A Short tale of contrasts: Visconti Pinifarina & Platinum Cool

Today was a very exciting day. Two pens arrived. One from Bryant at Chatterley Pens, the other from Goulet Pens (who also sent me some ink). One pen was in carbon graphite, boasting a disappearing nib; the other in plastic not boasting at all (other than in name).

The Visconti Pininfarina is one of 930 pens made (a reference to Pininfarina's founding in 1930). This one is number 196.

The colour of the pen is really hard to photograph, and this one below is the closest I can get it:

The feel of the carbon graphite in your hand is just fantastic! 

The Pininfarina  is a well weighted pen too with a great functioning retracting nib (although I can see people complaining about the placement of the clip - why don't they do what Stipula has done with its retracting nib pens and allow the clip to be rotated?)

I know the carbon graphite in these pics look a little silver, but the pen is much darker (not dissimilar to a Lamy 2000).

But enough of the looks, what about the nib? Out of the box, a real problem - this is a stub nib but it just wouldn't write! (and I was so excited filling the Cartridge converter with the mosquito filler - although i'm not sure where to put it when it's not in use). 

On advice from a friend, I gave the nib and converter a good wash with soap and water and tried again. Sort of victory. It writes, but not my Diamine Sapphire Blue looks like Omo blue!

Home again, and she writes; and I like the line (a bit bigger than my usual), but for a pen with racing heritage, it certainly doesn't come burning rubber at the starting flag! A lot of stop/start before it flows.

I'll keep you in the loop.

The Platinum Cool however, is another beast altogether.

This little plastic wonder wrote straight out of the box with ease! And for a steel nib - great performance!  Even a little flex! (and you have to love Noodler's Apache Sunset - what a fabulous ink!

This unpretentious pen, comes with both cartridge and converter, and just delivers. 

Sure the Platinum doesn't have an 18k nib; but the steel it does have seems to deliver even better. The Platinum doesn't have an interesting trash can container to hold it (I'm sure it's meant to mean something else but the Pininfarina comes with a phallic black metal cylinder with a silver lid that seems more designed to justify the price than hold the pen); but a pocket does just as well. Of course, in the end, the Platinum doesn't have the weight of the Visconti (which is perfect) or the brilliant carbon graphite feel (which is pretty fantastic), nor is it's design as cool as the Pininfarina; but the Platinum Cool light weight, writes well and makes you smile in its own "cool" way!

Until next tine...