PRELUDE
A decade later, when one of my long-serving Homo Sapiens fell slightly behind humans in evolution.
Few pens inspire the kind of quiet admiration that the Visconti Homo Sapiens does. The familiar warmth of its basaltic lava body, the hook-safe capping mechanism, and its distinct presence in the hand; these have long made it one of the most characterful writing instruments in my modest collection.
I wrote about my experiences with the Bronze Maxi and the Florentine Hills LE almost a decade ago, when they were relatively new and full of promise. A decade on, time has added not just patina, but also perspective, particularly on the realities of maintenance.
And, as it turns out, even the Homo Sapiens is not entirely immune to the occasional evolutionary setback.
THE BLACK SWAN EVENT
Activated by my cleaning ritual
Every few months, I try to keep my personal flagship fountain pens within a five-pen rotation. Two of them travel in a Brown Bear two-pen pouch. One is reserved for captions, fitted with a stub or equivalent grind: for example, a Pelikan m205 Duo Highlighter, an m200 with an italic nib, or a Schon Monoc with a reverse broad grind. The other is typically a snap-cap pen for quick note-taking: the Sheaffer Legacy 2026 at the moment (though it could just as easily be my Lamy 2000 or Pilot VP Fermo).
The other three are for pure writing joy, at least as far as nibs are concerned. They reside in a Visconti Dreamtouch three-pen case. These three are not necessarily brand flagships. The only pen that remains permanently inked in this trio is a Conid Kingsize Demonstrator with a titanium fine nib, the Ti nib is a 2025 purchase from Conid. With its factory 14k fine nib (bought seven years ago), it never quite held the same place in my main three-pen rotation for more than a month; but that is a subject for another post.
Coming back to my cleaning ritual: I wanted to bring one of my Homo Sapiens back into the three-pen rotation. I leaned towards the Florentine Hills LE. It needed a bit of cleaning, especially around the blackened sterling silver trims, and I also wanted to unscrew the nib unit and apply some silicone grease to the inner barrel.
When I tried to unscrew the nib unit, it felt unusually tight. This isn’t entirely new to me with resin sections and nib housings. In fact, it’s a recurring complaint I have with some pens that use resin sections; the housings can become incredibly difficult to unscrew, sometimes to the point where the nib and feed start moving instead of the housing itself. I’ve experienced this with my Conid Minimalistica as well as the Regular model with a resin section - even when silicone grease has been applied to the housing threads. Interestingly, this never seems to occur with metal-section pens, of which I own a few. It could be due to a combination of factors: ink residue accumulating between the housing and section, along with the subtle micro-shrinking of resin over time. Fountain pens do not seem to be entirely immune to the effects of age.
Over time, I’ve developed a home remedy that works reasonably well. I usually start by placing the pen in an ultrasonic cleaner with filtered water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. In fact, I would recommend that anyone with a $100+ pen consider investing in an ultrasonic cleaner. The one pictured below cost me less than $35 and works quite well for small objects, including jewellery, eyeglasses, and, of course, pens - because nothing promises better weekend relaxation quite like deep-cleaning your fountain pens.
Once it’s cleaned with a 3-minute cycle, I would try to unscrew the housing again. If that doesn’t work, I heat water to about 70°C and leave the section in the warm water for 5-7 minutes. The idea behind it: the expansion rates of the housing and the section differ slightly, which should help loosen the housing, at least in theory. I have found this second technique particularly useful for removing stubborn, sealed sections on older Omas pens, Conid Minimalistica as well as for lubricating piston seals and realigning heat-set nibs.
Coming back to the Florentine Hills, I had just cleaned the pen and began unscrewing the nib housing, which usually comes out quite easily with my Lava edition. This time, however, something felt off. To my considerable and rather unpleasant surprise, the entire section unscrewed instead. This was particularly concerning, as it is the very part that the hook-safe cap mechanism grips onto. It took me a moment to process what had just happened and a seemingly longer moment to accept it.
It took a Reddit post, along with removing the nib from my Homo Sapiens Lava edition, to confirm that the section had indeed come off and that my beloved pen now required servicing.
Interestingly, the housing from the Homo Sapiens Lava Bronze edition came out almost effortlessly, with virtually no stress on the nib unit. I couldn’t help but wonder why there was such a difference. It appeared that the inner sleeve in the Lava version is metal, which might explain the disparity.
I also noticed that the yellowish-purplish material dangling from the inside of the green outer sleeve of the section was quite flaky. This appeared to be the adhesive that originally bonded it to the transparent inner section. It’s worth noting that the adhesive seems to be applied only to the upper portion of the green outer sleeve, the section with the larger diameter, allowing it to attach to the transparent inner section rather than the nib housing.
A BIT OF STUBBORN OPTIMISM
My passion for repairs and restorations
As part of my hobby, I’m fairly confident when it comes to opening up electronic devices and handling minor repairs myself. With fountain pens, however, excluding nibs (I’ve sacrificed enough of those to earn some experience), I tend to be more cautious about tinkering with components that could void the warranty.
