So you started using some fountain pens. You want to get something a bit more, say, colorful, vibrant, with a lot more “character” so to say. You look at Viscontis, and before you know it you lust after the gorgeous hues and shapes of the Homo Sapiens and the Divina Elegance. Or you want a Visconti, but something that’s not “too much”. In this review, I’ll be showing you just that - Visconti’s entry level collection, the Rembrandt fountain pens.

The Rembrandt was introduced in the 2010s and it was Visconti’s way to coax people into the colorful style cues of italian fountain pens. The overall design is a straight forward cigar shape, but it packs a lot of punch under that unassuming silhouette. Right off the bat, the material that made up the pen is a sort of swirly or smoke-like in patterns and colors, to create a similar painting style of Rembrandt himself. It is not as dull and faded like the japanese resins, nor does it pop out to your face like the american acrylics. I do like the subtlety they chose to go with the whole collection, and similarly with the Van Gogh and Mirage lines of pens as well.

Starting off from the top of the pen, we get to something that’s signature to Visconti - a personalization system called “My Pen” - with which you can replace the finial with an asortment of letter initials or gemstones to make your pen “cooler” in your own way. It’s something that’s unique to Visconti and I do appreciate that they don’t force their customers from staring at the boring finial all day everyday. Moving your eyes along we get to their distinctive curve clip, which is modeled after the Ponte del Vecchio in Florence Italy, and since this is their entry level products you don’t get the deeply engraved Visconti name but instead a laser etched one, which is also cool and refined in its own way. The spring loaded clip is soft enough for everyday use - not too hard to rip off your shirt pocket or too weak to not securely holding your pen in place.

The cap band is also a notable design W. It has a bit of thickness and with really detailed etching with the name Visconti and Made in Italy on the two sides of the band. This is also one of the better looking capbands from pens under $300 and I do prefer it to Visconti’s other higher end pens.

The action of capping and uncapping the Rembrandt is also a unique experience. Instead of a typical snap cap with plastic lining in the middle, you get a magnet ring that pulls the cap and pen together, so instead of a usual thud you get with normal pens, the Rembrandt gives you a really unique sound and capping experience. and essentially you can cap it with just one hand by pushing the pen towards the cap. However, please be aware that since it is a bare magnet sticking to the tip of the pen collar, you might need to be careful not to leave it being wet or stay in contact with ink for prolonged period of time as it can lead to rust and completely ruin the cap and collar.

The pen comes with a glossy section, so some might feel it being slippery after a long writing session. It does have a flare out area to stop your fingers from sliding further down the nib but I don’t really feel the Rembrandt being slippery at all.

The Rembrandt comes with a converter with a cartridge so you can start using it right away. I do appreciate them having this filling system on their entry series as it is more convenient for beginners, plus it keeps the cost and maintenance down. The Rembrandt has also gone through a few iterations so the nib did go through a few different versions as you can see here. Overall the nibs are fairly consistent with minimal adjustments needed to get it to write right from the box. It lays down a good amount of ink, plus Viscontis have always been known for being a bit on the juicy side of nib tuning. If you are looking for a colorful and tasteful italian pen, I’d gladly recommend either the Rembrandt, Van Gogh or Mirage from Visconti.

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