2-Month Review Of The Visconti Mirage

[TheGreatRoe]

This is an abbreviated version of the review posted on my personal blog.



Visconti Mirage, Coral Red, B Nib – Overall: 7.4/10

I’m not sure I qualify as a Visconti junkie, but I’m not far off. I don’t make a point to but every Visconti I can, but over the years I’ve collected many of the popular models–and a couple of the very limited pens are the highlights of my collection. So when I saw there were some new pens coming out in 2018-19 I was certainly keeping an eye out. I was able to pick up the Visconti Mirage for just under $100US. It is my 16th Visconti.

This is a review of the Mirage–not a comparison–but since this pen is so new, I’ve included some comparisons to two popular Visconti Pens–the Rembrandt, and the Van Gogh (modern). I’ve chosen these because, taken as a group, the Mirage, Rembrandt and Van Gogh represent the lowest cost pens from Visconti’s lineup, and they all come with steel nibs.



Appearance: 8/10

The beauty of the Visconti pens was one of the things that drew me to them years ago. The Homo Sapiens is one of the few basic black pens that I’ve ever found beautiful, and the acrylics of the Van Gogh pens are just gorgeous. The acrylic of the Visconti Mirage, while not as gorgeous as it’s pricier cousins, is still quite nice, with a depth that is usually reserved for pens that are more expensive.

It seems they’re also trying out some different pen shapes this year. The body is slightly faceted–three facets, alternating between three non-factes. When closed the Mirage has a slight bulge at the middle that looks quite nice. And when open there is a large step from the barrel width down to the section, but they’ve smartly moved this narrowing back so no matter where on the section you hold the pen, the step shouldn’t be a problem. However, when the pen is posted I think the bulge makes the overall profile look a bit strange–something I’ve noticed with all of Visconti’s newly announced pens. Since I don’t post my pens, it doesn’t really matter to me, but it might to you.

Two significant changes–compared to the older Viscontis–are the clip and the MyPen finial

With the Mirage, Visconti has redesigned the clip–you can see the clip now extends up and over the cap of the pen (actually it did in the older pens, too, but that was covered up by the finial). There are some other changes to the clip that I’m not completely up on, but I’ve heard that some people think there’s an improvement and some don’t. I didn’t have a problem with the old one, nor do I have a problem with this one.

They’ve also move the MyPen finial from the top of the cap, to the end of the barrel. I have mixed feelings about this move. One one hand, now when I write–unposted–I get to see the finial. So that’s great. However, when it’s in my display case, in my carry case, I don’t see it at all.

It’s a pretty pen–if not as beautiful of some of the more expensive pens are, and as far as looks go, I’m happy.

Construction: 9/10

The pen looks and feels well-made. The magnetic cap closes firmly and there very little wiggle–and when it’s closed the facets on the body line up with the facets on the cap. The clip, and various rings are secure and look nice. The acrylic is well machined, with no flaws. And everything joins together without risk of cross-treading. Especially at this price point, there are few pens this well-made.

I did, however, have one problem–which is why I scored this a 9 and not a 10. The first pen I got had a chip in the little raised lip around the MyPen finial. I noticed it when I was taking pictures for the first draft of this review. When I contacted Coles of London, this was fixed quickly, and free of charge (shipping, too). Even top-line products occasionally arrive broken, or cracked or chipped, and since it was fixed, and since I have not heard of other Mirages that arrived with imperfections, I don’t want to give this one defect to much weight, however the type and placement of the damage makes me think that the chip came from being dropped during production or packaging, and simply wasn’t caught, and it worries me that this material may chip easily. Past models in this range have usually has metal ends–I’m sure partly for aesthetics–but it’s also helped protect an at-risk part of the pen…and the Mirage doesn’t have that metal end.

Filling: 6/10

8 is my default score for a Cartridge/Converter system, where the end of the section is smooth, making it easy to wipe off after filling. The Mirage meets this criteria. So why is it a 6? The pen shipped with the wrong converter. It should ship with a threaded converter but it shipped with a non-threaded. The problem is, the threads are inside a little metal collar so I didn’t know I had the wrong converter. When I tried to fill it I got a lot of bubbles, and when giving the pen a test drive it ran dry after about 3/4 page of text. After some looking I thought maybe I had a bad converter and I contacted Coles of London. They told me the wrong converter has been included and sent a replacement for free. Since then I’ve filled the pen 3 times and wrote the converter empty with no problems. So once you have the right converter it’s fine, but I’ve read comments from other people who also got the wrong converter, so this is, to some degree, a repeated issue. My guess is this is a new-product-glitch and will work itself out quickly, but it’s an issue you need to watch out for.

Nib: 6/10

This nib is–I’m guessing–a #4, because it’s a little smaller than the #5. It’s also plainer. The engraving leans away from Florentine and toward Art Deco (I’m aware that I’m taking wild guesses at the correct names for artistic styles.). There’s also an odd coding system–above the word Visconti there is one circle for a F, two for a M, and three for a B–which is redundant because F, M or B is engraved under the word Visconti. Because the nib is smaller, it’s less flexible. It never was a flex nib by any stretch, but there was some flexibility to the longer tines. It’s what I loved about the Visconti steel nibs. They were always Bock nibs, but they were manufactured to specs that differentiated them from other Bock nibs. These? Meh. They’re certainly not bad, and I have plenty of steel nibs that don’t measure up to these. But they’re nothing special. And why? The existing #5 nibs were awesome. And because this is a different size nib, I won’t be able to switch out my own #5 steel nib.

