leonardo Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Art Deco 2021

[Recursion]

This pen was ordered for me by my family as a gift. This is my 3rd pen from the Leonardo workshop (I already had the Momento Zero Green Alga and the Momento Magico Anima Nera) and is the biggest of the line-up. This is a limited edition of 50 pieces and exclusively available at Fontoplumo in Delft, The Netherlands.

 

So, the facts:

Manufacturer:        Leonardo Officina Italiana

Model:                     Momento Zero Grande

Edition:                   Art Deco 2021 - Limited to 50 pieces for Fontoplumo the Netherlands

Material:                 Green Japanese Ebonite

Nib:                         Jowo #6 14k gold (EF)

Filling system:       Piston

Capped:                 159 mm

Uncapped:            141 mm

Posted:                  175 mm

Section:                 12 - 13 mm

______________________________________________________________________

 

 

Appearance & Design – Beautiful detailed design 

The appearance of the pen is typical for Leonardo with superb details. The pen is made from green Japanese ebonite with geometric Guilloche engravings on the cap, barrel, and gold bands. The gold trims give the green ebonite a warm look. The clip is the typical MZG clip with wheel and on a big pen like this the clip looks tiny. The engraving on the cap band as well as the piston band are crisp and fit the theme of this pen. The engravings are unintrusive and give the pen a slight textured feeling in the hand. The only lettering on the cap band is “Italy” and on the barrel it says, “N. 29/50”. The cap and barrel have the classic pointed finials. The ebonite isn’t even in colour but contains micro dots which are darker (looks black), the are described as micro minerals. This gives some depth to the material, alas I can’t show you that more clearly as I don’t own a microscope camera. The (arguably) one disappointment on the design is a lack of an ink window. There is simply no way to know how much ink you have left in the pen. But on the other hand, an ink window also might disturb the Art Deco design of this pen, I don’t know. There is room just above the cap threads where you could fit one without disturbing the overall looks, IMHO.

 

 

 

 

 

Construction & Quality – Well build

The threading on this pen is smooth.  The pen posts very securely and is not back weighted, but I don’t tend to post this pen as it makes it overly long and posting it also might damage the ebonite. The cap comes off with just 1¼ turns, which is ok for me. The pen feels sturdy and well build.

 

 

Weight & Dimensions – Lightweight and good ergonomics.

As I don’t own a scale, I can’t weight the pen (it is advertised as 36 gram capped and 23 gram uncapped) but it feels great in my hands. The length of the pen fits my hand very well. The ergonomics of the section is great as it has the same design but with a bit more girt than the Momento Magico. 

 

 

Nib & Performance – well tuned

As I had a bad experience with my other two Leonardo’s with a Jowo nib (misalignment and flow problems) I asked Fontoplumo to tune and smoothen the nib before sending it to me. They did a great job! The 14k nib is well tuned and with its ebonite feed lays down a rich wet line that just stay’s withing the extra fine realm (on the right paper, that is). It has subtle feedback that is best compared to a soft (3B-ish) pencil. The nib design is nothing special, just the laser engraved Leonardo logo and standard Jowo stamps. 

 

 

 

 

Filling System & Maintenance – Classic piston filler

The piston filling system works well and has a advertised capacity of 1,5 ml. It is difficult to know if you have a full fill as there is no ink window of any sort. As all piston fillers cleaning can be a bit of a challenge and is time consuming. But there is a tool provided with the pen to take the piston apart and that makes cleaning and maintenance easy. The Jowo nib can be removed easily. So, for those OCD cleaning freaks out there, you can get this pen as clean as it arrived in the box

 

 

Cost & Value – Well, it’s expensive

This pen retails for € 630,- (incl. 21% VAT) in the Netherlands.  That is quite a hefty price for a writing instrument, but for that you get a limited-edition ebonite pen that has a lovely design and is well constructed, also it is user serviceable (which is a huge plus for me) . So, there is that. Is this pen overpriced? Well, in my opinion, yes. But as I’ve got this as a gift, I really can’t complain.

 

Conclusion – Beautiful and well-designed pen

Apart from the price, this is really a lovely designed and well writing pen that suits my hands very comfortably for long, long writing sessions. The ergonomics of the pen (especially the girth of the section) suits me very well. 

[Harish N V]

Hi, 

 

Thanks for this review. Nice pictures of the design and a balanced review. Iam thinking of getting a leonardo with a steel nib and I just love their designs. 

[Recursion]

22 minutes ago, Harish N V said:

Thanks for this review. Nice pictures of the design and a balanced review. Iam thinking of getting a leonardo with a steel nib and I just love their designs

Your welcome.
When you decide to get a steel nib Leonardo, make sure you check the nib before purchasing! In my experience the Jowo nib are not very consistent and Leonardo doesn’t seem to have a 100% quality check on the nibs. just an advice 😉

[Harish N V]

Yes. Thank you. Sure. Will get it directly from a shop after seeing a sample. 

[rokurinpapa]

Thank you for your nice review.

I didn't know the micro dots.

They were mixed for improvement

of strength? Perhaps black ebonite is the strongest.

 

rokurinpapa

[Recursion]

9 hours ago, rokurinpapa said:

I didn't know the micro dots.

They were mixed for improvement

of strength?

Well it's advertsed as follows: "Made from japanese ebonite with volcanic micro minerals inside"

[sansenri]

thank you for the review, a very nice pen, I own the red version in rhodium trim from the Leonardo edition.

You forget to mention the feed is ebonite, which in my opinion is a welcomed plus.

Somewhat expensive, true, but very well made, and prices tend to be reaching similar levels on similar pens, even non LE.

 

 

 

 

[Recursion]

1 minute ago, sansenri said:

You forget to mention the feed is ebonite

I think it's mentioned quite clearly:

"Nib & Performance – well tuned

... The 14k nib is well tuned and with its ebonite feed lays down a rich wet line that just stay’s withing the extra fine realm ...."

 

The red one is also lovely!

[sansenri]

1 hour ago, Recursion said:

I think it's mentioned quite clearly:

"Nib & Performance – well tuned

... The 14k nib is well tuned and with its ebonite feed lays down a rich wet line that just stay’s withing the extra fine realm ...."

 

The red one is also lovely!

ah, yes, missed that bit...

[Recursion]

3 hours ago, sansenri said:

missed that bit

😂

[dms525]

Very nice review. I have also had a couple Steel JoWo nibs from Leonardo that were poor writers. I got replacements with personal tuning by Salvatore. I have also taken to having the vendor check the nibs before shipping with good results, so far.

 

I bought the red pen from the first Art Deco LE and the blue one from the second Art Deco issues. I am partial to ebonite pens and to guilloché.

 

 

 

Enjoy your beautiful Leonardo Art Deco!

 

David

[Recursion]

1 hour ago, dms525 said:

I bought the red pen from the first Art Deco LE and the blue one from the second Art Deco issues. I am partial to ebonite pens and to guilloché.

They are truly beautiful 🤩