PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Visconti Pens of Florence, Italy will introduce on the opening day of the Philadelphia Pen Show, its new fountain pen known as the Homo Sapiens, made of 50 percent lava with a 23 karat palladium nib.

"The Homo Sapiens has a feel unlike any other fountain pen," said Dante Del Vecchio, founder of Visconti Pens. "It is virtually shatter proof. You can even boil it. The pen can withstand heat up to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) without being melted as would be the case with regular resin or celluloid. Because the nib contains virtually no alloy, it is significantly less susceptible to corrosion from ink. As a result, you will feel like you are writing on a cloud. We call the experience of writing with our palladium nib, Dreamtouch™ because it's like writing on air."

Automobiles rely on a balance of suspension systems, tires, and tire treads to control how they handle on the road. In much the same way, a fountain pen relies on the interplay among the nib material, the tipping material, and the finish of the tipping material.

"Pure gold is too soft to use for nibs," said Del Vecchio. "So other metals are added to stiffen the nib. Unfortunately, these added metals are subject to corrosion. We don't have either problem with palladium. First, it is 200 to 300 percent more flexible than pure gold. Its mechanical features allow performance not available from an 18 karat gold nib. Secondly, the palladium is virtually pure, so there is no chance of corrosion.

As a result, fountain pen users will have the capability to add calligraphic flair to their writing with a soft dream touch and with no need to have any pressure while writing as required from other nibs and is unavailable from a ballpoint. The reason this has not been done in the past has been due to the difficulty of working with the high temperatures needed to add the tipping material to the 50 percent higher melting point of palladium."

The lava for the Homo Sapiens collection of pens and pencil comes from the largest active volcano in Europe, Mt. Etna, on the island of Sicily. The lava material is slightly hygroscopic, allowing it to adsorb sweat during use.

The Homo Sapiens pens were inspired by the Bronze Age, the period in which writing emerged, and accordingly the metallic parts of the pen are made of bronze as it was originally made. The filling system is a " high vacuum power filler" that allows filling with a single hand.

The palladium nibs for the Homo Sapiens fountain pen come in the following nibs:

XF (extra fine),

F (fine),

M (medium),

B (broad),

BB (double broad), and

S (stub).

The pencil is available with 0.7 lead.

The prices for the Homo Sapiens collection:

Fountain Pen...........$595

Rollerball.................$395

Ballpoint..................$325

Pencil......................$345

Images are available at http://www.philadelphiapenshow.com/visitors_exhibitors_media_d/

Visconti Homo Sapiens pens are available at http://www.bertramsinkwell.com, http://www.visconti.it/ or www.colesoflondon.com.

SOURCE Visconti Pens

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