For a couple of decades, between the end of the last millennium and the beginning of the current one, the traditional image of businessmen, high-powered business executives and top-level managers has been subjected to a complete overhaul. The main criticism against the image that those professional figures was their perceived excessive sternness. They portrayed gloomy figures in double-breasted suits, perfectly dapper and naturally able to intimidate everyone.
At the time, common sense seemed to require a more natural and less formal approach which led to mad rush towards a sort of “purification” from all the elements that could symbolise a form of elitism and distance from the vast majority of people. The result was a completely revisited image of the typical manager: sneakers, jeans and sweater instead of a branded suit. In a few years, the ‘Steve Jobs informal dress code’ became a must among the New Economy’s young tycoons and their dauphins.
Even interior design and furniture styles changed to conform with this new way of dressing: less mahogany, more wrought iron and recycled materials. Only a few objects managed to survive this revolution: and among them, the case of luxury pens is probably the most paradigmatic. Why? The answer is simple. They managed to survive by focusing on a fundamental aspect: quality. The incredible level of craftsmanship was impossible to ignore, and gave luxury pens a foothold in a period of minimalist fashion.
Investing in high quality standard has allowed brands like Visconti to overcome difficult times and subsequently position itself at the top of its market segment (in addition to pens, the brand also produces watches and leather objects), especially now that the old-fashioned manager dress code is making a great comeback Visconti’s most renowned collection, Homo Sapiens, perfectly represents this shift. It is a synthesis of refined taste, style, sobriety and efficiency, upgraded with state-of-the-art techniques in design, ergonomics and functionality. This is exactly what makes a Homo Sapiens pen much more than a mere status symbol, it is the embodiment of both aesthetic and usefulness. And this is probably what makes the difference, today, when it comes with luxury objects: they cannot become a vulgar display of vanity, they must serve a purpose first, and then be eye-pleasing.
The Homo Sapiens pens perfectly epitomise this definition with their unrivelled performance quality. But let us not forget the aesthetics of this Visconti collection: the Blue Lagoon model, for example, evokes a dive into the crystal waters of an atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; Crystal Dream is a masterpiece of pure elegance, with its combination of black, golden and transparent parts; the Lava Bronze brings to life the basaltic lava from Mount Etna, thanks to its unique design; while the Tuscan Hills seems to invite its owner to get lost in the region’s multiple shades of green.
This is what owning a luxury pen really means: being able, through an apparently ordinary object, to express not just your personality, but your worldview as well. It is the pleasure of using and displaying an instrument that is lovingly hand-crafted and unique.