So, I reached out to Visconti, and they are still getting back to me “shortly”. To be fair, their customer service has been quite good to me in the past, whether it was changing nibs (that’s a story for another day) on my Opera Master or replacing the cap on a travelling inkwell, among other things.
Given my day job around AI monetization, I’m also aware of the pitfalls of replacing customer service with autonomous agents - rules are rules, and escalation is often needed to reach a human. So when Visconti Italy replies in perfectly polished English but without any real resolution, I can’t help but wonder if I’m corresponding with an AI email assistant. Efficient, yes. Helpful - a question mark for what we call edge cases. It's also becoming ingrained in our daily lives - I realise that even as I write this blog post, the app is suggesting grammar and language corrections.
I also contacted the person heading Visconti distribution here. He didn’t seem particularly optimistic, given the age of the pen, but did promise to check with the Italy office and get back to me. In any case, out-of-warranty service costs from Visconti would likely exceed the cost of an ultrasonic cleaner, glue, and other paraphernalia combined. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. That said, I would strongly advise caution, if you’re new to fountain pens, don’t begin your repair journey with your Homo Sapiens or your Pelikans. Start somewhere less significant, emotionally and financially.
While researching how to fix the section myself, I realised that regular glue wouldn’t work, the gap between the green outer sleeve and transparent inner section would remain, and ink leakage would be inevitable. I do have a box of O-rings, but they proved ineffective for this purpose during testing. Eventually, I concluded that an epoxy-based adhesive would be the best fit. I had no idea what an epoxy glue is, until this point. The most commonly available option is Araldite, though mixing it can feel like a chore. This led me back to my Reddit post, where user u/officedowntime shared their experience of reattaching a metal grip section on an Opera using B7000 adhesive - a clear, epoxy-based glue often used for jewellery as well. That comment turned out to be the star of the thread.
And a sincere thank you to u/officedowntime - proof that sometimes, the best repair manuals are hidden in Reddit/FPN comments.
FINAL PROCESS
Back to the current age
So, here is the process I followed. I also cleaned and serviced my Homo Sapiens Lava a bit more thoroughly.
- Clean the section and other parts using a few drops of dishwashing liquid in an ultrasonic cleaner. Or, if you prefer the longer route, you can stand patiently by your washbasin with running water until you’re convinced the parts are absolutely spotless.
- Remove any remaining traces of the old yellowish adhesive from the outside of the inner transparent section, as well as from the inside of the green outer sleeve.
- Clean off the patina on the silver trims using an earbud with a drop of a silver polishing solution such as Klear Shine. Similarly, use a bronze/brass/copper cleaner (like Happi Planet) for the Homo Sapiens Lava edition, and then wipe everything with a damp cloth.
- Apply a small amount of Nivea Cold Cream to remove the white spots from the HS Lava pen - because apparently, HS Lava appreciates the bit of skincare.
- Allow all parts to dry thoroughly - this may take several hours.
- Set aside the nib, feed, and housing for at least 24 hours, keeping them safely stored in a box.
- Once the plastic section is completely dry, apply a tiny amount of silicone grease to the outer threads (which screw into the barrel) and lightly inside the barrel threads, using a toothpick. Spread evenly with your fingers if needed.
- Tighten the inner transparent section into the barrel until you feel the first point of resistance.
- Now for the important part: apply a very small amount of B7000 glue to the upper, visible portion of the inner transparent section using a toothpick. Keep the application narrower than you think necessary - the glue thickens quickly, and you will almost certainly need less than you expect.
- Repeat the process for the green outer sleeve, using around two small drops of B7000 glue and spreading it evenly.
- As the glue thickens within seconds, press the green outer sleeve firmly onto the section for about 2 minutes (follow the instructions on the tube). Remove any excess glue that seeps out near the section ring.
- Leave the assembled section undisturbed for 24 - 30 hours to allow proper bonding.
- After 24 hours, apply a small amount of silicone grease to the nib housing threads. If needed, you may also add a bit of grease to the piston end using a toothpick (reaching slightly into the barrel) before reinstalling the housing. Screw the nib unit back in until you reach the first point of resistance. That’s it.
- Use a 20 - 30× loupe to check for misaligned tines and adjust gently with your fingernail if required. You may refer to notes by Richard Binder (link in references), if absolutely necessary. Minor misalignment can happen with tight sections - especially resin ones. I had to make a small adjustment to the Florentine Hills nib; the housing is still a snug fit.
Tada! the pen is ready to write. I enthusiastically tested both pens with Aurora Blue ink (my go-to test ink), and I’m happy to report that both are filling and writing beautifully again.
Thank you for spending your time on this blog - especially if, like me, you read these things out of sheer love for the hobby. It’s always satisfying to share something that might help someone else avoid (or at least survive) a similar “oops” moment.
You can find my other pen and paraphernalia reviews here.
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