Visconi Hs Lava Patina/aging Question

[RockingLR]

I am debating between the Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age and Dark Age. I won't lie, the Dark Age has always caught my eye but as my collections have flourished the bronze has become a more an interest for me. I'm not usually a lover of the black on gold look. I much prefer the black out or silver trim but the aged patina I've seen on random pictures of the bronze is something thats been slowly growing on me.

 

Does anyone have any pics of their patina'd bronze ages they could share with me? Pros and cons of the patina?

 

Does anyone with a dark age have issues with the black wearing off the trim and/or nib?

 

I'd love to have both but as of right now only one is an option so do your best to convince me!

[r3nekton]

Currently have had the Dark Age for about 6 months - bought it from a friend who had it for about 6 months before that and then decided it was a bad weight for him.

 

No issues with the black wearing off the trim at all. On the very edge of the nib there's a faint bit of silver poking out - you only see it when the viewing angle and the angle of the light are just right, and it's not bright silver, it's just noticeable as different to the metal around it.

 

Not sure about how much my friend used it towards the end, but I know he started by using it most days. It's been my everyday carry since the day he let me borrow it for a trial - for the first four months I used no other pen at all for anything because I was enjoying it so much. I only started using other pens more recently because I've needed more than one colour at a time, and I still find myself making excuses to write things down with it when I'm at my computer at home just because I like the weight, texture, and writing experience. So, it's been through a lot of use - I don't think the coating on the very edge of the nib wearing slightly is unreasonable.

 

The bronze is a nice look. I think objectively it's probably the better of the two - I have a personal preference for really lowkey pens, which is why I adopted the Dark Age when it came along, rather than buying the Bronze Age, but unless you feel the same way I would probably go for the Bronze.

[Occipital Lobe]

I´ve had a Bronze Age for 4-5 years, and the only patina is on the clip, and a tiny bit on the thin band at the filler knob.

It can be easily polished off in a couple of minutes, but I really don´t notice or care about it.

The reddish tone of the patina is hard to capture, but the photo below is the best I can come up with now, I hope you find it helpful:

 

 

All other bronze/Palladium parts are like new

 

 

Both pics were done today.

 

[Honeybadgers]

Bronze will take a long time to just patina in the spots where it isn't being touched.

 

But bronze patina is wonderful and should be appreciated.

 

It's just the classic model. The dark age just seems like a gimmick, as does the steel age. The bronze age is the daddy.

[sirgilbert357]

I think the bronze age looks the best, followed by the steel age (discontinued, right?), and in last place would be the dark age.

 

I don't think you could go wrong with any of them though, and I'd love to have one at some point.

[Honeybadgers]

my only concern with the dark age is the black flaking off. That would ruin the pen and a homo sapiens is likely going to be more of an heirloom pen, so it'd be great to not have one that was just awful looking in 30-40 years.

[DaveyWonder]

I have a dark age and have used it quite a lot. I haven’t had any problem with the black coming off anywhere.

[RockingLR]

Thank you all so much for the feedback! I love the patina on bronze so I was hoping most of it would petina fairly quickly.....but I might just have to handle it more. As for the black, I didn't think it would chip quickly. I have a rhodium plated nib or my Sedona Springs and it hasn't given me any issues so far hopefully that continues! I was wondering more about the bands on the pen from handling then anything since I would think sweat from hands would be more corrosive then ink....but I could be VERY wrong on that front too.

 

The dark age caught my eye because I enjoy the "stealth" look. as well, but I do agree that alot of people, the bronze looks more natural with the pen somehow...maybe because of the porus nature look of the pen...or maybe because I know it's lava and bronze is a more earthy color then black.....hummmmm....I may just have to save for both lol.

 

Choices Choices. I probably would have happily bought a steel age if they weren't discontinued and hard to find with the power filler in the 'over size' size. *sigh* ah well. I may have to debate some more. I heard from Rachel Goulet that the nib is going to be all rose gold plated soon over the PD nib, so I may wait until those have hit as I think it will look better then the two tone nibs they currently use.

[Misfit]

The Bronze Age comes with a polishing cloth. I have polished mine, but not for awhile.

