Leonardo Mosaico Hawaii -OR- Santini Michelangelo The Eagles Wings

[sirgilbert357]

I've been contemplating a pen purchase for quite some time. I had four or five on my short list, but I've narrowed it down to these two now. What would you pick, and why? Does anyone own either of these (or both)?

 

Leonardo Mosaico Hawaii ST

https://appelboom.com/leonardo-mosaico-hawaii-st-fountain-pen/

 

Santini Italia Michelangelo The Eagles Wings

https://www.santini-italia.com/michelangelo-the-eagle-wings.php

 

The Leonardo can come with a steel nib and plastic feed to keep the price down, or you can upgrade to a gold nib with an ebonite feed, which pushes the price higher.

The Santini comes with a gold nib and ebonite feed by default, and I'd have more choices for the type of nib. Their nibs are also supposedly made in-house, which intrigues me.

 

[Azulcaneta]

No question the santini. Better pen, more classic design and will last the test of time. Head some leak issues with Leonardo. Could get bored with design. 

[christam]

The Santini.  A more varied choice of nibs and the one you choose can be customised - to an extent - to your requirements.

[sansenri]

Leonardo is a well made pen, the new resin is nice, and as you mention the price can be kept down choosing a steel nib, they can now offer a CSI nib (cursive smooth italic) a sort of italic with rounded edges, also in steel, which is nice.

 

The Santini is something more, lovely ebonite material and in house nibs. Choose the nib very carefully, ask their customer service questions as they have quite a range including flexy nibs and other custom grinds, it's easy to chose the "wrong" nib... study carefully.

I'm eyeing the Michelangelo myself...

[sirgilbert357]

I know it may seem lame, but if I got the Santini, I would probably choose a regular medium nib since I want this to be a good everyday writer. Their normal nibs supposedly have a bit of bounce to them as it is, and I'm not really into "flex". Another option would be a stub ground to their cursive italic. I think that kind of grind would be fine for the type of writing I do.

 

I did not know the Leonardo could be bought with a CSI nib. I've not seen those for sale, but I'm guessing you could order direct from Leonardo to get that nib.

[sansenri]

yes, it's true, their regular nibs already do have some bounce, consider also that their stubs are wet and don't provide much line variation, you should consider cursive italic if you want that. CI is offered in the custom grinds which are not hugely more expensive that ordinary nibs.

It's actually my own doubt for when I will decide for the Michelangelo, I'm not really into very fine nibs, so either a regular F or M, while if I go broader it will no doubt be a CI.

[sirgilbert357]

9 minutes ago, sansenri said:

yes, it's true, their regular nibs already do have some bounce, consider also that their stubs are wet and don't provide much line variation, you should consider cursive italic if you want that. CI is offered in the custom grinds which are not hugely more expensive that ordinary nibs.

It's actually my own doubt for when I will decide for the Michelangelo, I'm not really into very fine nibs, so either a regular F or M, while if I go broader it will no doubt be a CI.

 

Yes, I think I would choose the CI over a regular stub for sure. But I also think a juicy medium nib would be great too. I have no idea what to expect with an ebonite feed. I've been enjoying finer nibs lately too and have really enjoyed - almost embarrassingly so -- the fine nib on my Jinhao 100. It is almost an XF by my personal standards, but it is impossibly smooth and has just the right wetness. I didn't expect to enjoy it this much, and now I'm wondering if I should order my next pen with a Fine nib...

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, sirgilbert357 said:

... I'm wondering if I should order my next pen with a Fine nib...

 

According to Santini's nib size guide, its Fine nib doesn't put down a very fine line anyway.

 

[sirgilbert357]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

According to Santini's nib size guide, its Fine nib doesn't put down a very fine line anyway.

 

 

True. And coupled with an ebonite feed, it would be a pretty wet line, which isn't going to help. This is part of why I figured I'd just go for the cursive italic. I wouldn't have to worry about the fine not being "fine enough" for my tastes. Although I do like medium and broads, so I'd probably still be able to use it - but it wouldn't be what I had in mind when I ordered it.

