Visconti Nibs (14K Vs 23K)

[RyanM]

This is a questions which I have been asking for some time, and many people, like myself continuously ask. What is better? The 14k Gold nib you can find on some of the older Visconti models, such as the old Visconti Van Gogh Maxi, and sometimes on the Opera, or the newer 23k Palladium nib, found also on the newer Opera's and the Homo Sapiens, and really all of Visconti's newer pens. I have had an experience with these nibs, which for me, has answered this question.

 

I purchased a Visconti Opera Fountain pen off ebay about a year ago with a 23k Palladium nib in Fine. This pen was a limited edition, in the Opera Elements series and was stunningly beautiful. But upon writing with this pen, I realised that the problem with this pen was the nib. It was very hard to start, and once it did start, produced a very dry, very heavily skipping line, and became almost impossible to use. Now I have had this experience with pens previously, and have fixed it with the old method of increasing the gap between the tines, but in an expensive pen such as this one, I was very hesitant to do this. Now I must admit that at this time I did have another Visconti Opera Master Fountain Pen in a Demonstrator. This pen was the absolute opposite. The line on this pen was so wet, it was really almost impossible to use on any paper but Clairefontaine or Rhodia, as the ink was just too heavily put down. The nib on this Opera Master was a medium.

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Now quite stupidly of me, in the process of attempting to get the nib on my Visconti Opera to write, I accidentally dropped it. Now another thing about Palladium is that it bends. Very easily. Yes. I bent it. And because Palladium is such a malleable metal, trying to bend it back into shape just made it worse. So eventually I just cut off the broken part, and rounded out the remainder as a stub. Now, surprisingly, this worked. But it was a very wet, very broad stub.

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Soon after this, I went out and purchased another nib for this pen. I decided I wasn't going to risk another Palladium nib, so I went with a 14k gold nib. I'd heard about these nibs being quite good, and had to search around to actually find one. Eventually I got one off ebay.

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This nib was an absolute dream. The flow was great. Not too wet, not too dry, it started immediately, it was smooth, it had just a touch of feedback. It was really great. And it wrote like a fine nib should. I was very impressed. And a bit confused. Why did Visconti stop producing such fantastic nibs and start on the Palladium ones, which are not nearly as good??

 

Fortunately for me, I now have my Visconti Opera limited Edition back, with a nib which is 100 times better than the one which it came with. I now have the ballpoint of the same pen (which I only get if I really like the Fountain Pen of the set).

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So really, I can't understand why Visconti has stopped producing their 14k nibs. I have only heard praise about these nibs, and from my experience, have had two, pretty average 23k Palladium ones.

What's your experience with Visconti's 14k and 23k nibs? Have you found similar things to me? Or maybe something different? I'd love to know!

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[migo984]

You don't mention the Visconti 18k nibs, which I think pre-date the 14k nibs, and which I prefer to all others. The 18k EF on my Opera Tramedautore is stunning, and the one on my VG Midi is very nicely responsive. I do like the 14k F nib I have on my Opera Summertime, but wish it were finer. I might be wrong but I don't think the 14k were sold as EFs? I'd love to be corrected as I'd definitely look out for those if they were available.

 

I don't like the Palladium nibs. I've written with quite a few belonging to others and think they feel a bit stodgy. They lack the finesse and touch of the 14k and 18k nibs.

[RyanM]

You don't mention the Visconti 18k nibs, which I think pre-date the 14k nibs, and which I prefer to all others. The 18k EF on my Opera Tramedautore is stunning, and the one on my VG Midi is very nicely responsive. I do like the 14k F nib I have on my Opera Summertime, but wish it were finer. I might be wrong but I don't think the 14k were sold as EFs? I'd love to be corrected as I'd definitely look out for those if they were available.

 

I don't like the Palladium nibs. I've written with quite a few belonging to others and think they feel a bit stodgy. They lack the finesse and touch of the 14k and 18k nibs.

 

That's interesting! I didn't even know Visconti made 18k nibs! Would it be possible to post a picture of the one on your Opera? It's good you agree that the Palladium ones are a bit odd.

[migo984]

That's interesting! I didn't even know Visconti made 18k nibs! Would it be possible to post a picture of the one on your Opera? It's good you agree that the Palladium ones are a bit odd.

 

Here it is:

 

 

 

 

[Ghost Plane]

I have 18k stubs on my early Ripples. Good nibs, but I have to say the 14k are my favorites. So soft it feels like the pen floats on a cloud. And no, I don't mean that nasty flex that's trending right now. I let my pens write under their own weight and the 14k nibs simply glide like hovercrafts.

