Visconti Michelangelo Inside the Box

My first hands on experience with the Visconti Michelangelo was at the National Stationery Show in NYC earlier this year, and just seeing it person instantly made me want to buy one for myself.  I was able to try out an Extra Fine version of the nib at the show, so once I got home, I jumped on my computer and checked out the Goldspot pens site to see how much the pen might set me back…minus a nice bloggers discount (thats for you FTC) to make the purchase a bit easier on my wallet.

The Elusive EF Visconti Michelangelo Nib

To my surprise the EF version of the Michelangelo was nowhere to be found, not on the Goldspot site, and not on any other site that I was able to find selling the pen.  Of course I reached out to good friend of the blog, Tom @goldspotpens to see what the deal was, and he was able to check into the situation and let me know what was going on.  It turns out that the EF version of the nib was not made part of the standard offering of this pen, but they did make a small number of them that they happened to have at the show, which explains why I was able to write with one there, but not find one online.  Seeing as how Tom and Goldspot really deliver when it comes to customer service, he told me that he would look into getting me one of the limited number of EFs that they actually made in this line, and true to his word, Tom was able to track one down for me.  I ended up with the Midnight Blue / Palladium version, although I had a tough time choosing between this and the Black / Rose Gold combo.

Here you can see some of the 18 facets on the Visconti Michelangelo

The photo above shows one of the cool features of the Michelangelo, which are the 18 flat sides that circle both the body of the pen and the cap.  It was kind of hard to photograph, but I think I got enough light on there to show at least a few of the facets.  The pen feels great in my hand although, I was initially worried that there might be a rough or clunky feeling with so many flat surfaces, however the edges are very smooth and it sits very comfortably in your hand.

The Visconti Michelangelo EF Nib and Band

Besides the intricate decoration on the nib that you can see in the previous pictures, the band around the bottom of the cap that says “Michelangelo” also has a detailed double Greek key that surrounds the Michelangelo text.  The classic Visconti clip has a highly polished and smooth front facing area, with the Visconti name in a black background.  The clip moves up and down very easily and smoothly, and actually opens up pretty far without feeling as if you are putting much stress on it.  I know there are some folks out there who look at this pen and think it is kind of bland, not to mention that it bears the same name as a totally different older Visconti pen.  I can see the point of view that some have regarding the potential blandness of this pen, however I tend to prefer things that have a simple and understated design, which is why I was drawn to the Michelangelo.  It is not gaudy or flashy, it wont be the Lamborghini of your pen collection, but it will certainly won’t look like some horrific fashion victim that hurts your eyes to look at 10 years from now when you are still using it.

Visconti Michelangelo EF Nib with the Cap Posted

The Visconti Michelangelo measures about 5.5″ while closed, and with the cap posted on the back as pictured above, the length extends to about 6.25″ both of which are about comparable to a Lamy Studio for a point of reference.  One small detail that I always notice is how the cap posts.  In the case of the Michelangelo, I like how the body of the pen goes deep into the cap when you post it, which in my mind just feels a little more secure.  Another thing to note about the cap is that although there is a really cool magnetic closure when capping the pen, the magnetic force is not in effect when posting the cap on the back of the pen.  Regardless of which end of the pen you have the cap on, it always feels very secure though.

Visconti Michelangelo Box Slide Out Drawer

A quick note about the packaging, the Michelangelo comes in a very nice black box that you see in the above two pictures that inside is covered with a nice soft white lining that gives it a bit of a cloud-like appearance, which I assume was the intended imagery by the folks at Visconti.  The bottom of the box has a slide out drawer where all of the documentation for the pen resides.

Visconti Michelangelo EF Writing Sample on Clairefontaine 90g Paper

To say that I’ve enjoyed writing with this pen would be a huge understatement.  The 14k gold nib is fantastic and glides very smoothly over just about any paper that I’ve used it on to date.  I’ve found that it has a slight bit of flex to it, allowing for some variation in the width of the line that you can lay down with it.  When I first started writing with it I was a bit concerned because it really did not handle my Levenger daily planner pages well, as it wrote in big wet chunky lines that resembled more of an overly wet broad nib than an EF nib, however switching to 90g versions of Rhodia and Levenger paper, as well as the always trusty Black n’ Red notebook paper, I was happy to see the width of the line left behind meet my expectations.  I will say however that the pen (or at least my version) tends to write a bit wet, so the positive there is that you probably wont see any skipping, but you will feel like you are seeing a fairly strong and steady flow of ink coming from your nib.

I’m really thrilled with this pen, and I plan on keeping it as a major part of my rotation for now, although I do have my eye on two other really nice pens, which will probably make my wallet and savings accounts a bit angry.  Check out the Goldspot site for a look at the other colors and versions of the Visconti Michelangelo, and who knows, maybe they can track down an EF nib for you too.

©2016, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.