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, sirgilbert357 said:

I wouldn't have to worry about the fine not being "fine enough" for my tastes. Although I do like medium and broads, so I'd probably still be able to use it - but it wouldn't be what I had in mind when I ordered it.

 

If you tell me which ink you intend to use in the pen primarily, I can probably show you how my especially-narrow-by-request Santini EF nib (supported by an ebonite feed) writes in that ink on Rhodia 80g/m² paper.

[sirgilbert357]

15 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

If you tell me which ink you intend to use in the pen primarily, I can probably show you how my especially-narrow-by-request Santini EF nib (supported by an ebonite feed) writes in that ink on Rhodia 80g/m² paper.

 

My "go to" tester ink is usually Pilot Blue Black or Iroshizuku Asa gao. That's usually what I ink a new pen with first to be sure the nib is to my liking. Either of those would be VERY familiar to me and help set expectations. I also use that same Rhodia paper quite a bit.

[A Smug Dill]

8 minutes ago, sirgilbert357 said:

My "go to" tester ink is usually Pilot Blue Black or Iroshizuku Asa gao.

 

I don't have Pilot Blue Black, certainly not in a bottle (although I may have some cartridges that came with pens' retail packages lying around somewhere), but I do have Iroshizuku Asa-gao.

 

I'll do a writing sample in Asa-gao with my Santini Calypso later this week.

 

[sirgilbert357]

7 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I don't have Pilot Blue Black, certainly not in a bottle (although I may have some cartridges that came with pens' retail packages lying around somewhere), but I do have Iroshizuku Asa-gao.

 

I'll do a writing sample in Asa-gao with my Santini Calypso later this week.

 

 

Thank you!

[A Smug Dill]

@sirgilbert357 There you go:

 

 

I asked for an EF nib as a base, to be made ‘cursive Italic’ and as narrow as possible.

 

 

As you can see, the result (when writing in normal nib orientation) is not that narrow. The Pelikan M600 EF nib that Dan Smith customised for me into an Italic absolutely kicks its butt in terms of writing precisely. The corners of the broad edge on my Calypso's nib may appear sharp in the photo, but it actually writes quite smoothly for an Italic nib … because it handles and performs more like a Stub nib. The ebonite feed is wet-flowing, probably enough to prevent the horizontal lines from being as fine as I like, but not so much that it firehoses out of the narrow nib. I do have to write (as in executing pen strokes) quicker than I like with this pen, to accommodate when I use a wettish ink in it.

[sirgilbert357]

@A Smug Dill

 

Hmm. Thank you very much for the writing sample. This is thought provoking, for sure. It seems I may want to order a Fine and expect it to write like a Medium. Decent line variation on your nib, though, especially since it started life as an EF.

 

I've also given thought to flipping the nib over and grinding the tip to a finer point for reverse writing. I've done that with a few other nibs that already wrote quite well when used like that....all I did was just tune the nib and smooth it out a bit. But I wouldn't want that to be the primary mode of writing for this Santini -- It would just be nice to have...

[como]

I would pick the Santini as well. Of the two, I prefer Santini's design, ebonite over resin, and Santini's nib options over Jowo/Bock. 

[sirgilbert357]

4 hours ago, como said:

I would pick the Santini as well. Of the two, I prefer Santini's design, ebonite over resin, and Santini's nib options over Jowo/Bock. 

 

Yeah, I have seven pens with either Bock or Jowo nibs (out of a collection of 25 pens). I would like to try a Santini nib instead of adding another Jowo to the collection.

[sirgilbert357]

Placed my order for the Santini with a Fine nib. We'll see how this goes...

 

Thankfully, they do have a free nib exchange if I decide the Fine isn't to my liking. That's helpful...

[Keyless Works]

Congrats! I love my Santini. It's one of the best values in the pen world. Exceptional nibs.

[sirgilbert357]

9 hours ago, Keyless Works said:

Congrats! I love my Santini. It's one of the best values in the pen world. Exceptional nibs.

 

Hopefully, I feel the same way once I've spent some time with it. Very few new pens attract or excite me these days. I might be done buying for quite awhile (unless I end up with that Leonardo Mosaico too, lol). Would be nice to have a pen that blows me away and holds my attention for a long time...