Cosmos Blue
The Torino is now very close to
the very top among my favorites. This pen has the
features and functions that fit my preferences very well.
Most apparent, it is a serious writing machine. It
works very well. Certainly others in the hobby
have varied preferences such as heavier, wider, more or
less flex.
The
acrylic is stunning. This is the same material
recognizable from a few other pen makers at much higher
prices. The colors are brilliant that dazzle up
close yet subtle at first sight. Translucent and
ever changing colors depending on indoor or indirect
sunlight. It is like having a different pen in hand
every time I pick it up.
The Torino colors are available
in Garnet Red, Black and Pearl/Cracked Ice, Pentrace
Green, Orange swirl and Cosmos Blue.
Nice shape. I like the
gentle taper on both cap and clip. The pen in hand
feels soft and smooth. Not slick and no tactile texture
however, depending on your own grip your fingers will rest
comfortably above, below or right on the section ring.
Plenty of room for finger tip on the section, very slight
“step” on the trim ring and it seems my sweet spot is with
finger tips just above the section ring trim.
Consider this. With finger tips further back above
ring trim one actually has better control for the very
subtle variations we make with our writing.
Of course, we know we write our
forearm is primarily moving the hand and pen. To a
much lesser degree our hands or fingertips will make
slight variations in our writing form. Why do I
mention this? In my own experience, with finger tips
higher on the pen I have an ever so slight advantage for
more subtle variation of what I call “roll, pitch and
yaw.” This is an aviation term for rotation and angle in
flight, in this case the angle of wrist, fingers and pen
in attack to paper.
The Torino is light weight, which
I prefer. Think about it, when one concentrates on
writing, one is not thinking of the weight or balance of
the pen in hand. There are extremes where this is
important where a small hand is not able to manipulate a
very large pen or likewise a large hand with a diminutive
pen. The pen will disappear in your hand and there
is the marvel when your racing thoughts appears like magic
on paper. You don’t think of anything else but your
thoughts. The more comfortable the pen in hand, the more
quickly it will disappear and leave you with the singular
chore of transferring thought to paper. I find the
Torino will fit the average hand very comfortably and you
can have this same experience.
The cap top, clip and trim is a
base metal with an apparently heavier chrome plating that
you would find on any pen priced under $50. This assures
me I will not see flaking, peeling or discoloration of the
plating.
The clip is important. A
good clip will grip and not let go easily. This
appears very sturdy and apparently attached to a steel
post fixed within the cap. Even the shape of the
clip is important. With a smooth rounded end it is not
sharp and will not snag on clothing . It also has
that nice vintage look we see on some of our favorite
vintage German pens.
This Torino is a slip cap with a
positive “click” closure. Simple, no threads to
damage and best of all a very nice seal from the inner
safety cap as this prevents drying of the nib when not in
use. Pick up the pen, it writes every time.
Exceptional, expected and most appreciated.
The nib, feed and section.
This is the exceptional part.
A chrome
plated steel nib with a generous blob of
iridium or iridium-like
material that has a nice
rounded polish for smooth writing. I notice
the feed had two ink channels cut into the feed tube which
allows for consistent ink flow. The comb feed
is generous to serve as collector during use and also as a
feed drain when pen is placed in pocket.
What more can you ask from a pen.
Good performance. Period.
Marginalia. What is
marginalia?
Take a close look at the tip of
this nib. See the rounded tip resembling iridium?
This is where you find your “sweet spot”, where the very
tip of nib touches the paper based on how you hold the
pen. Writing upside down, is for a much thinner
line, or marginalia.
This nib even has enough tipping
material on top for writing upside-down. You may or
may not know this, but writing with nib reversed usually
gives a much finer line. Your nib will write from
Fine to Extra Fine, from Medium to Fine and from Broad to
Medium. One usually is not able to do this with
stubs or obliques. The Torino nib allows me to write
fine line notes in margins or in between lines. An
old habit and I appreciate when I am able to do this.
Steel will flex.
With practice, I found the Torino will give me a
satisfactory subtle flex that adds a gentle character to
my writing. Sometime flex is a mood. Flex is
accomplished either consciously or subconsciously
depending on mood, speed of writing and even the texture
of paper. Smooth paper is better for the Torino.
Coarse hand made paper works better with medium to broad
or smooth edge stub nibs.
Filling mechanism.
Convenient cartridge converter is available and many
standard ink cartridges will fit also.
Overall I find the Torino
exceptional in quality, performance and price.
Len Provisor Torino review
2015
Model photos by Giovanni Abrate
2015 Len Provisor - all
rights reserved
