The Visconti Dreamtouch 6-Pen Case

I was looking for a quality pen-case for quite sometime, which could also serve as a handy storage of my fountain pens, outside their hefty boxes. Existence of nice fountain pens, necessitates invention of great fountain pen cases. I do use a Pelikan 3-pen case to carry my daily fountain pens, but I required something more secure, which can double up as a travel companion, if I ever intend to carry more than three pens at a time. The Dreamtouch leather series were launched sometime in 2012. For the leather pen cases, Visconti offers 5 variants in an ensemble of a compact and unique design, housing 1/2/3/6/12 pens.

PRESENTATION

As usual, there is a white Visconti fabric pouch, inside which the case rests once you take it out of the cardboard box. It ensures that the leather remains intact and unscathed before use.

DESIGN & BUILD (6/6)

The outside is made of aniline-calfskin with a clean and precise workmanship. Aniline leather making techniques preserve the natural surface of hide and render a soft natural feel of the same. The flip side is they do indeed carry the natural porosity of skin. When you look at the threads and feel the case you would instantly know, that you have landed upon great workmanship.

Then at the top of the flap, there is the V logo inside an ellipse, which is made of chrome plated metal. It seems minimalist aesthetically, but it does succeed in drawing your attention. The zip looks flat and compact, converging with the geometrical dimensions of the case. You will neither find the case too pliable nor you would find it too hard. A very compact case indeed!

The rear-end is plain and coveys volumes instead.

The flap converges with the overall flat design quite well.

The slider is chrome plated metal and sports the same logo which is present on finials of Visconti pens. The name VISCONTI lies within a mirrored V. 

The back-side sports an embossed VISCONTI with the name of its birthplace, the renaissance town FIRENZE. 

PHYSICS & PERFORMANCE (5/6)

The 6-pen case weighing around 150 grams and is quite light and easy to hold. It can hold a pen upto 15.5 cm of length. A thicker pen will of course displace the divider by a tiny bit. The flat design of the case, makes it a convenient storage box. I just love the compactness of this case.

• Length ~ 16 cm
• Width ~ 14 cm
• Depth ~ 2.7 cm

A 15 cm scale can completely rest inside with some additional pen-room.

You can observe that the dividers are placed at least 2.3 cm apart, which makes it capable of housing most of the pens. The inside linings are made of black velvet, a touch would reveal it's quite dense and should protect your pens well. One downside is that all the pens will not fit snugly inside these slots and there are chances of bumping inside it, in case you are travelling.

The finial of a rather large pen like an Izumo (>16 cm) can become exposed to the zipper material. Had it been a metallic finial with a flat top (say Pelikan), there are chances of scratches, due to lack of any additional protective lining on its insides. Although the zippers have plastic teeth, the slider with its metallic clasp still has to traverse along these lines.

From left to right : Pelikan m605, m805, Platinum Izumo Tagayasan, MB146, Pilot Custom 823 and a Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi.

A dimensional comparison with a Pelikan TG32 (black/green) 3-pen case

ECONOMIC VALUE (6/6)

Although the 6-pen case retails in the market at around USD 120, I was able to win this one in an auction, at around USD 77. From time to time, I do find multiple auctions for these cases running on the bay.  I feel that's a good price for any aniline leather product.

OVERALL (5.7/6)

Overall, I do feel that the 6-Pen Dreamtouch case has been a nice buy, custom made to my requirements of compactness and aesthetics. It is subtle yet elegant at the same time. I would keep the large pens inside their boxes.

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