Please do check out pentime.com which redirects to Chatterley Luxuries. I got mine there, as have many others. They provide exceptional customer service, and have some of the best prices Ive seen on Visconti pens.

 

Ive messaged Bryant Greer there, and he has been very helpful. I mentioned the my pen system toppers, and he included one in my order. He has sent the limited edition numbers for stub nib pens when Ive asked for them. He made sure I got the number I wanted. And well prices. A pen club member was able to get the Visconti Divina he wanted after I told him about Chatterley Luxuries. EDIT here: I just checked their website, and the price is the same as Goulet. It used to be lower.

 

By the way, its a great pen. Its the one pen above others for me.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Misfit

[RockingLR]

The Bronze Age comes with a polishing cloth. I have polished mine, but not for awhile.

Please do check out pentime.com which redirects to Chatterley Luxuries. I got mine there, as have many others. They provide exceptional customer service, and have some of the best prices Ive seen on Visconti pens.

 

Ive messaged Bryant Greer there, and he has been very helpful. I mentioned the my pen system toppers, and he included one in my order. He has sent the limited edition numbers for stub nib pens when Ive asked for them. He made sure I got the number I wanted. And well prices. A pen club member was able to get the Visconti Divina he wanted after I told him about Chatterley Luxuries. EDIT here: I just checked their website, and the price is the same as Goulet. It used to be lower.

 

By the way, its a great pen. Its the one pen above others for me.

 

I have used Chatterly Luxuries before. I got A ViscontiHomo Sapiens Sedona Springs from him. It was my first pen that introduced me to Visconti and *ahem* super "expensive" pens. Needless to say I fell in love with it pretty much instantly. I recently bought a Midnight in Florence from him as well.

 

I think they were running sales on their Lava editions for a while. I just missed out on that sale but it's alright. since I've bought from them before I figure it's time I give Goulet the purchase when I but the Lava HS

[Misfit]

You are going to love the HS.

 

Reading this inspired me to clean mine, and put Visconti purple ink in it. It’s a good color as we transition into Spring in the northern hemisphere.

[sansenri]

I agree, the original "how it was supposed to be" is the bronze HS, It actually looks very nice even with a slight patina.

But I like the steel too, whilst the dark age does look gimmiky to me, and I would also be concerned the finish might get ruined with time, the steel looks like a different pen in its own, the lava effect maintains its appeal, the steel trim gives it a high tech look which is not bad at all.

I like the bronze best, but the steel comes close if you look at it as a HT version.

[Honeybadgers]

I have a dark age and have used it quite a lot. I haven’t had any problem with the black coming off anywhere.

 

It's not a known problem to the visconti dark age, but so many other pens from conklin, monteverde, aurora, and pilot have had the problem. I'm just worried about any black coated pen that isn't anodized aluminum , with the finish wearing off after years and years.

 

As for seller, I recommend Goulet. They will stand behind a visconti even when coles will not (I waited 34 days and was told that I was now outside of the 30 day warranty, goulet said they'd cover it for 3 months, took the pen back, changed it to an EF for me, tested it, and threw in a free $90 visconti case). They're also happy to test the pen for you.

 

There are only two sizes of homo sapiens, the "maxi" and "midi." The maxi is a large pen, and uses the large #6ish palladium nib power filler and the midi is a moderate sized pen, uses a captured converter (it's really just a nice piston filler in practice) and uses the smaller palladium dreamtouch nib (close to a #5)

Edited March 19, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Scylax]

I have and love all three - bronze, steel, dark - and all three are beautiful. But there's nothing quite like the original bronze, and if I could only keep one, it would be the bronze. But I think you'll love whichever one you get - they feel great, write brilliantly, and have something really special about them.

[RockingLR]

I agree, the original "how it was supposed to be" is the bronze HS, It actually looks very nice even with a slight patina.

But I like the steel too, whilst the dark age does look gimmiky to me, and I would also be concerned the finish might get ruined with time, the steel looks like a different pen in its own, the lava effect maintains its appeal, the steel trim gives it a high tech look which is not bad at all.

I like the bronze best, but the steel comes close if you look at it as a HT version.

