Visconti Van Gogh Full Review - Artwork In Your Hand

INTRO: When it comes to beautiful pens, Visconti is certainly one of the best manufacturers, and their Van Gogh line is consistent with that. I have made a video about this pen but I have also written everything that is in the video so you do not have to watch it unless you wish to see what I'm talking about. thank you for reading/watching

Full video:

Looks – (10/10) - This is an absolutely beautiful pen if I could rate it as a 11/10 I would. In low light there are subtle colors but when you add more light or even sun light multiple layers seem to jump out at you, and sucks you in to getting lost in the pen. Another wonderful thing about this is that no two pens are different which means when you are getting lost on the colors of your pen you are able to know that what you are experiencing is unique to you.

Built Quality – (4/10) - The overall construction of the Van Gogh is good, however I did have a few quality control issues with this pen alone. In terms of overall construction, the pen is good; the materials feel good in the hand and all parts are aligned properly. However, that brings me to my quality control issues. The first issue was that the Nib and feed assembly were not fully screwed into making the pen leak the first time I used it. This of course made me want to take apart the pen to see what was going wrong, this showed me the second quality control issue; the converter was too long for the body of the pen. Basically, there was excess plastic on the converter which would get pinched by the back end of the body, making the converter twist when you unscrewed the body of the pen. This caused the Converter plunger to move half way down the converter, and as you can guess dump half of the contents all over my lap. While these issues are small and were fixed with a pair of scissors and my screwing in the nib and feed assembly, I feel that a pen at this price point that shouldn’t have been an issue.

The one quality control issue I had which was not minor was the nib has a slight baby’s bottom. It will occasionally have a hard start if you have the pen uncapped in your hand for a number of seconds, and it will randomly skip a few times per page even when continuously writing. This isn’t too much of a killer but again I feel that a pen at this price point should be near perfect out of the box.

The Cap – (9/10) – This cap is fun and unique because it uses magnets instead of a mechanical clicking pop cap or even having a screw cap. It gives the cap a premium feel to it. Even though this pen isn’t supposed to be an everyday carry the magnetic cap is actually very practical and reliable. The only problem with the cap is that there is no real seal when it is closed. It is only metal on metal, which means if the pen sits for about a week then you will have a fairly hard start, but if let the pen sit only over night or only a day it worked just as if it were sitting for a minute.

The Clip – (5/10) – While the clip is pretty and a lot of people like it I find it not to be very practical. Basically, there is no real way to clip the pen on to a pocket or anything unless you use a “pinching technique”. The pinching technique is where you have to grab the clip with your forefinger and thumb pinching the clip and then sliding your fingers between the body of the pen and the clip. This will open the clip up to being slid into anything you would like. While this action is not difficult it can be less than convenient if you wish to grab the pen, and put it in a pocket because there is that extra few steps where you have to grab it just right and then open the clip before securing it.

The Grip – (7/10) – Yes, the grip section is polished metal so that means it gets slippery when you get sweaty fingers, however there are two saving graces about the grip that allow you to still write under less than perfect conditions. The first is that at the base of the grip there is a bulge that allows you to have some leverage or reference point to manipulate the pen even when your grip isn’t the best. The other thing is that the metal section isn’t that large. When I hold the pen my thumb is actually only half on the metal section and half on the body of the pen. The body of the pen is very grippy so this allows my thumb to always be secured. (your grip may vary)

The Nib – (8/10) – While I already mention the slight baby’s bottom in the other section so I am going to concentrate on how the nib performs when it is not skipping (which is most of the time). The cliff notes of this is the nib is Wet and smooth. This I feel adds to the artistry of the pen, it has an artistic outside as well as allowing a generous flow to let the ink be artistic as well. I have not experimented with all types of ink but I can say that it has a great flow that allows for great shading as well as working nicely with shimmer inks.

Price – (4/10) – With the quality control issues it is very hard for me to say this pen is worth $300. But what you do get for 300 is a beautiful looking pen, and the Visconti has really their own unique corner of the market when it comes to this kind of beauty in pens. Because of this unique style it is hard to compare these pens to anything else, so part of what you are getting when you get this pen is the exclusivity of the brand, and the style. Some are willing to pay the premium price to have something unique and exclusive. If you take away the pretty body of the pen you basically have a Visconti Rembrandt which sells for half the price ($140 - $175) To me I don’t put that much of a premium of pretty looks so for me I do not think this pen is worth the money you pay for it.

Conclusion – (6.7/10) – In the end the Visconti Van Gogh is a uniquely beautiful pen and despite my low rating if you love beautiful pens then you are going to love this pen. However personally I like practical pens. So, my preference is if they would start with something practical and then make it pretty. But that is preference, and as a whole the Van Gogh is a good pen.

Excellent review. Thanks. My Van Gogh Sunflowers was my favorite pen. Sadly, I lost it somewhere. I agree that constructionwise there is space for improvements but I really dig this design.

Thanks for the review. I love the look of the Van Gogh series (they really are beautiful pens), but they are a bit on the heavy side for me.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

i want to like this pen as it would be a perfect souvenir from Amsterdam when I visit this summer... but I continually hear about quaility issues that frankly shouldn't exist in a pen at this price for from a company as well established as Visconti. I've been using Pelikans mostly and at the lower end some LAMYs and have had no issues with either brand. Am I wrong? Is there a way to insure I get a good pen when I'm shopping? (I can check for the converter issues but nibs are something else altogether. FYI.. I had similar converter issues with a Faber Castel Ambition that I returned and with a GvFG Tamitio that i took a pass on)

Thanks for the review. I just picked up a Van Gogh recently and so far I'm impressed. It's absolutely gorgeous and the nib quality on mine has been rock solid. That being said, I am aware of the quality control issues that Visconti sometimes has so make sure to get from a quality dealer. One area I have to disagree with is on the clip. I quite like the Visconti spring loaded clips because they are very easy to get in and out of bags, pockets, whatever it may be. I actually tend to use this as a carry pen so I take it with me to my office.

I like and have no issue at all with practical pens but I do hold beauty in high regard when it comes to pens so that is important to me. With the Van Gogh it scores high marks. I do like to showcase my pens at home.

That being said, $299 is quite steep for this and I wouldn't pay $299 for it. I got mine from a reputable dealer for just over $200. That's a price I'm willing to pay for the Van Gogh, but at $299 it doesn't represent a great value prop with a steel nib. Overall I do love the pen and it's a great addition to the collection but make sure to get it at the right price.

ig: @jeremy.epstein

mine cost less than euro 200 from a reputable German dealer...