VISCONTI RAGTIME PROTOTYPE

Visconti started manufacturing pens in celluloid in the late 1980's early 1990s. Their very early models ( called Classic) were manufactured with Japanese celluloid and fitted with vintage gold plated "Tropen" nibs. The limited editions called "D'essai" series were instead manufactured with vintage celluloid and marketed with Visconti  gold plated and 18 ct gold nibs.

The Ragtime line was introduced in the early 1990s, too and was manufactured in wide range of pearlescent colors. Very early Ragtime pens had a flat cap top, which was later on reviewed to adopt a rounded cap top.

Ragtimes are piston fillers in one single size. The design of the pens was meant to recall the style of the early decade of the 1900's. The name Ragtime itself makes reference to the typical music of the time, considered as the ancestor of Jazz and represented in the world famous Ragtime move by Milos Forman, issued in 1981.

The Ragtime is therefore a modern pen with an ancient soul.

The pens were fitted with two tone gold plated Visconti nibs. 

The Ragtime has been one of the most successful early Visconti models. It was manufactured in briarwood as well, in a range of different colors.

Before the model was abandoned in favour of more elaborate new models, Visconti planned to rejuvenate it and  enrich its appeal. The idea was to replicate the decorative motifs which were typical of  ebonite pens of the 1920s.

A few prototypes were manufactured to test the effect of guillochè barrel engraving with Art Nouveau style decoration and with with geometric patterns.

An example of Art Nouveau style can be seen here:

https://www.tenpen.it/product/visconti-ragtime-proptotype-guilloche-decoration

The cap top of these pens  sports a round tassel with the name Visconti and the typical Ragtime clip with inscriptions on both sides.This pen comes from a collection in Florence and it was probably received as a gift. It has been gently used but it looks like new, apart for small residues of ink on the piston.