The timeless charm of the vintage style fountain pen
We are often impressed by new developments in the world of fashion and technology. But more and more, just like in fashion, the earliest and best-selling models of fountain pens are taken as inspiration for vintage looking instruments that use avant-garde design and pioneering materials. If there is one thing that never goes out of style, it’s the retro feel of a vintage silhouette.
Discover the Visconti fountain pens that take their inspiration from the past, both in their shape and colour, to bring back the timeless appeal of vintage writing instruments.
The Machina Collection: the Tuscan genius at work
A prime example of a fountain pen with a timeless appeal is Machina, the pen inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus, the largest archive of his writings and drawings. This fountain pen’s antique aesthetics are rendered through the use of the Scrimshaw technique, a process by which marks are meticulously engraved on the resin blend and then successively filled with ink to become more visible. This age-old process creates a three-dimensional effect and gives the writing instrument an original and irreplicable quality, typical of vintage objects.
The barrel and cap of the Machina collection depict some of the revolutionary machines mentioned in the Codex Atlanticus, celebrating the unprecedented genius of Leonardo, 500 years after his death. In order to recall the works of this illustrious figure, the drawings have been made using the sanguine technique, a highly appreciated artistic style used during the Renaissance that characterises some of Leonardo’s most renowned drawings.
The metalwork, in Ag925 silver and 18kt rose gold, are obtained using the lost wax casting technique. The Machina pen comes in a custom-made mahogany box in the shape of an icosahedron, a solid composed of 20 triangular faces and the symbol of water and its movement.
The Medici Collection: the splendour of Florence
Another collection that takes us back to an important historical period for Tuscany is the Medici pen, dedicated, as its name suggests, to one of the most important and influential dynasties in Italian history. The powerful family is credited with bringing Florence to the center stage of Renaissance Europe through art, culture and wealth.
This collection is inspired by the classicist aesthetics of the time and more specifically the golden ratio, a mathematical proportion often found in nature that symbolises the ideal of beauty and harmony. In the collection, the proportion between the barrel and cap is based on the golden ratio. The Medici fountain pen is forged in resin mixed with silk fibres, a special material blend with a highly polished finish.
This elegant collection is full of symbology. The 8 facets of the pen mirror the ones of the Florentine baptistery, while the Lily engravings on the band have been the emblem of Florence for more than two thousand years. The colours chosen for this pen also play an important role in recalling the glorious era of the Tuscan capital. They are, in fact, reminiscent of the Florentine semi-precious stone mosaics that decorated the interiors of the Medici houses.
Van Gogh Wheatfield with Crows Collection
We are transported to a wheat field with a flock of black crows in flight when we hold the Van Gogh Wheatfield with Crows fountain pen. The three winding paths in the original painting represent the existential and professional alternatives the painter faced throughout his life. Wheatfield with Crows is one of the Dutch artist’s most expressive and emblematic works and a symbol of the contradictory decisions he often made during his career.
In this special collection it is the choice of colours that takes us back in time. The gold of the ears of corn, the blue of the sky and the cobalt blue of the clouds gathering before the storm are all expressed in the colour nuances folded into the resin body of the pen.
If the colour scale takes us back to the Impressionist era, the pen’s shape takes us straight to the modern age.The pen’s innovative 18 facets bring extra luminosity to the colours in the resin. Last but not least, the yellow gold metalwork lends an ageless and striking style to the whole collection.
