#0473) from Bryant at Pentime Time/Chatterly Pens for a fraction of its MSRP. Over the years it has continually stayed in my rotation of forty-some excellent pens (OMAS, Delta, Visconti, Aurora, Tibaldi, Stipula, Bexley, Pelikan, among others). Since its ‘theme’ is of a somewhat prurient interest, I believe it is a pen that has received too little attention despite the fact that is almost perfect in terms of balance, size, design, and nib performance. If it were a pen with a different ‘theme,’ I believe it would receive a lot of attention and be much more popular, but as it is, it is worthy of review. So I’ve decided to review it, even though it has been a while since it has been easily obtainable.

 

Here is why I love this pen.

 

First: the nib. It is an 18k Bock nib. I have about a half dozen 18k Visconti nibs. Each is delightful, but no two are alike in terms of firmness/flexiness. One is a nail, while another is nearly full flex (believe it or not). The others range somewhere in between. Yes, I have palladium, titanium, and 14k nibs, which are all nice, but I prefer 18k Bock nibs, especially those from the 1990s and early part of this century. Nibs from this era tended to come out of the box fairly well-tuned and a bit springy. This nib was near perfect out of the box, and it has a touch of flex to it.

 

Second: the filling system. It is a single-reservoir power filler. I have several double-reservoir power fillers, but prefer the single variety because it holds a lot of ink and does not require one to loosen the top cap when writing to let ink into the second reservoir, especially if one uses broad and stub nibs as I do. With this pen, one simply needs to uncap the pen and start writing. Plus, this pen comes with a matching traveling ink pot, which means that when filling it one can (but need not) involve another gadget. Using the ink pot adds to the ceremony of filling it. This filling system is my second favorite, next to piston fillers, but Visconti does not make many of those.

 

Third: the size of the pen. It is a long pen that does not require (and does not really allow) posting. So it is amenable to short or extended writing sessions. The design is a longer version of the voyager-series design – a long flat top – which is a classic design. But as the picture below shows, this pen hangs in there with the big boys. It is a big pen.

 

Fourth: the nib section. It is narrow compared to the body, so there’s some taper to it. Also, it’s made of Lucite, which has a nice feel to it. It’s not as nice as celluloid, but it is a warm, inviting material.

 

Fifth: how it feels ‘in hand.’ The weight of the pen is at the primarily at the top, with some weight distributed to the body due to the etched metal overlay. I have not found a better balanced pen, posted or un-posted. This is really why I love this pen. It just feels comfortable to write with.

 

Taken together nib+weight+size+filling system makes using this pen on a daily basis a true treat, while many of my other excellent (and treasured!) pens can be finicky on any one of these criteria.

 

The only drawback is the obvious one: Its ‘theme’ can be a bit racy for certain folks. Consequently, I am careful using it in public settings. But I have found that people rarely ask me about the pen because seeing someone using a fountain pen is itself already an odd enough spectacle – like seeing someone riding an old-time high-wheeled bicycle – indicative of a peculiar personality and probably not worth inquiring after. So I have come to use it in any setting, and do not know how I might explain it to an inquirer except to quickly put it away and act as if it’s of no consequence.

 

It is a pen that deserves recognition, despite its ‘theme.’

 

The attached photos are borrowed from a classified post by Bryant (used by permission -- thanks, I am grateful) except the one in which I show it next to a Delta DV Oversized and a Pelikan 1000 (to show its size) along with a brief writing sample (to show the fantastic nib).

 

 

Edited December 13, 2012 by Sazerac

[Uncle Red]

Cool pen. Thanks for the review!

[Koyote]

It looks like one would have to look pretty closely to figure out the design, so I think you could use this pretty much anywhere. Besides, have you watched basic cable lately?