Back in 2017, I reviewed a Visconti Homo Sapiens “Dark Ages” fountain pen that I purchased at the D.C. Pen Show, and while my impressions of the pen were generally favorable, I ultimately moved on from it due to usability concerns. The 23k Palladium nibs that Visconti used at the time wrote far too wet for my preference, making it extremely difficult for me to use the pen at work, even with an “extra fine” nib that Mike Masuyama had ground down even further. Though it wasn’t a particularly difficult decision to sell this pen, I still found myself admiring the Homo Sapiens, with its comfortable size and shape and unique texture. When I saw that Visconti had moved away from Palladium nibs and back to 18k gold, I snagged a standard “Bronze Age” pen on sale. While the experience hasn’t been perfect, I do intend to keep this pen as part of my personal collection.
For the most part, my previous review of the Visconti Homo Sapiens remains accurate, and I would encourage you to start there for background on the pen design and overall usability and build quality. In short, the pen itself has not changed, other than Visconti has now made it available in many new materials. As noted above, however, I wanted to take the opportunity to update the review to reflect the new nib, as well as updated impressions of the filling mechanism now that I have a Visconti Traveling Inkwell.
The Visconti Homo Sapiens 18k nib. Certain of the new models have a 14k, but the Bronze Age is 18k.
Visconti Should Stick with the 18k Nib
In my personal opinion, the 18k gold nib is a huge upgrade over the previous Palladium “Dreamtouch” nib, at least for those of us who use our fountain pens for everyday writing. While still a wet writer, the 18k nib writes a much more usable, consistent line, and I’ve not experienced nearly the same amount of bleed-through as with the Dreamtouch. That said, my “extra fine” Visconti nib lays down what I would consider a “fine-medium” line, or even what many might consider a medium in a Japanese pen. If you like to go much narrower with your nib sizes, you’ll need to have the nib ground. (More on that below.)
The “extra fine” nib on the Visconti Homo Sapiens writes a broader line than some might expect.
The Visconti Homo Sapiens is a large pen, and doesn’t post. I find the combination of size and material extremely comfortable to use.
The Visconti Traveling Inkwell Is a Recommended Add-on Purchase
If you recall from my previous review, one of the critiques I had about the Homo Sapiens was ink capacity. Despite Visconti’s use of the vacuum “Power Filler,” it was hard to get a full fill. For example, I was barely able to get the filling system to take more than 1ml of ink - little more than a standard converter. While there are many tips and tricks that people use to get more ink into their Homo Sapiens fountain pens, the best method is to use Visconti’s Traveling Inkwell, which creates a seal around the section and allows you to invert the inkwell above the pen while you’re filling, maximizing the volume drawn into the barrel. (Just remember to hold on tight, lest you inadvertently create an “ink rocket”.) Since I last reviewed the Homo Sapiens, I’ve picked up a Traveling Inkwell, and I can confirm that it does maximize the ink capacity. While the pen still doesn’t hold as much ink as the Pilot Custom 823 or even the TWSBI Vac700R, you won’t need to refill as often, a point helped by the fact that the pen no longer has the ink-gushing Dreamtouch nib.
The Visconti Traveling Inkwell in action (shown here with a TWSBI Vac700R)
Alas, Visconti Nib Quality Control Remains Maddeningly Inconsistent
When Visconti switched from the Palladium nibs to the 18k, there was hope that it would improve the consistency in the “out of the box” writing experience. I had no such luck, and still had to have the 18k nib adjusted by Mark Bacas (who discovered that the tines were actually bent into a “wave” shape). While the pen is an exceptional writer now, it still required an after-market nib adjustment, which at this price point simply should not happen. The Homos Sapiens Bronze Age pictured here retails for $895 MSRP, with most retailers selling for around $715 street price. It is entirely unacceptable for a pen at this price point to have serious nib issues, especially things like bent tines, and even though Visconti accepts returns, I always end up avoiding the delay and inconvenience by simply sending the pen off for work myself, especially where there’s no guarantee that the replacement pen will write any better.
Look, I’m not a Visconti “hater”, even if I’m not a Superfan. I have no axe to grind agains the company, and I enjoy their designs, with two expensive pens in my personal collection that I purchased with my own money. Moreover, my experience is consistent with other reviewers. It still frustrates me, however, to see the price of these pens climb ever higher without corresponding improvements in quality control, with the company likely banking on the fact that people will like the unique designs enough to overlook the continued nib inconsistency. Nib issues on Visconti pens have persisted for years, and even it QC is anecdotally “better” with the gold nibs than it was with the Dreamtouch, Visconti has a long way to go. Yesterday I did an unofficial (and admittedly unscientific) Instagram poll, and 36 out of the 60 respondents reported that their Visconti did not write correctly out of the box (approximately 60%). Is that possibly overstated? Sure, since there’s a bias towards those who experienced problems with a product being more willing to report an issue than people who didn’t. But that’s a lot of people who bought expensive pens, and it does reflect my own experience. The three Viscontis that I’ve purchased myself (disregarding those sent to me specifically for review) all required nib adjustments for issues ranging from the minor (inconsistent flow/baby’s bottom) to the major (bent tines). As one nib worker messaged me in response to my post, “Visconti keeps me in business.”
The finish on my Visconti Bronze Age is already developing a patina, which will look even better as time goes on.
Takeaways and Overall Impressions
I guess it’s true that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” While Visconti has updated the Homo Sapiens to include new colors and materials, and has moved to a gold nib that I find much more usable and pleasant to write with than the old Palladium Dreamtouch, it’s hard for me to recommend that anyone purchase a Homo Sapiens new, unless a nib adjustment is included with the purchase. Viscontis can be exceptionally good pens, and their designs are gorgeous, but if you’re looking to make this kind of investment you will be better served, in my opinion, by purchasing on the secondary market and budgeting for a nib adjustment. The Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age shown here, as noted, retails for around $715 and can be found at most authorized Visconti dealers.
The Visconti Homo Sapiens compared to the Montegrappa Extra 1930 (right), and the Lamy 2000 (left).
I purchased this pen with my own funds, for my own personal use. I was not compensated for this review, and this post does not contain third-party affiliate links. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program.