Test Drive: 8/10
Because of the problems I had with the pen at the beginning, I gave it a much more thorough test drive than I normally do for a review. If I’m being honest, I was trying to make it fail, because if it was going to have another problem I wanted to know about it now, rather than later. After 3 complete converters, writing normal speed and as fast as I could (just making squiggles) the pen performed wonderfully. No skipping, the feed kept up with whatever speed I threw at it, and the B nib was wet without gushing or clumping. Every time the pen ran dry I opened it up knowing I was going to find a full converter….but, nope….empty converter…everything’s good.

The weight and size of the pen is good for extended sessions. I might have scored it a 9 (or even higher) if it had that good ol’ #5 Visconti steel nib.

Overall: 7.4/10
So what do you expect for $127US. I expect decent materials, but good usability–because for that price, I’m hoping for a solid EDC. The Visconti fits that bill, and also manages to be prettier that many of not most of the pens in this range. It’s an easy pen to use, so it would be fine as an entry-level pen, or someone’s first foray into the World of Visconti, then it’s probably not a pen that’s meant to fall in love with. I like the Rembrandt better–mostly because of the nib–but the Mirage is less expensive.

For $127 I expect a good pen, but not a great pen. And that what the Visconti Mirage is.

[DrDebG]

Thank you for the great review. You have certainly helped me make a decision about the Mirage.

[TheDutchGuy]

Nice read, thank you!

[penzel_washinkton]

8 is my default score for a Cartridge/Converter system, where the end of the section is smooth, making it easy to wipe off after filling. The Mirage meets this criteria. So why is it a 6? The pen shipped with the wrong converter. It should ship with a threaded converter but it shipped with a non-threaded. The problem is, the threads are inside a little metal collar so I didn’t know I had the wrong converter. When I tried to fill it I got a lot of bubbles, and when giving the pen a test drive it ran dry after about 3/4 page of text. After some looking I thought maybe I had a bad converter and I contacted Coles of London. They told me the wrong converter has been included and sent a replacement for free. Since then I’ve filled the pen 3 times and wrote the converter empty with no problems. So once you have the right converter it’s fine, but I’ve read comments from other people who also got the wrong converter, so this is, to some degree, a repeated issue. My guess is this is a new-product-glitch and will work itself out quickly, but it’s an issue you need to watch out for.

 

PenBoyRoy's YouTube review channel has a recent review for the Visconti Mirage and had the same problem. The different part is he screwed the converter in and creates his own threading in the process.

 

If this is recurring to other buyers then this is a really poor QC on Visconti's part although it is a minor converter issue. This is not even touching the magnetic band that fell off the pen for no reason.

Edited February 7, 2019 by penzel_washinkton

[melro]

Nice review man!

makes me glad that i chose to buy a Leonardo Momento Zero instead of an Mirage

[jekostas]

$130 for molded plastic is a little expensive if you ask me.

[mauckcg]

 

PenBoyRoy's YouTube review channel has a recent review for the Visconti Mirage and had the same problem. The different part is he screwed the converter in and creates his own threading in the process.

 

If this is recurring to other buyers then this is a really poor QC on Visconti's part although it is a minor converter issue. This is not even touching the magnetic band that fell off the pen for no reason.

It could be the wrong part in a bin that should have held a threaded converter.

[TheGreatRoe]

I consider the converter problem minor. It's not isolated, but neither is it widespread. I know 3 people who got a Mirage and they all got the right converter. It doesn't cost anything but an email to fix (and you get to keep the extra converter).

 

 

This is not even touching the magnetic band that fell off the pen for no reason.

Is this part of the other review, because I have no idea what you're talking about?

[penzel_washinkton]

I consider the converter problem minor. It's not isolated, but neither is it widespread. I know 3 people who got a Mirage and they all got the right converter. It doesn't cost anything but an email to fix (and you get to keep the extra converter).

 

Is this part of the other review, because I have no idea what you're talking about?

Minor as it is, it is still a flaw in their quality control.

 

It is actually the "Ugly" part of the same video review where the magnet part of the pen fell off and the pen is unable to be capped

[RoSpectre]

Thank you for the timely review! I think a number of people are considering this pen as it starts showing up at lower prices like you paid, me included. Your review confirmed my impression though I think... lovely pen with a compelling design, but just not enough of the fine details done right. The faceted body and resin section say yes, but an uninspired nib and sprinkle of QC slips say no, thanks. It feels like one step forward, but also at least one step back from Visconti.

[TheGreatRoe]

It feels like one step forward, but also at least one step back from Visconti.

I must admit, even though I like the pen and am happy to have it in my collection, I would generally prefer to pay a little more and pick up a Rembrandt or Van Gogh.

[Gloucesterman]

$130 for molded plastic is a little expensive if you ask me.

+1

Actually, with the smaller nib, I am thinking under $90. is more reasonable/realistic.IMHO, of course.

[Purplecate]

Thank you for the timely review! I think a number of people are considering this pen as it starts showing up at lower prices like you paid, me included. Your review confirmed my impression though I think... lovely pen with a compelling design, but just not enough of the fine details done right. The faceted body and resin section say yes, but an uninspired nib and sprinkle of QC slips say no, thanks. It feels like one step forward, but also at least one step back from Visconti.

+1

I was thinking about buying my first Visconti (and in fact, my first Italian pen) and had the same response. I'm considering the Leonardo Momento Zero instead too.

[minddance]

Any dryout when the pen is not used for a period of time? Does the pen seal inks properly?

[TheGreatRoe]

Any dryout when the pen is not used for a period of time? Does the pen seal inks properly?

 

After getting the correct converter, I've had no troubles with dryout, either from writing too much too fast, or from leaving it sit for a week (longest I tested).