Visconti Van Gogh Midi - to buy or not to buy?

I'm getting a new fp for my birthday, and Pam @ Oscar Braun recommended a Visconti Van Gogh Midi for $80. I like the looks. What do you think? She also mentioned alternatives of Parker Sonnet Special Tartan Silver Plate FP with 18K nib for $75 or Namiki VP for $72. I know little or nothing about any of these. HELP!

Edit: Of course, there's also the Platinum Pen Elegant w/ 18k nib and the M250 w/ 14k nib in the same price range (and I love my M200).

Soooo many pens, so little $.

Wim, I feel the madness taking hold. . . . . .

The Van Gogh Midi is a beautiful pen, with real flair and great colour. It just looks Italian, if you know what I mean. The one I tested wrote very wet.

I think the Vanishing Point is clever, but visually unsatisfying. When the point is retracted the button at the other end seems very long and out of place. The placement of the clip looks strange as well. The pen is beautifully finished, but maybe overall looks a little too ... functional?

But really, those are all good choices.

Hi Southpaw,

Yep, you've got the pen-buying/pen-oogling disease...

I have a Parker Sonnet (in black lacquer) but since I overpaid for mine at a brick and mortar store and wasn't all that thrilled with the way the pen wrote (actually, the whole sale left a bitter taste in my mouth), maybe I will let the Sonnet fans tell you about it. I like the way the Tartan pattern looks on the Sonnet...I will admit I've tried my Sonnet again fairly recently and it's not as bad a writer as I recall and the nib is fairly springy (which I like), but I may give its nib a bit of a smoothing....

I have a Namiki VP but mine has a customized nib (cursive italic) and I haven't tried one with a factory nib ($72 is a great price for a new one though). I don't own a Visconti Van Gogh Midi but fellow FPNer Thesaurus Rex raves about it on this FPN page.

Get the Midi Van Gogh. Mine is Ocean Blue and I adore it. The more I use it and look at it, the more I love it.

Start it with a good free-flowing ink, though. I started mine on PR 2004 DC Supershow and it was skipping a bit and I thought it was going to be a real problem nib. Then I filled it with Waterman Florida Blue and it's rocking and rolling, now.

It's not just beautiful. It feels good in my hand. It's cool to the touch and has an excellent weight to it, and is perfectly balanced.

It is the first pen in four years that has rivalled my Sailor Magellan for the #1 spot in my heart. It's not just a good pen. It's a pen to love.

Now I want the Midi Wall Street. Yum.

Oops, it appears there is no Midi Wall Street.

Yet?

I have two Visconti Van Goghs. How big is the midi? If mine are midi's, I'd love to see how big the maxis are? Is there a site I could look at that shows the difference in size?

I really like mine. I bought the musk with a fine nib and the Black with a medium nib. Nice pens.

Karin

I dislike my Van Gogh Midi. It does not look as nice as the pics I've seen. The nib is springy and ill behaving. It is my problem pen.

I love my VP. I wish it was a bit narrower maybe, like the old models (mine is new). I like the way the nib retracts and the fact that it is more of a workhorse than a pretty pen. The unique grip is not a problem for me. Nice smooth Japanese nib.

Pelikans are always nice. The nibs are interchangeable, and the piston filling system holds much more ink than any c/c. Good reliable choice.

I don't have a Sonnet, but they are too narrow for my hand. Nice looking though.

Have fun. Tough choice there.

Leslie-

I could take that Van Gogh off your hands if you really hate it. Which color is it? I have a rather unusual gray metal Montblanc I'd trade you for it.

What ink do you have in it? Changing inks made all the difference in the world with mine.

As much as I have come to love my MVG (Midi Van Gogh), I want everyone to love theirs, too. Mine is a fine point, and I am thinking about ordering an additional medium nib from Visconti so that I can change them out according to my mood and ink color.

You might have just gotten a bad one, though. Have you spoken with anyone at Visconti?

1.800.VISCONTI

Take care and good luck.

Rex

Hi Southpaw,

Wim, I feel the madness taking hold. . . . . .

Anyway, regarding your choices. The Van Gogh is a very beaytiful pen, but fairly heavy towards the bottom due to the metal section. To me that looks out of place, BTW.

I think the VP is a very good deal, especially in one of the carbonesque colours, and for a mere 12$ each, you can add additional nibs of your choice, so it is easy to experiment, with nib sizes and/or grinding . Some more madness coming your way, I´m afraid .

Warm regards, Wim

As if the decision weren't difficult enough, I also found a Sheaffer Balance II for $65 - NEW! Thanks for the advice thus far - I'm trying to soak it all up and make a decision.

I'm tending to stray away from the Visconti because it has a steel nib . . . . . . but then my M200 is gold-plated steel too . . .

I think the Van Gogh, both sizes, works better if you don't post them because the cap is very heavy (probably because of the super-cool clip) and tends to unbalance them in the hand.

Leslie-

 

I could take that Van Gogh off your hands if you really hate it. Which color is it? I have a rather unusual gray metal Montblanc I'd trade you for it.

 

What ink do you have in it? Changing inks made all the difference in the world with mine.

 

As much as I have come to love my MVG (Midi Van Gogh), I want everyone to love theirs, too. Mine is a fine point, and I am thinking about ordering an additional medium nib from Visconti so that I can change them out according to my mood and ink color.

 

You might have just gotten a bad one, though. Have you spoken with anyone at Visconti?

 

1.800.VISCONTI

 

Take care and good luck.

 

Rex

No, I think it may be just me, and my high angle of attack. I generally like s/s nibs too. Mine is sandal I think, F nib. I'm going to be sending the pen away when I can, because I want someone to look at the tines. I think they are spreading too much, and I use almost no pressure at all to write. Hard to explain really. The flow is actually good, although ink and paper do make a difference.

I wish all pens wrote reliably with any ink on any paper, but of course that's not possible.

PS: the pen was a gift from my husband, who is very happy to take it off my hands if I just can't live with it. That makes it a hard choice, because he hates my customized nibs, and I pretty much need them. I'd have to give it to him as is.

I had a midi van Gogh ( great B nib, no problems ) in sandal brown ( more chestnut reddish ). Really nice pen, but a bit too big and a little too heavy for me (though it's not a huge pen, nor a heavy one !) and I don't like metal grips. I sold it but made sure it got a good home

Overall I'd say go get one !