Leonardo Officina Italiana, currently one of the world's most prolific and talked-about pen makers, has outdone themselves again with the launch of the Momento Magico Collection, their brand new line of piston-filling fountain pens with transparent ink windows and a large ink capacity of 1.5 ml. Leonardo has created piston-filling fountain pens before, including the Pura Collection, but the Magico is the first Leonardo pen with an ink window.
The Momento Magico Collection was launched in June with four fountain pens in striking, vibrant, and colorful resins with gold or chrome trims inspired by the design of vintage Italian pens. Like the other Leonardo pens, the fountain pens in this Collection are hand-turned from solid bars by expert craftsmen in Italy, using traditional systems, giving their unique pens soul and warmth. The Magico fountain pens are available in four lovely resins that include Pietra Salata (dark sandstone), Miele (golden honey), Millefiori (wildflower), and Tramonto (sunset). The Magico is also available in the glossy or matte black Anima Nera.
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| The box sleeve for the Momento Magico Collection has the special geometric art that is also found in the pens' cap bands. |
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| Inside the Leonardo box: Magico Millefiori fountain pen, Certificate of Authenticity, another certificate that it is 100% Made in Italy, and a piston tool, Leonardo's latest accessory that helps to completely disassemble the pen (see photos below). |
Aside from the matte black Anima Nera, the Momento Magico fountain pens have a high gloss finish that is so shiny and smooth to the touch. The finish on these pens shows the expertise and craftsmanship of Leonardo's artisans. Millefiori's material is a lovely combination of red, green, brown, and some blue, perhaps inspired by the ornamental glasswork with a floral pattern from the various colors of murrini (glass rods) fused together.
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| Leonardo Momento Magico Millefiori with gold trims. |
Momento Magico fountain pens have the following measurements and specifications:
- Length, capped: 5.8 in | 14.7 cm
- Length, uncapped: 5.25 in | 13.3 cm
- Length, cap posted: 6.75 in | 17.1 cm
- Full pen weight: 27 g | 0.95 oz
- Body material: Resin
- Trim: Gold, Chrome
- Cap: Screw on, postable
- Clip material: Stainless steel
- Nib: No. 6 steel or gold in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, or Stub (1.1mm) with an ABS or black ebonite feed; an Elastic Fine or Extra Fine are also available in gold with a black ebonite feed
- Feed: ABS or ebonite
- Filling mechanism: Piston; ink capacity is 1.5 ml
Another unique feature of the Momento Magico fountain pens is the possibility to completely disassemble the pen comfortably. The new piston wrench created by Leonardo helps to disassemble the pen for cleaning. The wrench is so easy to use in taking the piston assembly out of the barrel. Once the piston assembly is taken out of the barrel, the wrench stays secured to the assembly which is a huge help in putting it back into the barrel after cleaning. I'm not very comfortable in taking apart most of my piston-filling fountain pens, but disassembling the Momento Magico is very easy using the Leonardo wrench. The wrench, made from 316L steel, the same steel used in high ranges watches, is sold separately.
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| The wrench allows complete disassembly of the Magico fountain pen. It can also be used in the Pura fountain pens. |
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| The wrench has two pins towards the end that fits into the piston rod. The pins then fit into the grooves in the piston assembly. Once the wrench is secured between the piston and the piston knob, it is so easy to turn the whole assembly and take it out of the barrel. This locking feature is also very helpful in putting the assembly back into the barrel. |
The Momento Magico's cap has a different band from most of Leonardo's fountain pens. The fretwork central band in a pattern of the letter M that comes from the Geometric Art period, a phase of Greek art devoted to geometric motifs in vase paintings and ceramics. At first, I saw the intersecting lines as just lines in the cap band. Then I realized that the lines form the letter M - it's like magic!