 

 

I keep hoping they'll bring back the steel age. I have no idea why they stopped it as the silver trim is their go to for the other HS Limited Edition pens. I'd happily get a steel age if I could find one with the power filler, but they are so hard to find, at least from my recent browsing.

 

I think I will go with the Bronze Age once Goulet gets the all gold nibs in I'll wait on the dark age. it may have to eventually find a home at my house but the Bronze Age with some delicious petina will be what I want for now I think.

 

Now I just hope they don't come out with any more LE pens I just "have to have" I didn't get the bronze swirl and I missed the crystal swirl soooooooo after this purchase I think I gotta cut off my feed when it comes to Visconti's LE releases lol

[sirgilbert357]

 

 

I keep hoping they'll bring back the steel age. I have no idea why they stopped it as the silver trim is their go to for the other HS Limited Edition pens.

 

 

I was surprised they dropped it too. It was the one I wanted as well. I still really like the bronze look, but I tend to opt for silver colored trims over gold-ish colors when possible. The bronze is close enough to gold colored to push me towards silver. Oh well....

 

The real problem for me is do I get the Homo Sapiens in bronze trim or save a little more and get the Medici with that gorgeous brown swirled acrylic? These are trying times. LOL.

[RockingLR]

 

 

I was surprised they dropped it too. It was the one I wanted as well. I still really like the bronze look, but I tend to opt for silver colored trims over gold-ish colors when possible. The bronze is close enough to gold colored to push me towards silver. Oh well....

 

The real problem for me is do I get the Homo Sapiens in bronze trim or save a little more and get the Medici with that gorgeous brown swirled acrylic? These are trying times. LOL.

 

 

I feel your pain! I have that problem with so many of Visconti's pens. I recently debated pretty hard about the Bronze Swirl but then decided against it as I didn't really like the white with brown. I'd have preferred the resin grip/cap/endcap have been brown with white, if that makes sense.

 

On the trim I'm in 100% agreeable with you. I definitely prefer the silver trim when given an option. Thats one of the reasons I have debated so long between the dark ages and the Bronze Age. I'd have jumped on the dark ages if they'd have done the rhodium trip instead of just kind of painted black for the accents. The petina'd bronze looks awesome but again I don't prefer the gold look if I have a choice. Ah well. I think I'll still love the Lava edition regardless just for the feel in my hand.

[zaphod30]

Just as an update to this topic, I have had my Dark Age for just over a month and the black coating has already started coming off the nib.

[Storch]

 

 

I was surprised they dropped it too. It was the one I wanted as well. I still really like the bronze look, but I tend to opt for silver colored trims over gold-ish colors when possible. The bronze is close enough to gold colored to push me towards silver. Oh well....

 

The real problem for me is do I get the Homo Sapiens in bronze trim or save a little more and get the Medici with that gorgeous brown swirled acrylic? These are trying times. LOL.

 

If you love the Medici for the looks alone, make sure you handle the pen before you buy it. I was totally in love with the rose gold version that was out earlier but when I picked it up the engraving on the ring just below the section felt sharp and uncomfortable in my hand.

 

As for the Homo Sapiens, as long as you get a decent nib, you really can't go wrong. I have both the bronze and the sterling silver and while I love the look of the bronze, the silver one wins as being the best EF nib I have hands down wehre the bronze is an EF that writes more like a wet medium. Don't get me wrong, it's very smooth and pleasant to write with, you just have to ignore the letters on the nib.

[DaveyWonder]

Just as an update to this topic, I have had my Dark Age for just over a month and the black coating has already started coming off the nib.

Wow! If you bought that new Id be contacting the seller about a warranty issue. My dark age is over a year old and the black metal parts are still looking new so maybe you have a bad plating. Sorry about your (bad) luck!

 

That said, my dark age HS will probably be my first, last, and only Visconti due to the frequency of problems that I have seen in this forum. Had to return my first HS because the nib was about 20 degrees off center and luckily got a really great one as a replacement. Wonderful writer, but Im not wanting to waste time and money looking for another good one when there are so many companies I have yet to explore.

Edited August 13, 2019 by DaveyWonder