 

The 18k are a little dry in the broader nibs and I had to send in a few to get the feed performance to match the width of the nib. Love my pens wet, so that might be why the needle nibbers prefer the 18ks - dry enough to keep those teeny tips writing narrow.

[lionheartlee]

I have two Pd nibs one on a Bronze Age, one on a London fog. The both write brilliantly! I have a Florintine hills with a 14k and an opera with a 14k. Love the feel of both nibs but has bit of a tooth. And finally I have an erotic arts with a 18k b nib...it is the only Nib that doesn't work flawlessly, I don't have a loupe but I'm sure it has a baby's bottom... Hard starts, and rail roads all the time. When it does decide to write it's super smooth and lays down a terrific line.

 

With all that being said my Bronze Age PD nib is very picky about what ink to use. A FPN exclusive ink which behaves nice in other pens has a dry time of upwards of 45 seconds coming out of the Bronze Age PD fine.

[s_t_e_v_e]

I have 18k stubs on my early Ripples. Good nibs, but I have to say the 14k are my favorites. So soft it feels like the pen floats on a cloud. And no, I don't mean that nasty flex that's trending right now. I let my pens write under their own weight and the 14k nibs simply glide like hovercrafts.

 

The 18k are a little dry in the broader nibs and I had to send in a few to get the feed performance to match the width of the nib. Love my pens wet, so that might be why the needle nibbers prefer the 18ks - dry enough to keep those teeny tips writing narrow.

 

I totally agree with your comment on flex. These nibs aren't advertised as flex and some people still want 'flex' out of them. I find immense joy in writing under the pens own weight. That soft bounce is just such an awesome feeling. Trying to press and flex these beautiful nibs is abusive imho.

 

I haven't tried Visconti's Pd nibs. I've heard that a well tuned Pd nib is pleasure to use. Both my 14K Visconti nibs are great but they had to be broken in before they performed the way they do now. In the first week or so they hard started, skipped and had ink starvation issues. I had to wash the nib unit with soap and water to flush the oils and manufacturing residue from the feed.

[Gloucesterman]

 

I totally agree with your comment on flex. These nibs aren't advertised as flex and some people still want 'flex' out of them. I find immense joy in writing under the pens own weight. That soft bounce is just such an awesome feeling. Trying to press and flex these beautiful nibs is abusive imho.

 

I haven't tried Visconti's Pd nibs. I've heard that a well tuned Pd nib is pleasure to use. Both my 14K Visconti nibs are great but they had to be broken in before they performed the way they do now. In the first week or so they hard started, skipped and had ink starvation issues. I had to wash the nib unit with soap and water to flush the oils and manufacturing residue from the feed.

Recently sold & swapped a Homo Sapien Florentine Hills with a very nice 18k fine nib. I was surprised at how flexible the nib was. It wrote smoothly with a very nice feel to it. I almost kept the pen but it was a bit too big for my hand and I know I would have rarely used it.

 

Another member of the FPN community is enjoying it now. If it had been an <EF> nib with the same amount of flex I might not have sold it.

 

Visconti said they would swap out the 18k gold nib for a Pd one for $100.00.

[migo984]

I have 18k stubs on my early Ripples. Good nibs, but I have to say the 14k are my favorites. So soft it feels like the pen floats on a cloud. And no, I don't mean that nasty flex that's trending right now. I let my pens write under their own weight and the 14k nibs simply glide like hovercrafts.

 

The 18k are a little dry in the broader nibs and I had to send in a few to get the feed performance to match the width of the nib. Love my pens wet, so that might be why the needle nibbers prefer the 18ks - dry enough to keep those teeny tips writing narrow.

No, I like a good, generous ink flow & I definitely get that on my EF 18k pens.

Visconti nibs were (are?) hand-finished & there is, in my experience, often marked variation between pens with the same carat & supposed width. I recently visited a friend with a *very* large collection of Visconti pens & there weren't two that wrote the same; and a couple were very springy indeed. Makes for interesting buying experiences :-)

Edited August 8, 2016 by migo984

[s_t_e_v_e]

Recently sold & swapped a Homo Sapien Florentine Hills with a very nice 18k fine nib. I was surprised at how flexible the nib was. It wrote smoothly with a very nice feel to it. I almost kept the pen but it was a bit too big for my hand and I know I would have rarely used it.

 

Another member of the FPN community is enjoying it now. If it had been an <EF> nib with the same amount of flex I might not have sold it.

 

Visconti said they would swap out the 18k gold nib for a Pd one for $100.00.