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| The Momento Magico has a unique cap band inspired by Greek art. This pen also uses the new and slimmer Leonardo clip. |
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| Unlike other Leonardo pens with markings on their barrels, the Momento Magico has its branding on the cap, perfectly matched by the ascending geometric lines of the cap band. |
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| This pen's barrel is vibrant and so shiny! I love the glossy finish of my Leonardo pens. |
All good things come in threes, right? The third best thing about the Momento Magico after the brilliant wrench and lovely cap band is the ink window! All of the pens in the Momento Magico Collection have transparent ink windows to allow users to check their pens' ink levels at any time. It's fun looking at ink sloshing inside the pen's barrel. It's also very convenient!
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| The Momento Magico's ink window is convenient and pretty. |
Momento Magico fountain pens are fitted with No. 6 steel or gold nibs that are screwed into the section. Available nibs are Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, and Stub (1.1), both in steel and 14k gold. An elastic nib in Extra Fine and Fine are also available in 14k gold. The Momento Magico fountain pens are also fitted with either an ABS or black ebonite feed and they have a 1.5 ml piston filling capacity that are both produced in-house. My Millefiori is fitted with a juicy and smooth M nib that wrote so well out of the box without priming or modifications.
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| The Medium nib on my Millefiori is Leonardo at its best - smooth, juicy, and very comfortable to use. |
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| The marking to indicate width is engraved on the nib shoulder. |
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| I also noticed that the Momento Magico has a different shape than the usual Leonardo pen section. It's plain and rounded without the tapered grip design. |
The new pens in the Momento Magico Collection are full-sized pens that share the same length and diameter as the Momento Zero and Furore. It also looks very similar to the MZ, but the differences are also very obvious: slim clip, wider cap band, ink window, and piston-filling mechanism.
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| From top: Momento Zero Grande Pura Arancio Fiammante, Furore Arancio, Momento Magico Millefiori, and Momento Zero Positano Blue. |
Capped, the full-sized Momento Magico fountain pen shares approximately the same length as Lamy Al-star and Tibaldi Bononia. It's a little longer than the TWSBI ECO and BENU Talisman. Uncapped, all of the five pens share the same length.
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| From top: TWSBI ECO Sunset Orange, Tibaldi Bononia Seashell Mist, Momento Magico Millefiori, BENU Talisman Foxglove, Lamy Al-star Ruby Red. |
I always try to fill my pens with matching ink colors, and I filled my Millefiori with Diamine Burnt Sienna, a matching russet brown ink. The Momento Magico's piston mechanism worked well, and the Medium nib wrote smoothly without the need for adjustments or tuning.
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| This pen's medium nib wrote so smoothly out of the box. It's perfectly matched by Diamine Burnt Sienna. |
The Momento Magico is another exceptional and well-designed fountain pen from Leonardo Officina Italiana. These fountain pens are fully handmade in Italy using high-quality, lovely resin and include a full lifetime mechanical warranty. Like its pen cousins, the Momento Magico Millefiori is a delight to look at, wonderful to use, and great to keep. Get one for your collection!
These days, Leonardo Officina Italiana is one of the most active and talked about pen brands. Anyone into pens who is on Instagram knows this. Leonardo also has the fastest workshops with their current pen line up getting new additions almost every quarter. From the initial series of Momento Zero and Furore, they now have the Cuspide, Speranza, Messenger, Pura, and quite a number of limited edition pens in various materials in between. The Momento Zero and Furore have also gotten their size upgrades: the "Grande" with piston filling mechanism and ebonite feed. I'm always excited to see new pens coming from the Leonardo workshop, and I'm sure more exciting pens are coming in this year.
Rants of The Archer thanks Leonardo Officina Italiana for providing the Momento Magico Millefiori fountain pen for review purposes. To learn more about these beautiful, colorful, well-crafted pens, follow Leonardo Officina Italiana on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/leonardopenss/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leonardo_pens/).
In Europe, Leonardo pens are widely available from retailers such as Fontoplumo, Appelboom, and Fontanna Penna.
In the Philippines, Leonardo pens are available exclusively at Pengrafik (https://www.facebook.com/PenGrafik).
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