Delta, the Italian pen manufacturer, was founded in 1982 and is actually one of the youngest fountain pen manufacturers around. They are distributed in the U.S. by Yafa, the parent company of Conklin and Monteverde.
One of Delta’s most ambitious pens is their Dolce vita Oversize which boasts a bright orange resin body and a solid 18K gold nib. This is the same barrel material found in their limited edition Skeleton Ballpoint Pen and is quite a looker! A little trivia for you — “Dolcevita” means “Sweet Life” in Italian!
The pen arrives in a large gift box with a screw-in plexiglass cover. The pen is gripped by a felt-lined, bow-tie shaped slot and is held very securely. The box is sturdy and makes a great display case. Delta also includes a small 30mL bottle of their black ink which is a nice little extra.
The barrel of this pen is practically the best part. There is a huge dichotomy between the solid black resin found in the cap and finial and the bright orange resin. There is quite a bit of chatoyance going on in the orange part of the barrel making it quite interesting to gaze into. The strange mix of polished black with a bright orange may come off as strange, but is actually very beautiful in person.
The cap is another stunning part of the pen. The trim is made of Sterling Silver then covered with gold (in a process known as vermeil). The cap ring is intricately hand-engraved with an ancient Roman design. The clip has a useful wheel which makes clipping the pen to things much easier. On the opposite side of the clip is some engraving about the pen, including its serial number (although it is not limited).
An oversized pen like this definitely should have an oversized nib as well. The pen features a huge #8 sized nib made of solid 18K gold. The nib is engraved on the sides then etched with a Delta logo in the center. Off to the side of the nib is the size declaration. Mine happens to be a Broad (B), but it is also available in an Extra Fine (EF/XF), Fine (F), Medium (M), or a Stub.
The filling system on this pen is somewhat of a letdown. Personally, I would prefer the pen to be either a piston fill or a vacuum fill. However, this pen is limited to a standard international cartridge or the included standard international converter. If you so want, this pen can also be used as an eyedropper. The section already has a rubber O-ring preinstalled so just a little bit of silicone grease on the section threads is enough to keep the ink inside. Since this pen is so large, it has a HUGE amount of ink as an eyedropper. You can probably add half of the included bottle to the barrel easily!
The pen clocks in at a 5.5” (14cm) capped, 5.2” (13.1cm) open and 7” (17.6cm) posted. Being an oversized pen, the diameter is a whopping 0.75”. However, the pen is not very heavy and only weighs a total of 1.5oz (50g).
This pen is available at an MSRP of $895.