 

Visconti literally struck gold with their Pd nibs. It was a very clever choice. Palladium costs half as much as gold (http://www.kitco.com/market/) so it is definitely cheaper for Visconti to make those nibs as far as materials go, assuming the cost of making the Pd alloy for the nib isn't crazy high compared to gold (I don't think it is). The properties of Pd is quite desirable for making nibs which is good. The price, I think is a bit on the higher side. One reason for this is clearly monopoly. Visconti is doing something similar with their Chromium 18 nibs, which are stiff steel nibs that isn't anything special. If anything, Visconti surely knows how to market it's products.

 

Visconti should be paying you for swapping out an 18K nib for a Pd nib or at least they should do it for free, imo.

[Joe in Seattle]

The softness, spring, bounce I experience with the Pd EF nib is a real joy to me. 'This a bit soft & the tines can get misaligned.

[Freddy]

Would You Consider Visconti's 23K Pd Nib Better Than Their 14K And 18K Gold Ones?

RyanM* May 02 2015 @ 19:08

Link:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/289976-would-you-consider-viscontis-23k-pd-nib-better-than-their-14k-and-18k-gold-ones/

Long time no see....and my answer is still....Hell No.

Fred

Redactin' at this time replacin' lowercase m for uppercase M*

Edited August 9, 2016 by Freddy

[Gloucesterman]

 

Visconti literally struck gold with their Pd nibs. It was a very clever choice. Palladium costs half as much as gold (http://www.kitco.com/market/) so it is definitely cheaper for Visconti to make those nibs as far as materials go, assuming the cost of making the Pd alloy for the nib isn't crazy high compared to gold (I don't think it is). The properties of Pd is quite desirable for making nibs which is good. The price, I think is a bit on the higher side. One reason for this is clearly monopoly. Visconti is doing something similar with their Chromium 18 nibs, which are stiff steel nibs that isn't anything special. If anything, Visconti surely knows how to market it's products.

 

Visconti should be paying you for swapping out an 18K nib for a Pd nib or at least they should do it for free, imo.

Interesting and informative response. And yes, if I still had the pen and wanted the Pd nib I would have probably started with an advertisement here on FPN.

Thak you for the added insight.

Edited August 9, 2016 by brgmarketing

[RyanM]

 

Would You Consider Visconti's 23K Pd Nib Better Than Their 14K And 18K Gold Ones?

RyanM* May 02 2015 @ 19:08

Link:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/289976-would-you-consider-viscontis-23k-pd-nib-better-than-their-14k-and-18k-gold-ones/

Long time no see....and my answer is still....Hell No.

Fred

Redactin' at this time replacin' lowercase m for uppercase M*

 

Wow. Ain't that a blast from the past.

[Kadran1]

Oh man, I really want to have a London Fog in EF but everytime I read about the bad examples and experiences with the nibs of Visconti I start to ask me again, if I really want a pen where chances to get a perfect one are so low.

[Ghost Plane]

And here I've only had 2 bad ones out of the more than 60 I've owned over the years. Choose a good dealer and enjoy.

[lionheartlee]

Oh man, I really want to have a London Fog in EF but everytime I read about the bad examples and experiences with the nibs of Visconti I start to ask me again, if I really want a pen where chances to get a perfect one are so low.

I purchased mine from Chatterley Luxuries. He not only let me preview the swirls, but also tested my stub at my request. The price was the lowest I could find and all around a pleasure to work with. No affiliation just an extremely pleased customer.

[s_t_e_v_e]

I purchased mine from Chatterley Luxuries. He not only let me preview the swirls, but also tested my stub at my request. The price was the lowest I could find and all around a pleasure to work with. No affiliation just an extremely pleased customer.

 

 

We've had blue, green and grey HS SE. Wonder when a burgundy or amber version would be released.

[lionheartlee]

For my wallets sake I hope no time soon

We've had blue, green and grey HS SE. Wonder when a burgundy or amber version would be released.

 

[markh]

I have a Homo Sapiens with the Pd ExtraFine nib.

 

I have thinned to EF nib to be a true EF, heat set the feed tight against the nib, closed the tines together as tight as I could, and the pen is still too wet. The feed completely fills with ink when the nib is pointed down (as in when it's being used.)

 

The pen doesn't drip ink,It does write with zero pressure, as Visconti states.

 

But it makes me uncomfortable to see the feed combs completely full, and if I touch them I might get ink on my finger.

 

I have no additional tricks to fix the pen. I find that Iroshizuku inks somewhat improves the problem, but it's still a problem.

 

Anyone had this problem, and found a fix???

 

 

thnx,