Visconti Homo Sapiens Steel Age

[rajesh06]

I was vacationing in the Caribbean and came across a Visconti dealer. The Homo Sapiens has always been one of my "grail pens." I didn't get a "screaming deal" but decided to get the Steel Age in Maxi size.

 

Shame on me for not doing my research but I just assumed that the pen was a vac filler. I got it home and realized that it was a piston fill. I should have realized since the Bronze Age had a $695 MSRP and the Steel Age was $621 MSRP,

 

Researching FPN, I found posts from 2013 indicating that the Steel Age is only available as a piston fill.

 

Can someone tell me if this is still the case? (or did I buy a NOS pen?)

 

I found a few websites offering the Steel Age as vac fill - is this a recent development?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

FYI - I love the pen. I see on the site that there may be some QC issues at Visconti - but my nib worked like a dream (pardon the pun) out of the box. (I filled with Waterman Florida Blue which is my go-to initial fill to test a new pen.)

Edited June 28, 2016 by rajesh06

[Out0Mind]

My understanding is that they made the original Steel Age with the Power Filler (modified vac fill) mechanism, but replaced it shortly after the initial run with a piston filler and dropped the price slightly. The follow-up release, the Dark Age, was returned to a vac filler.

 

That said, it's still a great pen! I have the Steel Age as well and love it as much as my Bronze and Dark Age pens, simply for a difference purpose. I hope you continue to enjoy it, and I'm glad you didn't have any nib issues!

[zchen]

When I spoke with Bryant of Chatterley Luxuries in March of this year, he confirmed that recent production Steel Age Maxis returned to the Power Filler system.

[rajesh06]

When I spoke with Bryant of Chatterley Luxuries in March of this year, he confirmed that recent production Steel Age Maxis returned to the Power Filler system.

Thanks for this. Any idea as to when they returned to the power filler?

[zchen]

Thanks for this. Any idea as to when they returned to the power filler?

Not sure, I didn't ask at the time. But I think it probably was some point last year, Goulet pen's blog post on 9/30/15 when they first started carrying the VHS line already referenced the Steel age Maxi as having the power filler.

Edited June 29, 2016 by zchen